Jardalu Custard (Dried Apricot Custard/pudding)

In honor of my mother's birthday I have tried to re-create her memories with this custard.

Recently my mother talked about a dried fruit that was made into a custard when she was young in her Grandfather's house in Goa. She vaguely recalled the custard being called 'Jadaloo' pudding.  On pressing her for more information and doing some on-line searches we decided that the dried fruit was apricots because in Marathi and also along the Konkan coast apricots are sometimes called Jardalu. My mum remembered that as kids they would split open the hard seed and eat the kernels after they finished playing with the seeds. She reminisced that the kernels tasted like bitter almonds.

Although modern recipes might prefer the apricots seeded and then pureed before adding to the custard I have left the apricots whole in the way that my mother's recipe was prepared.  This makes for a more authentic and rustic presentation.

Mum told me she used to make this for us when we were young but I just could not recall it.  However when I bought my apricots from an Indian store I immediately got memories of having this dried fruit as a kid.  These Indian dried apricots look completely different from the soft orange, seedless dried apricots we get here.

Happy Birthday dearest mum!!


Note: Today studies show that excessive amounts of ingesting the kernels from apricot seeds could lead to cyanide poisoning so the recommended quota is 3 kernels per adult per day....be safe avoid the kernels, and just eat the pudding which utilizes the flesh of the apricot.

Although I have baked my custard you can prepare the custard using your own favorite recipe

Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots
4 eggs separated (yolks and whites)
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

Reconstitute the dried apricots by putting them in a pan and covering with water.  Bring the contents to a boil and then let the water simmer for about 30 minutes till the apricots are soft and plump. Drain and leave aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F


Keep all the ingredients ready.

Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a small container. Blend with a whisk.                          

Measure out the milk

Put the butter in a micro wave safe bowl and put it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to melt.

Separate your eggs into 2 mixing bowls, using the larger bowl  for the egg yolks.

Using an electric beater beat the egg yolks until light and creamy looking.

Add the rest of the milk, butter, flour and vanilla essence. Blend to mix.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and  blend in to the yolk mixture. Try to mix well.

 Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Place it in another larger pan and add hot water.  The water should come up to at least one inch on the sides of the baking dish.

Bake for about 30- 40 minutes until the custard is firm and not jiggly when you touch the top. If you leave it too long the top will brown.

Your custard is done. You can decorate the main dish by putting the jardaloo on the top or serve individually in pudding dishes and place 2-3 on the top.

Note: Watch the custard so you remove it before it browns .  It can still be eaten with this brown film but if you are preparing it to serve to others it does not have as pretty an appearance.

Approximate Nutrition Facts

10 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 188.5
Total Fat 4.8 g
Total Carbohydrate 32.8 g
Sugars 29.2 g
Protein 4.5 g