Category: Small swigs

Chaayran: chaas or ayran?

Last time I was in Istanbul, I made acquaintance with the Turkish yogurt drink, ayran. It was reminiscent of the Indian yogurt drink chaas. Here is my version drawing form both with an African touch- baobab. Enjoy.

SPECIAL TOOLS:

Blender with whipping disk.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2.

  • 1 cup yogurt + 1 cup water with
    • 1 tsp baobab powder + juice of 1/2 lime
    • 1/2 tsp grated ginger (optional)
    • 1/2 tsp black salt powder + dash of regular salt
  • Garnish (optional): lime zest

METHOD

Run all ingredients except garnish in a blender with a whipping disk, for a minute. Pour into serving glass and garnish.

Serve with meals.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. Ayran is usually served with grilled meat and chaas is usually a summer drink with meals.
  2. The ratio of 3/4 cup yogurt to 1 1/2 cup water also works out well.
  3. You could add spices like cumin powder, chilli powder and herbs such as cilantro, mint.

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Atole

Tejate is also a masa based drink, a specialty of Oaxaca (see also my Insta post) but atole appears to be a friendlier drink in terms of producing it from scratch, right in your very own kitchen. Lightly thickened by masa, with all the aroma heavy-hitters (cinnamon, vanilla), this drink is amazingly comforting. Enjoy hot on a cold winter day.

SPECIAL TOOLS:

None.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 1 solo drink.

  • 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup water with
    • Flavor: 1 large stick of cinnamon
    • Sweetener: 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
    • Flavor enhancer: a dash of salt
  • Slurry: 1 tsp masa harina mixed with about 2 oz water
  • Extra flavor: 2 drops of vanilla essence
  • Garnish: dust of cinnamon powder

METHOD

In a thick-bottomed pot, bring the liquid base with its fortifying ingredients to a slow simmer. Then remove the cinnamon stick. Mix in the slurry and the vanilla essence. Simmer on low, while stirring so that lumps don’t form nor stick to the bottom. When it is thick enough (coats the back of a spoon). Pour into a serving latte cup and dust with cinnamon powder.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. Enjoy your atole in your atelier! 🙂
  2. The drink is adapted from https://www.isabeleats.com/mexican-atole/.
  3. I leave the cinnamon stick (if it does not break) till the very end.
  4. Atole is reminiscent of Turkish Salep, both in texture and a flavor array. The star in Salep is an orchid tuber (see wiki) and the flavors are orange blossom/ rose water with pistachio dustings. In my last trip to Istanbul, I brought back a box of Salep drink, but was disappointed to find that it had no tuber but substitutes like corn starch. A lesson learnt: read ingredients list very carefully.

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Horchata Matcha with Blackstrap Molasses

Mexican horchata with Japanese matcha tea. The rice and the molasses combo is reminiscent of my Indian grandmother’s rural kitchen. It has become my favorite kick-back, unwind, Sunday afternoon latte and is sure to challenge all your lattes. Enjoy!

SPECIAL TOOLS:

High powered blender or Nutr.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 1 solo drink.

  • In 1 1/2 cup water in a mason jar, soak overnight:
    • grain: 1/2 tbsp brown rice OR millet +
    • nuts: 1 tbsp almonds OR pecan+
    • aromatic: 1/3 stick cinnamon OR 1 whole cardamom +
    • a dash of Himalayan pink salt
  • Green matcha tea (optional): 1 tsp matcha powder, with 1 tbsp hot water, well mixed
  • Sweetener: 1 tbsp agave OR blackstrap molasses

METHOD

Run the horchata ingredients with the water through a blender or Nutr and strain back into the mason jar. Heat and add the green tea, if using, and the sweetener.

Serve hot or iced.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. Blackstrap molasses has all the goodness of a regular sweetener but –almost impossibly!- is also an ingredient of clean eating. Check https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-blackstrap-molasses
    However, it also dominates the flavor, so if you want your cardamom to come through you may use a more neutral sweetener like agave.
  2. The horchata is adapted from https://www.thehealthymaven.com/iced-horchata-latte/.
  3. For the hot version of the tea, I use the microwave to warm the horchata (1 min at 60% power; but you may want to adjust with yours).

