Although the mercury dipped further in the city last week, we braved the chill in the air for the sake of indulging in fresh ice-creams as Mumbai-based franchise, Apsara Ice Creams, launched its first outlet in the city. “All the ice creams are 100 per cent vegetarian, made of fresh fruits and prepared in traditional wooden sanchas which have less air content and are more creamy,” says B Satish Pruthvi, who helms the city-based franchise along with three of his friends, N Lakshmikanth Rao, Ch Srinivas Rao and M Adithya Maruthi Vamsi.
Before you head towards the kiosk, what grabs your attention is the graffiti on the wall. The illustration of Hyderabadis enjoying ice cream in the backdrop of Charminar is relatable, hence makes you smile. We begin the sampling session with some of their bestsellers, Guava Glory and Scrumptious Sitaphal. The sweet and sour flavour of the guava is well complemented by the chilli powder dust. The latter, churned out of locally available custard apples, is delicately flavoured. Next up, we tried their Pan Pasand. Prepared to remind you of the Calcutta Meetha Pan, this dessert with dried kesar and kulfi flakes is a tad too rich for our palate.
We then moved to the slightly more decadent offerings, Cookies and Cream and Café Caramel. We understand why this particular ice-cream has found more takers, even though it isn’t as unique as their other offerings such as Tamarind Twist. The chocolate chip cookies make for a dessert which melts-in-your-mouth. Strictly for earnest coffee lovers, it has a bitter tinge and might remind you of tiramisu. Their sorbets retain the natural flavour of the fruit, and their Watermelon Wonder is no different. We saved the best for the last: their signature sorbet, Pani Puri Pataka. It tickles your taste buds with their spicy and tangy hints. We can’t help but love it when a street food favourite makes for a dessert!
Price for two: Rs 150.