As the summer fruit makes an appearance in the city, noted chef Rahul Akerkar suggests different ways to spice up its use at home
Easy boozy
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Simply infusing vodka into a whole watermelon is one of the easiest, and tastiest, ways of giving the fruit an alcoholic spin. Akerkar says he has tried it multiple times and can vouch for the fact that it's "an amazing way to drink vodka". So give it a shot at home since you barely have to put any effort into making this drink.
Rahul Akerkar
Ingredients
. One whole watermelon
. A 750-ml vodka bottle
Method
Bore a hole into the watermelon, through the green rind and into the red pulp. Ensure that the hole is exactly the size of the mouth of the vodka bottle. Next, overturn the bottle of vodka into the hole and leave it overnight. You will find that most of it has been absorbed, depending on the size of the fruit. After that, all you have to do is cut it and feast on the boozy slices.
Do aur do char
Grilling a watermelon for a salad gives it a chewy and spongy texture since it loses water, and adding chilli powder to the fruit gives it a khatta-meetha flavour. The combination goes well with pretty much any salad. The idea is to take a whole slice of the watermelon and char it in a grill or, if you don't have one, a ribbed or even regular frying pan.
Ingredients
. 250 gm watermelon slice
. A pinch of chilli powder
. A pinch of cumin powder (optional)
. 100 gm each of vegetables (whole onions, Brussels sprouts, sliced zucchinis)
Method
Roast your desired combination of vegetables to make a compatible palate out of that. Remove the seeds and rind from the watermelon slice, and put it in the grill or on the frying pan. Sprinkle the chilli powder, and cumin powder if you want to give it an extra chatpata kick. Char the fruit till it loses half its water before chopping it and tossing it with the roasted veggies.
A cheesy choice
There's a good reason why watermelon and feta cheese salads had become ubiquitous in city restaurants before the lockdown. The combination of the two is a match made in heaven. "With this option, you also give a fresher treatment to the salads than when you char it," Akerkar tells us, adding that he doesn't want to give too many details about other ingredients to use since the watermelon-feta combination lends itself well to all kinds of salads.
Ingredients
. 100 gm chopped watermelon
. 50 gm feta cheese
. 100 gm of different lettuces like arugula, curly, red-leaf or iceberg
. 6 cherry tomatoes
Method
Ensure that the watermelon doesn't have seeds and chop the feta cheese into small cubes. Toss all the ingredients together, and that's it. It's that simple to make this salad.
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