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Tejate-inspired Holiday Drink

The beginning of summer deserves a new drink. I was exposed to tejate in a food market in Oaxaca, where masa (processed -nixtamalized- corn) and water was being mixed manually. The process looked both impressive and intriguing (see also my Instagram post). And, the concept of masa in a cacao drink is equally fascinating. Lacking talent and patience, I resort to a high powered blender, substituting hyper-local flora with baru nuts (of South American origin) and a final spike (Cacao liqueur)!! This was my Memorial Day holiday’s final drink- a resounding hit. Enjoy!

SPECIAL TOOLS:

High powered blender.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 3 small drinks.

  • 2 tbsps (toasted) baru nuts + 2 tbsp good quality cacao powder + 2 tbsp masa harina
  • 2 cups coconut water + 1/2 cup ice
  • 1 dash of salt + 1 tsp almond essence 1 tbsp of maple syrup
  • cacao liqueur (optional)

METHOD

Run all ingredients, except liqueur, in blender till well mixed. Serve chilled, with a dash (or more) of cacao liqueur.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. You could use any other nut like almonds or cashews.
  2. I wanted to use lilac flowers, but I missed the blooming season by a week or so. Alas! May be next year. Orange blossoms or lavender or bergamot could be very good choices too (they are in my list to-experiment list)
  3. Even coffee liqueur is a good choice.

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Turkish coffee: my way

I approached the traditional coffee in Istanbul with some trepidation –having heard quite aplenty about strong, unfiltered coffee– But I was mildly surprised with how good and addictive the coffee was (with a dash of sugar). Not at all uncommon to find little, medium or more sugar in the coffee of Istanbul denizens. The coffee is generally served with water (in a little 2 oz glass) and the quintessential confection, a Turkish delight.

The coffee sets with the tiny coffee cups and matching trays, in engraved copper, looked very enticing in Grand Bazaar. I instantly succumbed. I also bought a matching coffee pot (cezve) with intricate carvings in the body and the characteristic long handle. It looked so small to me that I mistook it for a single-cup pot and complained to the shopkeeper; he promptly pointed me to an even tinier (single-cup) pot.

There are even electric coffee makers that one of my Turkish hostesses used, claiming she even carried them with her when she traveled. But I had been seduced by the copper stove-top ones. The coffee is surprisingly easy to make. Here goes.

Coffee grounds: The Turkish coffee ground is very, very fine. Like flour. If you grind your own, use your finest setting. If you use a scale, then approx 7 gms per cup. By volume, 1/2 tbsp (or 1 1/2 tsp) grounds per cup. Each Turkish cup is about 2 oz (a demitasse).

Extraction: For 1 cup (approx 2 oz) of coffee, place 1/2 tbsp ground coffee in a dry cezve. Note, the 2 serving cezve is about 6 oz. Using the serving cup as a measure, pour 1 cup of water into the pot. Mix well. Then place on very low heat. Do NOT stir. In a few minutes, the mixture froths and begins to rise from the sides. Quickly pour about half the contents into the cup with the crema on top. Then put the pot back on the heat and let the remaining half froth up again for the final time. Then pour the second half into the cup. The crema on top is a sign of a good extraction (just like an Italian espresso, although the latter is filtered).

My way: I experimented with half milk and half water OR all milk, instead of all water. And, no sugar. It has been consistently turning out great. With rich crema. Enjoy the way or my way!!

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Baobab Kombucha

While fourth of July is best celebrated in the time of Covid-19 in responsible and measured isolation, here is an incredible summer bubbly to cheer you up! Homemade kombucha is used here, but farmers market or store bought is equally uplifting. Baobab debuted only recently, but is already heading towards becoming the queen of the pantry!


SPECIAL TOOLS:

None.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 tsp Baobab powder
  • 1 cup kombucha (chilled)
  • 1 tsp honey (optional)

METHOD

Place the powder in a glass. Pour the kombucha over the powder, mix with wire whisk so the powder is blended (few seconds). Serve immediately.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. If using honey, first mix it well with the powder, using the wire whisk, before adding the kombucha.
  2. The Baobab powder adds a little citrus, but a lot of fizz!

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