There is something special about the fruits in season. Although you get strawberries pretty much throughout the year in the supermarket, the ones you get in the Farmers market right in middle of june are just out of this world. Super sweet, juicy and red to the core, they are perfect to make many dishes. I always make Strawberry preserve and of course strawberry ice-cream & milkshake. I also dehydrate the strawberries for a later use.
Yesterday when I went to market I got a large flat of berries, when I got home I realized that they had to be eaten today. Since that was practically impossible, I decided to try something fun, decided to make a fruit leather with half of the berries.
Whenever we talk about Fruit leather, I think of the summers in India. I fondly remember my mom making fruit leather with jackfruit and mango pulp. She would make the pulp and pour in the steel plates. Those plates would go out on the terrace and in the 90-110 F , the fruit leather would be ready in a day or two. Many times before my mom could bring the dried fruit leather inside, we would already picked a few pieces, it was just too hard to resist.
Today I decided to make the fruit leather but as many other dishes I decided to add a little spice to it. One of the favorite things I recall from summers growing up is the ‘Kokum’ drink. Kokum is a fruit, very tart in taste, very pretty color and had amazing medicinal properties. It is known to aid in weight loss and also has a cooling effect on the body.
When my Mom makes a sherbet/drink with Kokum, she always add a pinch of roasted cumin and some rock salt. The Kokum color is a pretty pink, just like the strawberries so I decided to bring in those flavors in my fruit leather.
Ingredients
1 lb of ripe strawberries
1-2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp rock salt/black salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Method
Grind the strawberries in a blender, add sugar & lime juice and grind again. Now stir in all the dry ingredients.
If you have dehydrator you can use that or just go with good old sun dried method.
Depending on the method you are using and the thickness of the leather, it will be ready in 6-24 hours.
Now lay the dried leather on a parchment paper. Cut in strips 2-3 inch wide and roll it up. Your Strawberry fruit leather is ready to enjoy.
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