Khubani ka meetha/apricot dessert

Khubani ka meetha is the most simple yet most rich dessert I have ever had. The best part is that there is no oil/ghee/butter included in making this dessert. It is made with apricots only. Apricots are very good for health and a  good source of fibre, vitamins, iron and many other essential nutrients. 

A lot of my friends have served me this dessert on various occasions. I just had to know how it was made but I didn't think it would be this simple.

There is a bit of pre planning required to make this apricot dessert. You will have to soak dried apricots in water overnight or for atleast4-6 hours. Once the apricots have soaked well it will take only 15 minutes to prepare it.
You can serve this dessert on its own, with ice cream, custard or whipped cream. I had vanilla ice cream at home so I have used that.
To make this deliciously easy dessert you will need


Pre soaking - overnight or 4-6 hours atleast
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes
Serves 5 people


Ingredients
250 g pre soaked apricots(seeded)
100 g sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water


Method

• Wash and soak dried apricots in water. Make sure there's enough water to cover all the apricots.

Once soaked overnight or for 4-6 hours they will become pulpy and soft.

• Once they look like the picture above, drain the water and retain it.
• De-seed the apricots. Since the apricots are now soft they become very easy to de-seed.

Do not throw away the seeds as they have small nuts inside them that are very much like small almonds. These nuts are used in this dessert.

• Now take the drained water in a pan and add 1/2 cup of plain water to this. Add the de-seeded apricots to this and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

• While the apricots are cooking, crack the seeds using a nut cracker to extract the nuts.

• Once the apricots are cooked remove from flame, open the lid and mash the apricots roughly with a spoon/masher. Add the sugar and lemon juice to this and mix until dissolved. The mixture will turn a dark brown once you add the sugar and lemon juice.

• Using a hand blender, blend in the apricots to a smooth puree and add the nuts. 

• Serve hot with a generous scoop of ice cream/custard or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Notes

1. Apricots are naturally sweet, hence the amount of sugar can be decreased in this dessert as well. The original recipe I got from my friend had 150g sugar but I reduced it to 100g and it was still a sweet treat.
2. Blending it to a smooth paste is an option. You can serve it pulpy as well if you like it that way.
3. If you plan not to blend it to a smooth puree, it will be a good idea to roughly chop the soaked apricots before cooking them.

Shabnam


I will be linking this lovely dessert to the 'Cakes, Cookies and Desserts' event @ Spice and Sugar Tales