“Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never  did.”
-      Dr William Butler

Strawberries…A fruit synonymous with the Wimbledon in London, where strawberries with cream are the order of the day in summer. Every year about 27,000 kilos of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, together with 7,000 litres of cream. The popularity of serving strawberries with cream is possibly as old as the event itself. Strawberries & India…a legacy that dates back to the 1920’s when the British first introduced them to India. Today this beautiful, passionate fruit has taken India by storm.

Strawberry - Source FlickR - Anushruti

A fruit reserved for the kitchen gardens of the British Sahib under the British rule, now adorns our tables, & this beautiful berry can be found at every nook & corner in India in season. Mahabaleshwar, a hill station located in the Western Ghats range in India, about 120 km southwest of Pune, was hit by the strawberry revolution in 1992. The area now produces over 15000 tonnes of this luscious, yet fragile fruit every year. A fruit which is finding its way into our everyday cuisine, be it just eaten as a fruit, as a coulis, in ice-cream, in shakes, or then in spectacular desserts.

Facts:
Strawberries are low fat, low calorie; high in vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, potassium
Strawberries are a member of the rose family.
Strawberries, as part of a 5 a day fruit & vegetable program, can help reduce the risk of cancer & heart attacks.
Over 53 percent of seven to nine-year-olds picked strawberries as their favorite fruit.

Strawberry is the 2nd most popular natural flavour in the world, chocolate being the first. I’m going to share a dessert with you today that combine the 2 flavours beautifully, a dessert that I created with strawberries in mind.

STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE YOGURT MOUSSE
Recipe by Deeba Rajpal
Biscuit base
Ingredients:
100gms digestive biscuits; ground
4 tbsp melted butter

Method:

Mix the crumbs in with the melted butter to form the crumb mixture for the base.

Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:
200gms Curd Cheese (made by hanging yogurt for 24 hours)
200gms Cream
2tbsps gelatin
200gms Strawberries; pureed
4-5 tbsps powdered sugar

Method:
•Line the mousse tins with baking parchment.
•Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup water, & leave in a bowl of hot water until it becomes a clear liquid.
•Blend the curd cheese, strawberries & powdered sugar together until smooth. Add the clear gelatin & whisk again till well blended.
•This makes the dark strawberry mousse. Once you use a portion of this in the first mousse layer, add the whipped cream to the rest to make the light strawberry layer.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
200gms dark chocolate
100ml Cream
1 tsp gelatin

Method:
•Sprinkle gelatin powder over 2 tbsps of cold water, & leave over a bowl of hot water until clear.
•Put the dark chocolate & cream in a pan over low heat till melted, cool & stir in the clear gelatin. Mix gently but uniformly.

Assembly
•Line the tins with baking parchment on the inside. Line a tray with foil, & place the tins upright on them.
•Put 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp of biscuit mixture into each tin, & press down firmly with the end of a narrow glass to make a base.
•Top with about 1-2 tbsps of the dark strawberry mousse (sans cream) into each. Now mix the cream into the mousse & divide equally among the tins.
•If you don’t have metal moulds or rings, you can always set them in glasses.
•Divide the chocolate mousse between the tins, topping the light strawberry mousse. Leave to set for 4-5 hours, or better overnight.
•Gently dislodge from tins before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries & chocolate flakes etc.

You can read more about Deeba’s mouthwatering recipes in her blog.

Source: Information about India