My memories of Sitafal ice cream go back to my childhood when my grandfather (mom's dad) would make it and call my brother Prasan, my cousin Nisha and me to his house to have it (we were his only grandchildren at that time). We absolutely enjoyed this and several other treats he prepared and spoilt us completely with! 'Ferndale' boasted of a garden like few others in the city and he grew amazing sitafal, tamarind, guava and mangoes along with things like curry leaves, limes and badams.

Making sitafal ice cream is definitely not for the lazy. This fruit is, by itself, difficult to eat. Every bit of pulp has a big seed inside and you need to use your teeth dexterously to remove the pulp and throw the seed away. These days, a lot of chemicals are also sprayed on the fruit presumably to prevent pest attacks. This makes it necessary to be careful while eating the fruit so that none of the pesticide gets into your mouth. It can lead to a bad cough. The sitafal itself is often wrongly accused of causing the cough but in reality, I think it has more to do with the pesticide that gets into your mouth in small quantities.


Making sitafal ice cream is an infinitely more arduous endeavor. You don't have the luxury of using your teeth to de-seed the pulp. You have to do it with your bare hands if you're doing it at home. Once you have the pulp, you can use it for ice cream or basundi or whatever other concoction you can come up with. Almost anything with sitafal should taste good!

Mumbaikars were treated to sitafal ice cream at the popular Apsara parlour. Then came Naturals. Naturals came to Hyderabad a year or so back and they already have a few outlets in the city. The sitafal ice cream, like many of the other fruit based ice creams is available only during the sitafal season. The sitafal ice cream from Naturals is truly a boon to mankind! It is so good.


The sitafal bits which are in abundance in the ice cream really enhance the flavor. It is nice and creamy, has the right degree of sweetness and the texture is just right. This is one of the ice creams you want to relish every little bit of. A little creamy flavor here. A little bit of sitafal pulp there. Every spoonful is a delight in itself. You just don't want the bowl to finish. And when it finally does, you are so disappointed and craving for more, it is difficult to resist the temptation of ordering another.