Plum Wine Recipe

Hello everyone, How are the Christmas preparations coming along? I hope at least some of you have tried some wine this year. If you are on the lookout for recipes for baking Christmas Cakes & Cookies you can search my older posts.... Since Christmas is around the corner, I thought of posting a new wine recipe that I tried recently.... Hope you guys include some of my recipes in our Christmas and New Year Menu…Do let me know if you guys try anything from my blog…..Wishing you all a happy & healthy holiday season with your loved ones!

 

Plum Wine 

Ingredients:

Plum – 1kg

Sugar- 1.25 kg (you can add only 1kg if you like dry wine)

Lime juice of 1 lime

Yeast- ½ tsp

Water- 4 liters 

Method:

• Wash plums well, Wipe water from each plum very well and chop roughly and keep aside
• Boil the water and sugar keep aside to cool down slightly.
• In a big bharani / bottle add chopped plums and hot sugar water and lime juice, stir well.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm, sprinkle yeast on top and mix well after 5 minutes. 
• When the mixture cools down completely, tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose. 
• Stir this mixture every day for 5 minutes.
• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

 Check out Tips for Making Homemade KeralaWines

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Tomato Wine Recipe

By now you all know how I love to experiment brewing wine with different fruits or vegetables… Trying out Tomato Wine recipe was in my mind for quite some time and so I made this a year ago… I was curious to know how the taste & colour would turn out… surprisingly the wine tasted nice. It is quite a strong wine… it has a slightly fruity taste and does not really taste like tomatoes… I really love the golden colour… do give it a try and let me know how you guys liked it 😊 

Tomato Wine

Ingredients:

Red ripe Tomatoes - 1 kg

Raisins - 175gm

Sugar - 750gm + 250 gm

Water - 3 litres

Yeast - ½ tsp

Lemon zest & lemon Juice from 1 big lemon (You can substitute it with orange zest and orange juice if you wish)

Method:

• Boil water and 750 gm sugar and cool it till lukewarm.
• Wash & pat dry the tomatoes. Finely chop or mash tomatoes with a potato masher.
• Add tomatoes & raisins to the warm sugar water.
• Mix well and add yeast, lemon juice & lemon zest. Be very careful not to add any white pith of lemon or orange with the zest.
• Mix all the ingredients well and keep it in an earthen jar (Bharani) or in a glass jar, cover it and leave for 21 days, stirring daily.
• On 22^nd day, strain the mixture through a cheese / muslin cloth.
• At this stage if the wine is not sweet enough for your liking, you can add rest of the 250 grams of sugar mix well and keep it again in a clean dry Bharani / glass bottle for another 21 days.
• Strain on the 22^nd day bottle and use.
• The taste will be more flavourful if you wait for it to age for two to three months after bottling.

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Grape Wine with Yeast

May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with warmth and love

Merry Christmas!! 

I had shared a Grape Wine recipe without yeast many years ago. This one is a traditional grape wine recipe with yeast and wheat. Addition of caramelized sugar gives this wine a nice colour and a subtle smoky flavour too, which my husband really enjoys. You do not have to caramelize the sugar very dark for wine as you do for cakes… just caramelize the sugar to light golden colour otherwise the wine will taste bitter! 

Grape Wine with Yeast

(Recipe Source ~ my sister-in-law)

Ingredients:

Black grapes with or without seeds - 2kg

Sugar 1 ¾ kg + ¼ kg for caramelizing (total 2kg)

Wheat  - ¼ kg (wash & sundry the wheat)

Yeast - 1 tbsp

White of one egg

Water - 4 ½ litres

Method:

• Boil water and cool it till lukewarm.
• Wash, drain and pat dry the grapes. Brust the grapes slightly with hand or with a potato masher or with back of a spoon.
• Dissolve yeast in a little lukewarm water.
• Beat the egg whites well.
• Mix well all the ingredients along with 1 ¾ kg sugar and keep it in an earthen jar (Bharani) or in a glass jar, cover it and leave for 21 days stirring daily.
• On 22^nd day, strain the mixture through a cheese / muslin cloth.
• Add ¼ kg sugar caramelised and keep it in jar for another 21 days.
• Strain on 22^nd day and use.

