Woodapple and Coconut Drink
Ingredients
2 fully ripe woodapples or canned woodapple pulp
1 litre/2 pints freshly squeezed coconut milk,
first and second extracts kept separatesugar to taste
pinch of salt
Directions
Break the shells and scoop out the fruit which should be a rich
chocolate colour. In a glass or china bowl mix the pulp with 2 cups of
thin coconut milk, squeezing and kneading to dissolve the pulp. Strain
through a nylon sieve. Pour more thin milk over the pulp and knead
again, dissolving as much pulp as possible. Strain once more. Add 1/2
cup sugar or jaggery and a good pinch of salt. Stir to dissolve. Taste
and add more sugar if necessary. Cover and chill. Just before serving,
stir in the first extract (coconut cream) and serve at once.
Note: This can be made using canned woodapple pulp and canned coconut
milk. Dilute coconut milk with an equal amount of water or more, if it
is very thick and rich. Stir woodapple pulp in the can as it usually
settles due to its rather mealy texture. Pour some into a jug, add
twice its volume of diluted coconut milk and a pinch of salt. Stir to
mix thoroughly. Pour over crushed ice in glasses. If a lighter drink is
preferred, woodapple pulp may be mixed with soda water instead of
coconut milk. After mixing, pour the drink through a fine strainer into
another jug and discard the mealy pulp.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)