Tutti Frutti (Candied Watermelon rind)

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Colorful, sweet, Tutti Frutti add a great texture, taste and appearance to cakes, Cookies, Ice creams n more.  I used to buy these from Indian store but after getting smelly, old stock Tutti Frutti couple times, I stopped buying em. Also I use em scarcely for the fear of artificial food colors used in em. 

Anyway due to Corona isolation situation I have lot of time on hands so decided to make these at home. As  part of our online shopping, I have ordered a watermelon. After enjoying it, I saved the rind and made these. You can make these with Raw Papaya too. And I used Natural Food Colors to make these. These colors are derived from plants.

Try my Mango Mousse recipe (no gelatin or agar Agar used) and top it with Tutti frutty for a beautiful presentation. Also Tutti Frutti cake would be lovely to serve along Tea. Or simply serve a bowl of Ice cream with Tutti frutty topping.

Total time: 

2 days (Includes Soaking and all day drying times)

Servings:

Yields 2 cups

Ingredients(I use US standard measuring; 1cup=8oz=250ml):

• 2 Cups watermelon rind cubes
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp each Natural Food Colors

Tutti Frutti Recipe:

• Take a water melon, Once red part of watermelon is separated, peel the green skin, leaving white part aside.Scrape away if any red part is on rind. Take only the white part.
• Now chop the white rind into small cubes, the size of store boughtTutti Frutty. I took 2 cups of  these cubes. You can make more if u want. 
• Now take water in a vessel, enough to boil watermelon pieces. Once water comes to boil, add the rind pieces boiling for about 5-6 minutes. Stir in between. Once watermelon starts turning transparent, keep another minute or two and turn off stove. Do not over cook as they will turn soft and lose the ‘bite’ texture. It took me 6 minutes.
• Drain Tutti frutty into a Colander. Leave few minutes to drain water. 
  
  

• In a vessel, take 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water. Heat till sugar dissolves and syrup gets lil sticky. If u take drop of syrup between your fingers it feels sticky and little string is formed. 
• Drop watermelon pieces in syrup. Cook 5 minutes while mixing in between.
  
• Turn off stove.  
• Add 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence.Mix well.
• Divide the pieces in 3 bowls. In each bowl add 1/4 tsp food color . I used 3 colors. If you want more colors divide into more bowls.
• I used Natural Food Colors which are derived from plants; Green, orange, yellow. I use these colors in cake icing, cookies n more. If you don’t have these colors, use beetroot juice for red, turmeric for yellow. 
• Now mix the colors in. Leave bowls in counter over night or for 4-5 hrs, covered with a lid. Overnight the colors will darken and syrup will be soaked better. 
  
• Next morning, drain excess liquid, place the Tutti Frutti on a wide plate, spread in single layer. Leave till evening to dry. If possible under a ceiling fan. 
  
• Once dry,  store em in air tight container in refrigerator. 
  

Have a sweet tooth, then try my Peach cobbler, Almond Katli, Almond butter cookies recipes.