To Caramelize Sugar~ Heat ¼ kg sugar in a pan stirring continuously. When it becomes light golden brown add 1 cup hot water and boil. Cool and then mix it with the wine.

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Pomegranate Wine / Mathala Naranga Wine

 

Hello everyone, It’s been a long time since I have posted any new recipes... Hope you guys are fine and safe... How are the Christmas preparations coming along? I hope at least some of you have tried some wine this year. If you are on the lookout for recipes for baking Christmas Cakes & Cookies you can search my older posts.... Since Christmas is around the corner I thought of posting a couple of wine recipes I tried recently.... Hope you guys can make it just before Christmas or New Year celebrations....

Pomegranate Wine / Mathala Naranga Wine / മാതള നാരങ്ങാ വൈൻ 

Ingredients:

Pomegranate -1 kg / (6 - 8 numbers)

Sugar – 1 kg

Water – 3 ½ litres

Lemon juice and zest from one lemon

Orange juice and zest from one orange

Cloves -4 nos

Cinnamon – 1 x 2” piece

Yeast – ¾ tsp

Method:

• Cut pomegranates into half and remove all of the fruity seeds into a bowl. Be sure not to include any of the pomegranate's pith or skin, as this can cause the wine to taste bitter. Crush the pomegranate seeds slightly in the mixy or with a handheld blender or with a potato masher.
• With a citrus peeler or vegetable peeler thinly peel the orange zest and lemon zest without the white part. Extract the juice from the orange and lemon and keep aside.
• Boil sugar and water in a big vessel. When the mixture begins to boil switch off the flame. Add all the ingredients except yeast to the boiled water.  
• Mix thoroughly and allow the pomegranate mixture to stand for an hour or so, until it is lukewarm.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm, add yeast and mix well.
• Transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass bottle / bharani, cover it and leave for 20 days stirring daily.
• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched.
• After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

 Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Japanese Milk Bread Rolls / Hokkaido Milk Bread

Due to Covid19, we are under complete curfew and we are allowed to go for grocery shopping only once a week after taking an online appointment.... So I have been baking different types of breads and buns almost every day.... Seems like my family is enjoying freshly baked homemade breads versus store bought now.... I will post those successful bread recipes I tried in coming posts.... 

Japanese Milk Bread or Hokkaido milk bread is made with a simple technique involving a roux "starter" known as tangzhong.... The roux is mixed into the final dough, producing wonderfully tender bread each and every time... I have made their rolls several times with different shapes over the years.... This bread recipe was used in Sausage Rolls recipe which is one of my initial posts.... Do try these incredibly soft rolls with any shape, be it simple round buns, braided or loaf, you will not regret it....  

Japanese Milk Bread Rolls / Hokkaido Milk Bread

(Recipe from here)

Yield -8 Rolls

Ingredients:

Tangzhong (starter)

3 tablespoons (43g) water

3 tablespoons (43g) whole milk

2 tablespoons (14g) Unbleached Bread Flour / All purpose flour

Dough

2 1/2 cups (298g) Unbleached Bread Flour / All purpose flour

2 tablespoons (18g) Milk Powder

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 cup (113g) whole milk

1 large egg

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 57g) melted unsalted butter

Method:

To make the tangzhong: 

• Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
• Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.

To make the dough: 

• Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
• Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
• Gently deflate the dough, divide it into 8 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a ball, or any desired shape.
• Place the rolls into a lightly greased 8" or 9" round cake pan. Cover the pan, and let the rolls rest for 40 to 50 minutes, until puffy.  
• Preheat the oven to 176°C / 350°F. Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water), and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top; a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the middle roll should read at least 190°F.
• Remove the rolls from the oven. Allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack and cover with a cloth to cool completely.

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Kiwi Wine

As usual I am back after a long hiatus :D :D There are many things which kept me busy ignoring this space of mine. Now that many of my readers & friends started asking me why there are no updates here, I thought I have to find some time to spend here….. after all Christmas is around the corner, here is a wine recipe for all of you to try..… A friend of mine was requesting for this Kiwi Wine for the past several years… I made this wine almost a year back and with aging, the sweetness of this wine reduces significantly and become a very dry wine… So if you prefer sweet wine please add more sugar after fermentation…

Kiwi Wine

Ingredients:

Kiwi – 1 kg

Water – 3 ½ litre

Sugar – 1 kg (250 gm more if you prefer very sweet wine)

Yeast – ¾ tsp

Method:

• Peel and mash kiwi with a potato masher.
• Boil sugar & water and add boiled water to the mashed kiwi and mix well.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm add yeast and mix well and transfer the mixture into a sterilized bharani / bottle.
• When the mixture cools down completely tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose.
• Stir this mixture every day with a clean and dry spoon.
• After 21 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle. You can add more sugar at this time if you prefer sweeter wine.
• Keep this again for 21 days untouched. After 21 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Strawberry Wine & Celebrating 11 years of Food Blogging!

