When Sig announced that she was hosting Meeta’s Monthly Mingle this month and the theme was “Grill It”, I took it up as a challenge of sorts.
My oven has a grill and I hardly ever use it. I make my grilled sandwiches in the sandwich press. The first step to the challenge was finding a recipe. I wasn’t to keen on grilling vegetables this time only because I wanted to make something “different”
I finally found what I wanted at Matt Bitman’s blog. His Skewered Grilled Fruit with Ginger Syrup sounded good. He suggests using bananas with the skin on and pineapples. With the monsoons here, this is not the best time for fruit and the variety of fruit available is somewhat limited. I had some nice ripe plantains and very sweet apples. I also used paneer. This idea was an inspiration from a recipe of Jude’s at Apple Pies, Patis Pate.
I also made some changes to the ginger syrup, adding some cardamom (my favourite spice), cinnamon and nutmeg while using brown sugar instead of white sugar. I lightly crushed the ginger (rather than slicing it) so it would release more flavour.
Here’s my version. But please see the original recipe at Matt’s blog for a better idea of this recipe.
- Fruit of your choice , cut ino uniform chunks (I used 1 ripe plantain and 1 big apple)
- Paneer , cubed (about 20 cubes)
- For the chocolate drizzle: Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk, over a pan of boiling water, till the chocolate melts and is smooth
- For the spiced ginger glaze, combine the ginger, brown sugar and water in a pan. Bring to a boil, and simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes till the glaze appears to be thickening. Add the salt, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well and take off the heat. Allow to cool. Strain and refrigerate till needed. According to the original recipe, this keeps in the fridge for a week. I found this quantity just correct for about 10 fruit skewers.
- Soak the wooden skewers in water for about 2 hours. This will ensure they donu2019t burn during grilling.
- Arrange the cubed fruit and paneer alternately, on the skewers. I have a grill (in the top part) in my oven and this is how I grilled the fruit.
- Place the skewers in a suitable pan and brush with the glaze. Grill for about 5 to 7 minutes, till the paneer just starts browning. If the paneer browns too much it will lose its softness and become chewy. Turn the skewers so that the other side is uppermost. Brush well with the glaze and grill for another 5 to 7 minutes or so.
- Allow to cool a bit and serve warm. If using chocolate, drizzle over the fruit and serve.
This makes a wonderful yet light dessert when one wants something sweet and simple. Lovely spiced ginger flavoured soft and juicy fruit with paneer and chocolate.
The ginger glaze/ sauce also pairs up wonderfully with vanilla or honey ice-cream.
This is my submission for the “Grill It” edition of Monthly Mingle hosted by Sig. This also goes across to Sunita’s Think Spice, Think Favourite as the Ginger Glaze has cardamom which is my favourite spice along with cinnamon and nutmeg. This is also my submission for MBP: Fruit Fare which is being hosted right here.
Once again, gently reminding all of you who have plans to send in something for MBP: Fruit Fare, that the deadline is 25th August and that means another 2 weeks. That’s plenty of time.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
Fruits looks very Delicious Aparna..kids will love these fruits
yum…. I love that glaze idea! Thanks for the entry Aparna, glad you finally got to use your grill 🙂
wooo its amazing.looks fantastic…
Delicious skewers..will give these a try.
How interesting for the paneer to be paired with fruit.
Yummy skewers…Can imagine the blend of flavors from ginger,cardamom and fruit juice. It must have tasted great.
Grilled fruits…Makes for a very good dessert. Looks yummy.
Ginger glaze sounds great Aparna.
Hi Aparna, first time in your blog…lovely paneer recipe! Looks very yummy:)
I love your version of this recipe! Looks great, can’t wait to try it!
This is such a sinless dessert. What if there’s chocolate, fruit makes everything healthy 🙂
Aparna,Thanks for your lovely entry.
i am making it..it sounds so exciting and the taste must be very good !
Divine, Aparna. And the cardamom in the glaze would have added just that special touch.
Ah, that should inspire me to learn how to work the grill in my MW!
yummy!!! v. nice and fruity! I can taste the flavour right here. will surely try it out for my daughter.
Brilliant that you used the grill! See what you created? God that looks yummy! Thanks for joining us at the MM!
Oh my goodness this looks SO yummy!!Rosie x
I know, it was good. I’ve had grilled (on the tava) pineapple but never thought beyond that. And after Sig’s Grilled round-up, I don’t have any excuses not grill food some more.Welcome to my blog, Indranee.You should, Sra, I was pleasantly surprised.
yum!! grilled fruit how fantastic..brings out all the fabulous sugars mmm wonderful!