I’m at my parents place in India. There is such an abundance of fresh tender coconuts here that I absolutely had to use it as the star of this no-cook dessert. I added some lychees to the pudding and it worked really well.

A coconut tree in my parents’ garden

Note: If you cant get fresh tender coconut, just use frozen coconut juice/coconut water available in Asian stores. If the coconut juice is sweetened you should less than whats called for in this recipe. But whatever you do, please do not use the canned coconut juice!

Tender Coconut/Coconut Water/Coconut Juice/Elaneer and Lychee Pudding Recipe

serves about 6

1 cup + 1/4 cup milk
6 teaspoons quick set gelatin* (see note below)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup tender coconut water/coconut juice/elaneer
3/4 cup tender coconut meat, chopped
3/4 cup canned lychees, strained (about 6 pieces), chopped

*I usually use agar agar to set desserts, but this time gelatin is all I had on hand. (See this post on how to use agar agar). The gelatin I used was a quick set variety. Your pudding may set differently depending on what gelatin you use.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the 1/4 cup milk and the gelatin.

Warm 1/4 cup milk and dissolve gelatin in it. Add this to the bowl with all other ingredients. Stir everything well. Pour in individual serving dishes and refrigerate till the pudding sets; about 2 hours.

We had fabulous weather over the weekend. It was almost like summer! So I decided to do a summery frozen yogurt and pair it with one of my favorite fruits – lychees (or litchis). I made the frozen yogurt with blackberries and piped it into the lychees. So you could also call this lychees stuffed with frozen yogurt.
 
Blackberry Frozen Yogurt with Lychees
makes about 2 servings. you will have left over frozen yogurt.

2 cups plain yogurt, I used low fat.
1 ½ cups blackberries either fresh or thawed from frozen
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice, optional
a 20 oz can of lychees in syrup

Drain the lychees and gently pat them dry. Place the drained lychees in the fridge till you are ready to use them.

Place a sieve or strainer over a vessel. Place a double layer of cheese cloth over the strainer. Put the yogurt in the cheese cloth. Gather and tie the ends of the cheese cloth to form a bundle. Put the yogurt bundle with the strainer and vessel in the fridge. We want most the liquid from the yogurt to drain. This will take about 2 hours.

In the meanwhile, puree the blackberries, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Push the blackberry mixture through a sieve or strainer. Discard the seeds in the strainer.

When the yogurt has drained, return it to the blender along with the strained blackberry mixture. Blend till everything is combined well. Taste the mixture and adjust sugar if needed.

If you have an ice cream maker, process the yogurt blackberry mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

For creamy frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker:
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still make creamy frozen yogurt. Pour the blackberry yogurt mixture into a shallow dish, cover the dish, and place in the freezer. Freeze for about 2 hours until the yogurt is half frozen.

Now Scrape the yogurt and put it back in the blender. Blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the dish, cover, and freeze again. Let the yogurt freeze another 2 hours. Scrape up the yogurt and blend again. Repeat the freeze-blend-freeze process 3 times. This will result in creamy frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker!

To serve, fill a serving dish with ice cubes. Remove the drained lychees from the fridge. Arrange the lychees, hole-side up, over the ice. Place the frozen yogurt in a zip lock bag, and snip the end of the bag. Pipe the yogurt into the lychees. Serve immediately.

Notes
If your lychees aren’t firm enough to stand up straight or hold the frozen yogurt, freeze the lychees for about 30 minutes. This will make them firm enough to hold their shape and easier for you to pipe in the yogurt.

If you decide to place the lychees on a bed of ice, make sure you serve the dish immediately. Otherwise the ice will melt and your lychees will drown.

An easier method – simply chop up the lychees and top the frozen yogurt with the chopped lychees.