11 years ago, through a very dear college friend of mine, I was introduced to the ocean of flood blogging. Since then it’s been a beautiful journey learning may other aspects of cooking, different cuisines and finally into cake decoration. Many fellow bloggers become very dear friends, I interacted with many lovely readers and was acknowledged by some leading publishers too…. I had never thought that a spontaneous decision to start a blog would bring me so far. It was all because of my dear readers whose continuous encouragement took me so far, whereas many fellow bloggers of that time have completely disappeared from the blogging field! Thank you so much for the love, support and trust you guys have given me…

I had planned to post this Strawberry Wine for New Year, but the first post of the year got delayed this far :D... I made this wine exactly a year ago, that’s how I got this crystal clear colour. When you make the wine it will be really red in colour but with aging the colour changes like this one has…. It’s Strawberry season in this part of the world and it’s a really good wine, so try to make use of those beautiful strawberries while it is in season!

Strawberry Wine 

Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries - 1kg

Sugar - 1.25kg

Water - 4 litres

Yeast - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Boil the water and keep aside to cool down slightly to lukewarm. 

• Wash the fresh strawberries well. Wipe water from each strawberry very well and chop it finely and keep aside. 

• In a big bharani / bottle add sugar, chopped strawberries and lukewarm water, stir well. Sprinkle yeast on top and mix well after 5 minutes. 

• When the mixture cools down completely tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose. 

• Stir this mixture every day for 5 minutes with a clean and dry wooden spoon.

• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.

• Keep this again for 14 days untouched. After 14 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Banana Wine / Pazham Wine

May this Christmas fill your hearts with warmth, peace and joy! Have a Holy and Blessed Christmas!

Hi everybody,

Hope all of you are ready for Christmas celebrations with family and friends. Here we are also set for Christmas.

Banana wine is one of the most requested recipes. When I made it first time, a long time ago and with a completely different recipe, we didn’t like it at all. After that I never tried it but after all your requests I thought of trying it again with a new recipe and this time the wine came out really nice. I used the small palayan kodan bananas which we get in Kerala for this recipe and that is the best one to make banana wine. But if you don’t know this kind of banana or this variety is not available in your place, you can use any kind of bananas.

Banana Wine / Pazham Wine

Ingredients:

Palayan kodan Pazham (small variety ripe banana) - 800 gm

Sugar - 600gms + 250 gm*

Water - 2 ½ litre

Strong black tea made with 7 table spoons of tea leaves and 500 ml water

Yeast – ¾ tsp

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Method:

·         Boil 2 ½ litres of water and keep it aside to lukewarm.

·         Make strong tea with 500 ml water and almost 7 table spoons of tea leaves. Strain the tea and keep it aside to cool.

·         Mash the bananas and 600 gm sugar in a food processor. Mix it with lukewarm water.

·         In to this add the strained strong black tea, lemon juice and yeast. Mix everything well and transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass bottle / bharani, cover it and leave for 21 days stirring daily.

·         After 21 days, strain the mixture through a cheese / muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.

·         Do a taste test and if you feel like sugar is less you can add the rest of the 250 gm sugar and mix well.

·         Keep this again for 21 days untouched. After 21 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.  

Note:

I only added 600gms of sugar in the beginning. But after fermentation I felt the sugar is very less and added another 250 gm of sugar after straining. So if you like sweet wine you can add the total 850 gm of sugar in the beginning itself.

