indian-inspired sorbet

when planning our indian meal last week i wanted to create a light pudding, knowing that people would probably over-indulge with the curries (it happens every time!). cardamom sorbet got fixed in my mind and i decided pear would be a good second flavour.

unfortunately the pears i bought turned out to be hard and not very flavoursome so i was stuck with tinned ones, which i blitzed to a pulp in my food processor.

luckily the tinned pears worked fine and the flavours combined well.

pear and cardamom sorbet (serves 8)

200ml water

6 tablespoons caster sugar

10 cardamom pods, seeds removed and lightly crushed

500g pear pulp

juice of ½ a lemon

put the water, sugar and cardamom seeds in a pan over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. simmer for a few minutes until a thin syrup forms. add the syrup and lemon juice to the pear pulp.

put your sorbet in the freezer and stir it every half hour, for the first 3 hours to prevent crystallisation.