Orange Coulis

This post is about comfort food. I’m sure all of us have this one particular kind of food that we love, something that reminds us of home, a childhood recipe or cooking that takes us back to the good old times. The recipe that I want to share is one of those that instantly takes me back to the times when I developed a fondness for cooking. Come winter and orange coulis, or sauce as we called it, was made very often. All of us loved it and I clearly remember hovering around my mother in the kitchen whenever she used to make this. I would be fascinated with how the sauce thickens upon cooling and she would get exasperated with all my questions. Even with all the watching, coulis is not something that I have always been very comfortable with and it has been my new year’s resolution to learn how to make this well. This time around I got all the instructions and made this with great trepidation. It turned out so well that I felt that I must share it with you.

Eat this with plain vanilla ice cream or have it like I do – sandwiched with your favorite chocolate sponge cake and vanilla ice cream.

Orange Coulis

Makes ¾ th cup

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice

2 level teaspoons cornflour or cornstarch

2 teaspoons sugar

Juice of ½ lime

A few drops of orange essence

For the orange peel to add in the sauce

Orange peel with the pith removed, cut into thin ¼ inch slices

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons sugar

Method

1. To sweeten the orange peel, put all the ingredients in a bowl and heat it (keep stirring all the while) over a low flame for 5 minutes until the sugar solution thickens and the peel softens.
2. In a saucepan, put the orange juice, cornflour and sugar and heat it over a low flame. Keep stirring this for 7 – 8 minutes until the sauce thickens a little bit.
3. Take it off the heat and add the lime juice and orange essence. Add the orange peel and let the sauce cool.
4. Enjoy it with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.