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Cherupayar Wine Recipe / Green Gram Wine Recipe / Mung Bean Wine Recipe/ / Mung Dal Wine

Are you surprised or intrigued to read today’s recipe name? Even I was amazed when I got a request from one of my readers, for germinated green gram wine. It was the first time I was hearing about green gram wine and never in my wildest thoughts had I ever imagined of making wine with green gram / cherupayar. But he assured me that someone in Kerala makes the wine from germinated green gram and whoever had the wine said it is one of the tastiest. He requested me to ferret out the recipe from some source. The idea circled in my head for several days and I searched all my recipe collection and over the internet too without any luck. This forced me to put on my thinking cap to develop my own recipe and experiment. So I made a small quantity of wine without germinating the green gram / cherupayar and guess what, it was a huge hit!!! This wine is one of my best experiments and whoever has tasted it so far have told me it is one of the best and tastiest wine! I will definitely try with germinated green gram next to see the difference in taste.... If you love homemade wine do try this recipe and let me know the result; I am sure you will love it :) :) 

Cherupayar Wine / Green Gram Wine / Mung Bean Wine

Ingredients:

Cherupayar /Green gram / Whole Mung Bean – 250 gms (1 cup)

Sugar- 625 gms

Lime juice and zest of 1 lime

Yeast- ¼ tsp

Raisins- 50 gm, chopped

Water- 1 ½ liters 

Method:

• Wash green gram and keep it in a strainer to drain it completely for at least 1 hour.
• Boil water and sugar and keep it aside. Add chopped raisins, lemon zest and lemon juice to the hot water and mix well.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm, add washed and well drained green gram / cherupayar and stir well, sprinkle yeast; mix well and transfer to a sterilized bharani / bottle.
• Tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose. 
• Stir this mixture every day for 20 days.
• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Pineapple Wine Recipe

How are the Christmas preparations coming along? I hope at least some of you have tried some wine this year. If you are on the lookout for recipes for baking Christmas Cakes & Cookies you can search my older posts.  Today’s recipe for Pineapple Wine is one of the most requested recipes by my readers. The best part of this wine is that you can use every part of the pineapple to make the wine, the skin, the centre core and the flesh, there is no wastage at all. I must warn you that Pineapple wine is considered to be one of the strongest wines, so please be careful while consuming :D :D   

Pineapple Wine

Ingredients:

Pineapple - 2 kg (around 2 big pineapples)

Sugar -2 kg

Water - 4 ½ litres

Yeast - 1 tsp

Orange juice from 3 Oranges

Method:

• Wash the pineapple, cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple and chop them into small pieces including the skin and the centre core.
• Add sugar and water to the pineapple pieces and give it a nice boil for 5 minutes.
• When the mixture is lukewarm add yeast and the orange juice from 3 oranges.
• Mix everything well and transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass bottle / bharani, cover it and leave for 21 days stirring daily.
• After 21 days, strain the mixture through a cheese / muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 21 days untouched. After 21 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.  

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Rambutan Wine

As usual I am back after a long hiatus ;) ;) If you are a regular reader you would know by now that if I intend to take a short break, it usually drags on for weeks :D

Since Christmas is around the corner, here is a Rambutan wine recipe for you to try. Rambutan is one of my favourite fruits and there are a couple of trees in my father’s backyard. When Rambutan is in season, Appa freezes it and keeps it along with passion fruit pulp for me to take it to Kuwait J This is a sweet wine and if you prefer less sweeter wine you may only need to add 750 gms of sugar. Do try this if you get hold of Rambutans and let me know....

Rambutan Wine

(Recipe adapted from Vanitha)

Ingredients:

Ripe Rambutan - 100 nos

Sugar - 750 gm to 1 kg

Water – 3 litre

Yeast – ½ tsp

Cloves / Grambu – 8 nos

Cinnamon stick / Karuva patta – 1 x 2” piece

Egg white – 1

Method:

• Using a small paring knife, peel away the outer shell of rambutans and put the flesh with seeds in a big clean sterilized bharani / bottle.
• Boil sugar & water and add boiled water to the Rambutan and mix well.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm add yeast, cloves and cinnamon stick and mix well.
• Beat an egg white well and add to the above cooled rambutan mix, stir well to combine everything.
• Tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose.  
• Stir this mixture every day for 20 days.
• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Grapefruit Wine Recipe

As usual a short break from blogging become a little too long, as is the case every time. I thought therefore that the first post of the year should be a wine recipe to compensate for the long-time neglected blog :) :) ... Grapefruit is a popular citrus fruit that is a terrific source of vitamins, fibre and other nutrients. It has a tart and tangy taste with an underlying sweetness. Grapefruit makes a delightful wine with a sweet and tart taste. Even though the wine will be ready in 21 days, if you allow it to age longer, you will get a mellow wine!  

