Indian Tutti Frutti from Watermelon Rind

Tutti Frutti, a colorful confectionery made from various candied fruits. Last year when i had  bought the "candied fruits & peel mix" from local store here in Canada, thought it was similar to tutti frutti available in India. But after the taste test only, realized that they were complete different. It has mix of candied fruits with various flavor, guess some are natural and some are artificially colored. Then started my search to understand how Indian tutti frutti is made !!!

In India, Tutti Frutti means artificially colored candied raw papaya  which is completely different from Western world Tutti Frutti. Throughout India it's widely used in bakery items like cookies, buns, cakes & so on.  My eagerness to make tutti frutti at home dropped when i knew that it's made from raw papaya. Because it's hard to source them here and also it takes years for me to finish off all the tutti frutti made from one whole raw papaya. Never used raw papaya in my cooking therefore don't know what else to make 

Recently through one of FB recipe sharing group, came to know this awesome recipe of making tutti frutti from watermelon rind. Stop !!! What is watermelon rind?? It's nothing but the white part in between the peel and pink flesh part. That's totally edible and also understood recently that it can also be used in making dosa, chutney, curries apart from this tutti frutti. Never tried any of those recipe, if tried, let you guys know. 

Ok, coming to the recipe, it's such a simple & easy recipe. Don't throw away the left over part of watermelon after eating the pink flesh. That's all you need to make this awesome tutti frutti. Totally amazed by the output when i had tried first time!! Hardly noticed any difference in taste & texture !! Now let's check out how to make tutti frutti from watermelon rind.

Tutti Frutti from Watermelon Rind

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 1/3 cup 
Recipe Category: Basic | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Tutti Frutti,Watermelon Rind, Indian Tutti Frutti,How to make, Homemade Tutti Frutti Making Indian Tutti Frutti from watermelon rind is so easy !! The taste and texture is so similar to the original which are made from raw papaya.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Watermelon rind - 1 & 1/2 cup(chopped)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup
Food colors - few drops

Procedure

Take the watermelon rind and peel the skin and try to remove all the pink flesh part(if there is any left)

Cut them into stripes and later into small cubes. 

In a sauce pan, add the sugar and water & put it on the flame.

Once the sugar is all melted, add the watermelon rind . Let it comes to boil and keep the flame in low and simmer for 10 - 12 mins.

Remove from the flame and let it cool a bit. The watermelon rinds look transparent when it's cooked. Divide the cooked watermelon rind into three equal bowl.

Add few drops of food colors(i have used yellow, red and green) in each bowl & mix it well.Let it sit aside for 1 hr.

Then drain the excess sugar syrup and spread it on plate and let it dry completely. When it dries, it shrink its size.  

Tutti Frutti is ready. Store it in air tight container for future use. It can be used in all types of sweet bakery items . Check out  this coconut bun/thengai bun recipe on how i have incorporated tuttti frutti in it. 

Notes:

• Cook the watermelon rind until it's transparent and still retains its shape. Don't over cook them otherwise it would be mushy.
• Use any color as you like.
• For orange color, i have used mix of red & yellow color.
• Make sure to let it dry completely and then store it.
• Initially when the tutti frutti is wet, i have used  parchment paper to avoid the color getting transferred to the vessel, once it's non sticky, transfer into clean plate for further drying.
• Color get intensify when it's dried completely.