With the recent festivities it was perfectly acceptable for one to forgo any thought to a diet and just indulge in one’s culinary fantasies. From Achchi’s fiery chicken curry to Ammi’s lip smacking chocolate pudding generously accentuated by rounds of oily, sweet New Year goodies, I did justice to the efforts of all parties concerned in food preparation. Therefore my body craved an indulgence “break”. It longed for sweet simple flavours which were pure in composition but excessively delivered in taste. Thus this simple recipe of passion fruit curd offered the perfect solace for my injured culinary palate. Enjoyed on its own, or drizzled over some vanilla ice-cream or even some hot buttered toast, this passion fruit curd takes you away on a summer holiday. It leaves your senses in a state of perpetual harmony.

Ingredients

·    11 passion fruit
·    2 large eggs
·    2 large egg yolks
·    150 grams sugar
·    100 grams unsalted butter

Method

1. Cut passion fruit in half and scoop the pulp into a blender for a few minutes. Then strain the mixture into a bowl. This allows the seeds to separate from the juice, but do not throw the seeds away. At this moment your kitchen will smell like a summer breeze.

2. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and sugar.

3. Melt the butter over a low heat in a heavy-based pan, and when melted stir in the sugar-egg mixture and the passionfruit juice, and keep cooking gently, stirring constantly, until thickened.

4. Off the heat, whisk in the pulp - seeds and all - of the remaining passionfruit, let cool slightly, then pour into a 350ml / 1½ cup jar. Keep in the fridge.

By Mayuri Jayasinghe