Six ways to build a low-fat fruit salad using tropical fruit that is already in season in Malaysia, so you are not paying import prices for grapefruit and berries out of season. Same rule every time: skip the syrup, and let the fruit plus a few chopped fresh dates do the sweetening.
Papaya, lime and ginger — for iftar
Cube half a ripe papaya, squeeze over one lime, and grate in a thumb-sized piece of ginger. Add three chopped dates and stir. This one is meant to sit in the fridge from asar to maghrib — the ginger gets sharper the longer it waits, which is the point.
Dragon fruit and kiwi — for a potluck
Cube white dragon fruit and kiwi in roughly equal amounts. Dragon fruit has almost no flavour on its own, so it needs the kiwi's sharpness and two or three chopped dates to taste like something. Serve it the same day; dragon fruit turns watery by the next morning.
Guava and starfruit — this is where a decent date matters
Thin-sliced guava and starfruit, tossed with chopped Medjool dates from https://greendiamond.com.my. A dry, papery date will not soften into the mix, so use one that is still a little sticky. Add a pinch of salt; it sounds wrong until you taste what it does to the guava.
Jackfruit and longan — for kids
Fresh jackfruit segments, not the tinned kind packed in syrup, with peeled longan and two chopped dates. Kids tend to eat this one without arguing, which is the only real test of a kids' recipe.
Pomelo and pomegranate — for a hot afternoon
Segment the pomelo by hand to get the bitter membrane off each piece, or it ruins the whole bowl. Add pomegranate seeds and a date or two, chopped small so the seeds do not outnumber them by the spoonful.
Banana and passionfruit — office lunch, no prep the night before
Slice banana just before eating so it does not brown, spoon passionfruit pulp over the top, and drop in one chopped date. The whole thing takes under two minutes, which matters more on a workday than any of the other five.
For the dates themselves — grade, price, and where to buy in bulk once six salads a week becomes a habit — Pembekal Kurma Seri kembangan is worth a look. A box works out cheaper per salad than a small pack.