Sitaphal Basundi (Custard Apple Basundi)

Name: Sitaphal Basundi
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Maharashtra)
Ingredients: 1 litre (4 cups) full-fat milk; 2 large ripe sitaphal (custard apples — yielding ~1 cup of seedless pulp); ½ cup (100 g) sugar (adjust — sitaphal is very sweet); ½ tsp cardamom powder; 2 tbsp pistachios, slivered (garnish); 1 tbsp charoli seeds (garnish); Never add sitaphal pulp to hot basundi — heat destroys the delicate custard-apple aroma; Sitaphal must be perfectly ripe — soft, fragrant, yielding flesh; green-hard ones are unsuitable; Remove every seed — even seed fragments cause bitterness that ruins the dessert; Season: October–December; outside this window, high-quality tinned sitaphal pulp (Vadilal brand) can substitute

🟢 Veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Medium

The slow-cooked thickened milk of classic basundi elevated with the fragrant, custardy pulp of sitaphal (custard apple / sugar apple) — one of the most beloved Konkan fruit desserts, made during the October–December sitaphal season. The fruit's natural vanilla-like perfume and grainy-creamy texture blend into the reduced milk to create a pale ivory dessert of extraordinary fragrance. A Pune specialty.

⏱️10 minPrep

🔥80 minCook

🕒90 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

1 litre (4 cups) full-fat milk
2 large ripe sitaphal (custard apples — yielding ~1 cup of seedless pulp)
½ cup (100 g) sugar (adjust — sitaphal is very sweet)
½ tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp pistachios, slivered (garnish)
1 tbsp charoli seeds (garnish)

👩‍🍳 How to make Sitaphal Basundi

Make the basundi base following Recipe 4 (Steps 1–3 of Basundi): simmer 1 litre milk on low-medium heat for 60–70 minutes until reduced to about 500 ml and thick.
Sweeten with less sugar than plain basundi (sitaphal adds significant sweetness).
Add cardamom.
Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature — this step is critical, as hot basundi added to sitaphal causes the fruit to lose its delicate flavour.
Halve the sitaphal and scoop the flesh into a bowl.
Remove every seed carefully — even a fragment of seed gives bitterness.
Press the flesh through a fine mesh sieve or mash very well to separate seeds from pulp.
You should have about 1 cup of smooth, creamy pulp.
Taste — it should be intensely sweet and vanilla-like.
If the sitaphal is not fully ripe, do not use it (unripe sitaphal is astringent).
Once the basundi has cooled to room temperature, fold in the sitaphal pulp gently — use a spatula, not a whisk.
The pulp should be visible as pale swirls in the basundi, not fully blended in.
Taste and adjust sugar.
The flavour should be of basundi with the sitaphal coming through as a dominant fruity note.
Refrigerate for 2–3 hours.
Serve cold in individual katoris.
Garnish with pistachio slivers and charoli.
Do not heat — sitaphal basundi is always served cold.
The flavour intensifies significantly on overnight refrigeration.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 285 kcal | 10 g | 40 g | 9 g | 2.5 g | A Pune institution — Chitale Bandhu (Pune's most iconic sweet shop, est. 1950) made sitaphal basundi famous, and their seasonal version draws queues every October. Sitaphal grows abundantly in the Sahyadri hills east of Pune (Shirur, Junnar talukas) and on the Konkan slopes. The short 8–10 week sitaphal season (October–December) means this dessert is genuinely seasonal and highly anticipated. Maharashtra's custard apples are considered among India's best — the Baramati taluka variety is particularly prized. Increasingly available year-round at upscale Pune restaurants using frozen pulp, but the fresh seasonal version is categorically superior. ---

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