Sumedha's blog on fruit juices

Papaya Juice

2009-10-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

This is a no-brainer & I am sure most of you have tried this at least once.

Warning
"It is speculated that unripe papayas may cause miscarriage due to its latex content that may cause uterine contractions which may lead to a miscarriage, though this has never been proven. Papaya seed extracts in large doses showed to have a contraceptive effect on rats and monkeys, but in small doses were shown to have no effect on the unborn animals - Allergies and side-effects - wikipedia for Papaya"

Ingredients(for three)

500g of Papaya (I used one half shown in the picture)
3 table spoons of sugar
3 glasses of water

Steps

Completely remove the part attached to the stem(if not, this can introduce some bitterness)
Remove seeds, peel off the skin & put the remainder to blender
Add sugar, one glass of water & blend until all pieces disappear
Add more water & blend for 15 seconds

Things to try

Deep freeze the fruit before starting. This will bring-in cooling effect which is neither too much nor too little.
Instead of adding water, you can try ice cubes. Just make sure your blender can deal with ice before doing so ;-)

Keep in mind

Do not add too much sugar. Papaya already has sugar & you should only add sugar to match the amount of water you add in.
Papaya juice has this tendency to get melted once it's open to air, which can be an unpleasant experience to some. So fill in the glasses when your about to serve.
Do not keep the juice in open air. It gets staled very quickly.

Here's how it came out ..

Wood-Apple juice

2009-09-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

Wood-apple (elephant-apple) is a seasonal fruit in Sri Lanka. It's rich with Calcium & Protein.

Ingredients(for three)

one wood-apple (medium size)
5 - 6 table spoons of sugar
3 - 4 glasses of water

Steps

Scrape the wood-apple content to the blender
Add 1 glass of water (so that blender blade can rotate freely) & sugar
Blend until you see all the big pieces no more
Add rest of the water & blend for 10 seconds

Things to try

Some add coconut milk instead of water. But I hate it for two reasons. One, coconut takes away the natural taste of wood-apple. Two, I am not good @ making coconut milk. :-)

Strawberry juice

2009-09-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

Wify has been asking for strawberry juice for sometime. But I had a hard time finding fresh strawberry on super markets I visit regularly. Finally managed to buy some & here's how the drink came up. Since this is my first time with strawberry, had to be careful with not adding too much water or sugar. I was particularly amazed @ the amount of red colour one piece of strawberry could add in.

Ingredients (2 persons)

6 pieces of strawberry (medium size)
3 - 4 table spoons of sugar

Things to try

You can try adding some ripe guava. This will add a nice smoothie taste to the drink.
Mix with yoghurt
Do not add too much sugar or water. Strawberry has some water inside & it's ideal if you blend it first with very little amount of water as possible, taste it & add more water as needed.

Here's how it came up....

Star Fruit (Kamaranka) Juice

2009-02-24T20:42:00.000-08:00

(preparation details pending)

About Star Fruit (Kamaranka - in Sinhalese)

Papaya + Mango juice

2009-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

(preparation details pending ;-))

Cold tea

2009-02-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

Ingredients (for one person)

1/4 cup of boiling water
1 tea bag
1 table spoon of sugar
1 drop of vanilla
1/2 table spoon of lime juice
1/2 cup of ice water
3-4 ice cubs

Steps

Prepare tea using boiling water as usual
Add vanilla & let it season for 1-2 minutes
Add tea, cold water, lime & ice cubes together
Blend a bit (to crush ice cubes into small pieces - do not make them too small)

Things to try (or avoid)

Do not add lime to hot water, it will kill the taste & nourishment
I find Green tea unsuitable for this.
You might want to add few drops of ginger

Finally,

Clean up the mess

Carrot Drink

2009-02-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 Medium size(5 inches) Carrots
4 table spoons of lime
5 table spoons of Sugar

Steps

Slice off top part of the carrot (section where leaves fit in - it tastes bad)
Cut the carrots into pieces & put them to blender jug
Add lime
Add sugar and one glass of water
Blend until you see carrot pieces no more
Add two more glasses, blend for some more time & serve

Things to try

If you do not like the taste of Carrot, add more lime.

Finally,

Clean up the mess

Ambarella drink

2008-10-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorites.

Ingredients

2 Medium size raw Ambarellas
3 Table Spoons of Sugar

Steps

Wash Ambarellas thoroughly.
Do not remove the green skin
Cut small cubes (1cm x 1cm x 1cm) & put them to blender jug
Cut cubs until you reach the spiny seed & do not forget to enjoy the seed while you continue with rest of the steps
Add sugar
Add one glass of water & start blending
Blend for 1 minute with 2-3 pauses in the middle
Add 2 more glasses of water, blend for 10s & serve

Things to try

Do not filter the juice, serve with small greeny pieces (result of skin getting crushed against blender blades) straight from blender jug
If you want to feel the pieces while drinking, reduce the blending time
Add some salt(but only a very little amount)
Choosing ripen Ambarellas would result in a different taste

Finally,

Clean up the mess

Measures

2008-10-04T13:37:00.001-07:00

Unless specified, I always prepare for three. Hence you need to adjust the quantities to match your serving head count.

What you need?

2008-10-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Apart from the obvious, following items are needed during preparation.

A simple blender with tightly closing lid (it can get messy sometimes....believe me)
Drinking water(Do not use chlorinated water without boiling, as it sometimes can effect the taste)
Sugar
Salt
It is advisable not to serve some drinks in clear drinkware - not all drinks are visually appealing ;-)
Most importantly, a wife who do not mind you messing around in her kitchen ;-)

The Disclaimer

2008-10-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

I shall not be held responsible for any sickness, nausea, illness,ailment,etc..etc.. after trying/while preparing these recipes. In simple terms, try these @ your own risk !!!.

Why this blog?

2008-10-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

I am a great fan of home made fruit juices. Most importantly, I like to make them !!!!.....

I think I picked the simple art of making fruit juices from my parents. Especially from my mother, who would blend most of the fruits/some selected vegetable & make delicious drinks out of them. Wife & father are my regular tasters. Although my mother occasionally tastes them, she is always doubtful if I washed my hands properly before preparation ;-) .

I end up trying new combinations once in a while & thought of putting these simple recipes online so that anyone interested can try these(read the disclaimer ;-) ) @ home.