Passion Fruit Squash

Passion fruit has enormous health benefits, the highlight of them is that it improves insulin sensitivity and boosts the immune system as it is packed of vitamin C. The rich content of riboflavin(Vit B6) and niacin(Vit B3) in passion fruit helps regulate the thyroid activity(source: google). There are two seasons of fruiting- August to December and March to May. When the fruits are not available,we can definitely preserve this fruit in the form of squash. I have tried preserving this fruit squash for over a month and has stayed good without any added preservatives like citric acid. Try preserving the pulp together in a bottle in freezer and make squash as and when required so that I don't need to make large batches as storage becomes an issue in fridge at my home. One bottle of squash gets over by one month at home as everyone loves passion fruit.

Though many other citrus fruits like moosambi and lemon doesn't suit me but this fruit is better tolerated and so I have become a die hard fan of passion fruit.I started seeing this fruit in US first and then once we moved back to Kerala, this climber was seen in the backyards of many home. My mom also planted one plant in her backyard. Initially it was only one plant but now there are both varieties of passion fruit. The yellow coloured one is more citrus and the purple coloured is known to be more sweeter. And we had lot of fruits on them for the past two seasons. I hope my source of passion fruit is understood now and when we have these in abundance at home, What do you do? You try preserving this for long term use, right ? I asked mom to store the pulp in freezer and then bought here to make passion fruit squash. Here everyone loves passion fruit juice so whenever they feel like sipping passion fruit, I just mix with water and serve. This squash has been preserved in refrigerator and stayed good for over a month after making squash.

Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 5 minutes
Author ~ Julie
Yields ~ 3.5 cups squash

Ingredients 
passion fruit 15-20(1 cup juice) or 2 cups scooped out pulp
sugar 2 cups
water 1 cup

Method

• Wash the passion fruits under running water and cut them in halves. Scoop out the pulp using a fork in a bowl. Add to a bowl, repeat till you finish scooping out all.
• Transfer this pulp to a blender(reserving 1/2 cup of pulp in the bowl). Blend the transferred mix and run the mixer or blender twice for 5 secs each, carefully taking care not to break the seeds finely.
• Strain the juice in a strainer by holding above a bowl( I have skipped straining as the crushed seeds sink to the bottom once you make juice out of the concentrate like you see in pics). Add the reserved pulp to this strained mixture (you can blend this two but I love biting the seeds) and with the help of a fork or hand whisk, whisk gently to separate the pulp from seeds.
• In the mean time, boil the water and sugar mentioned to a syrup consistency until sugar is well dissolved. No need to get one string consistency. Switch off flame and leave to cool.
• Once the syrup is completely cool, add the passion fruit juice and mix well. Leave to cool completely before storing in bottles.

USE: Add 1.5- 2 tbsp of passion fruit squash to one glass of water to make one serving of squash. Add more to make in larger batches in the same ratio. No need to add any sugar, just mix with water and serve. Quite simple, right? Go ahead and give this a try !!

NOTES
* I have used both yellow and light red (hybrid variety), so have added 2 cups of sugar. If you use yellow variety alone, may need to add more sweetness as it is tangy. If you use the hybrid variety alone its more of a sweeter variety,so alter accordingly. Anyways a minimum of 2 cups is definitely needed for this measure of pulp to add sweetness and preservation.
* As the syrup is rich in citrus flavor, it is better to store in glass bottles rather than plastic bottles.
* No need to add citric acid if you refrigerate the syrup. I haven't stored out so have no clues about the shelf life. I have stored the squash for over a month and have had good results.
* If you stay in a place where you have frequent power cuts then this squash may not stay good for long. There has been incidences when this fruit pulp alone when kept in fridge turned sour and fermented like wine. So be extra vigilant to dispose off in that case.
* I have had good results when mixed with sugar syrup and preserved in fridge.

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