Ingredients

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1-2 kilograms (enough for four servings) of just about any fruit: strawberry, melon, pineapple, mango, cherry, apple, orange, grape, kiwi, banana, whatever
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
4 cardamon pods
4 star anise

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Method :

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In a pot on medium heat, put the sugar, lemon juice, and water and begin to heat it (not to a boil). Bruise the cardamon, which means setting each pod on a cutting board, laying a big knife over it on its side and gently smacking your hand down on the knife to flatten the pod to open just a little, or doing the same thing with a flat heavy surface like a meat pounder. Put the cardamon with the star anise in the pot, but I want to give you an option.

If you are just doing this single recipe, you can pull the cardamon and anise out later so people won't eat it. If you are doubling or tripling the recipe, then put the cardamon and star anise in a cheese cloth made into a tea bag. This way, you can reuse it one more time and easily keep all the little bits and pieces from being eaten.

Heat the syrup until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. When the liquid is clear, though slightly reddish in color from the star anise, turn off the heat and let it cool.

Cut up the fruit into small bite-sized pieces and put into a sealed container that will easily fit into your refrigerator. When the syrup has cooled, pour it over the fruit, either leaving the cardamon and anise in or straining it into a cheese cloth and putting the collected seeds into the mixture, and store it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Overnight is great, too.

Serve it up in bowls and invite your guests to drink the syrup out of the bowl after they finish the fruit.