Cantaloupe Granita

Summer is here and kids ask for ice cream quite often. When either I or my husband are giving them the ice cream, we get tempted to eat it too. Since we are not among those lucky people who can eat 5000 calories a day and not put on an inch around the waist, I try to come up with things we can eat when kids are eating something cold like ice cream. My first choice would be fat-free sorbet. But after I started making granita since last year, I would say I love granita too. Last year I had made some watermelon granita which we loved. Here comes 'Cantaloupe Granita' for folks like us.

Granita is basically raked ice which is made with a simple syrup (sugar and water boiled together) which is flavored with seasonal fruits. Cantaloupe has so much water in it, I didn't bother to make a syrup at all. Just added brown sugar and churned it in the food processor. I used brown sugar since we South Indians are used to this cantaloupe mixed with jaggery to make a juice 'panaka' during 'Rama Navami'. I kind of tried to mimic that taste in a different form.

Ingredients:
1 medium cantaloupe - cut into cubes
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup or to taste (You could use regular sugar here)

Method:
Take the cantaloupe cubes in a food processor or a blender. Add sugar and churn till the mixture is smooth. Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze. Every 30 minutes to 45 minutes (this may vary depending on the kind of freezer and the size of the box you have frozen it in), take it out of the freezer and rake it with a fork to get crushed ice kind of a finished product. After doing this for 3 times, freeze. When ready to serve,  scoop the granita into serving dish and serve. It melts pretty fast so don't take it out of the freezer just before serving.

Notes:
You could add a little bit of cardamom to this after raking for the first time. Otherwise, it'll go and settle in the bottom. Same recipe can be used to make watermelon granita. Just use sugar to taste. If you like tangy taste, you can add some lime or lemon juice to this. Mix with the blended puree and freeze.

Enjoy!!