It’s that time of year to relish sweet, fresh and juicy pineapples in a variety of delicious ways.

You can eat the fruit, add it to your bowl of salad, drink its fresh juice, mix and match with meat or chicken or make a succulent dessert.

This recipe is a simple combination of pineapple with chicken, which complement each other wonderfully.

The writer can be contacted at hussina@rediffmail.com

Pineapple Drumstick Chicken

Cooking time 45 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 chicken drumsticks

1 small pineapple

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

3 small red chillies cut thin

Half a cup coconut milk

1 cup water

Salt as required

Preparation

Using a large, sharp knife, cut off the bone ends of the chicken drumsticks.

Remove any skin or fat from the chicken drumsticks.

Peel and core pineapple, cut into 2cm cubes.

Heat oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the drumsticks till brown.

Remove chicken drumsticks from pan and keep aside.

In the same oil and pan, add the onion and fry until brown.

Add garlic, fresh ginger and red chillies and fry for 1 minute.

Add the fried chicken drumsticks in the pan and fry for few minutes.

Pour in coconut milk and water; bring to a boil on medium heat.

Add salt as required.

Reduce heat to low, cover and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Check the gravy consistency as preferred.

Serve with hot cooked rice.

Radiance route

Every woman wants to look her best on her wedding day. However, these days, because of lack of time, most brides don’t have the time to start the pamper process weeks ahead of the wedding to ensure best results. But a healthy diet can go a long way to ensure you look radiant on D-Day.

A high-protein diet before the wedding is a must for glowing skin and hair. Carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals should all be had in moderate quantities. Lots of fruit juice, especially citrus fruits like sweet lime, orange and grapes are a must, as they will give the skin a healthy glow.

For those who are not overweight, four-five almonds soaked in water with a spoon of honey is recommended in the morning to improve skin texture. Drinking milk with a dash of kesar is also very effective.

Too much oil and starch should be avoided as these might cause sudden weight gain and may also affect the skin.

Among vegetables, have carrot, cucumber, beetroot, and raw papaya. Chicken soup with these vegetables will do good, as will an egg a day.

Fruit juices are good for the skin and a bowl of ripe papaya daily will go far. A bowl of sour curd made at home with double-toned milk can be consumed any time during the day. This will show on the skin and hair.

Apart from this, a regular visit to the beautician and following up with beauty treatments at home is important.

A few freehand exercises should be done for 15 minutes every day for enhanced blood circulation.

Also, 10 minutes of breathing exercises is a must to relieve stress.