Grapefruit Wine

Ingredients:

Grapefruits - 6 nos

Sugar - 1 ½ kg

Water - 4 liters

Yeast - ½ tsp

Method:

• Wash grapefruits and wipe it with a kitchen tissue or clean cloth.
• With a citrus peeler or vegetable peeler thinly peel the grapefruit zest from 3 grapefruits without the white part. Extract the juice from the all grapefruits and keep aside.
• Boil sugar, water and grapefruit zest in a big vessel.
• When the mixture begins to boil, add grapefruit juice and bring it to a nice boil and turn off the flame.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm, add yeast and transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass bottle / bharani, cover it and leave for 14 days stirring daily.
• After 14 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

Check out Tips for Making Homemade Kerala Wines

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Saffron Focaccia

Focaccia is a traditional flat Italian bread that can be flavoured with olive oil and salt and often topped with herbs, onions, or other items. It is usually served as a light snack with seasoned olive oil, olives and feta cheese, or with soup or salad and can also be made into sandwiches. 
The Saffron infused Focaccia has a dazzling yellow color, is light in texture and distinctive in flavour. The olive oil drizzled over the top makes the bread moist and generally keeps it well for longer. 

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Lemon Wine Recipe

 May every day of the New Year glow with good cheer & happiness for you & your family.

Happy New Year!

I made this Lemon Wine soon after I made Orange Wine last March.... At first just after the fermentation period, it tasted and looked like lemon juice and I was a little disappointed.... I kept the wine away and untouched for a couple of more months and again when I checked the wine, the pale color had changed to golden and the taste had changed drastically.... Now it has a unique zesty flavor of lemon mingled with the sweetness of raisins! Another successful wine experiment to add to my collection....  

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Homemade Mint Wine Recipe

Christmas is around the corner and many of you may have already started your Christmaspreparations..... I know some of you have already made wines and soaked fruits for your cake as I have been getting several emails with doubts regarding the same.... I am trying my best to reply to all of you.... But I have a small request.... please read the recipe thoroughly as most of your queries are already answered in my recipe. For e.g. I have clearly mentioned in every recipe how many days you have to stir the wine and how many days to keep the wine.... so please don’t send me questions that are already answered.... Also do check the post “Tips for making Homemade Wines” as this will help tremendously.... Thanks for understanding :)....If in case you are looking for a nice Christmas Cake recipe here is the link....

I made this Mint wine last April. It’s a really sweet dessert wine with a subtle mint taste....  Even though you can consume it after 30 days, the wine looks little cloudy. I got this very clear wine after keeping it for almost 6 months. So I suggest you allow this wine to age for approximately 6 months after which you will get a mild mint flavored clear wine.

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Mango and Passion Fruit Flavored Savarin ~ April 2013 Daring Bakers Challenge

Savarin is a yeasted cake made with the same dough as Rum Baba. I made Rum Baba a couple of years back… the difference between the two  are, rum baba has raisins or currants in the dough and is baked in tall cylindrical baba mold and served without a filling. Savarin is made without raisins and baked in a large ring mold and the hole in the centre is filled with pastry cream and fresh fruits. 

Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

I made a Mango and Passion Fruit flavored soaking syrup. The glaze was made with mango jam. I served the Savarin with fresh mangoes and vanilla whipped cream. I halved the recipe and used 2 small bundt pans for baking. We all enjoyed the Savarin and thank you Natalia for a great challenge.

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Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Hope you all had a great Easter celebration with family and friends! In Kerala traditionally we make IndariAppam on Maundy Thursday and have it for supper. Good Friday we spend 6-7 hours in church and  serve piping hot Kanji and payar at the end of mass.... And on Easter it’s always Appam and Chicken curry for breakfast, followed by a lavish lunch and dinner with non-veg delicacies made with chicken, beef, mutton and pork... Hot Cross buns are not even part of our tradition :)... But since I see a lot of Hot Cross Bun recipes all over the net during this time I too got tempted to try and made a batch of these.... I followed Poineer Women’s recipe and the buns came out super soft and delicious.....  

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