Cooking is incomplete without fruits and vegetables. A variety of fruits are available in India. We have the king of fruits – the Mango, which is the pride of our nation. Apart from mangoes and their varieties a lot of different fruits are available here, such as apples, grapes, bananas etc. Fruits can be had uncooked and cooked too, they form a major component of desserts in continental cookery. Today we are able to have access to a lot of exotic fruits too, which otherwise were not available in India, like – kiwi fruits, mangosteens, star fruit, etc.
Vegetables are an integral part of cookery, for both vegetarians and nonvegetarians. No meal is complete without a vegetable be it Indian or continental. Vegetables add color to the menu, and also fiber for the body. Vegetables and fruits provide a lot of nutrition to the body. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a well-known adage. A poor man’s apple – the banana
is a power-packed fruit, which gives valuable micro-nutrients to all.
Uses of fruits in cookery
- In jam making – plum, pineapple
- As a dessert – fruit salad
- For garnishing – cakes
- Making sauces – apples
- Making jelly
- As a filling for a dessert pineapple upside down
- Fruits in jelly