Very Berry Summer in Delhi

It’s Summer and the special seasonal fruits have made an appearance. I don’t know what falsa is called in English but this is what it looks like.

Falsa- Summer Berry

The young ones are pink and strong, brash and sour. The mature berries are deep purple , wrinkled, wise and sweet but they still have a hard nut. I think they look and taste a little similar to blueberries. Normally they are eaten- sweet and sour- along with the seed/nut. But a much better proposition is falsa juice.

Here’s how:

Wash the berries, boil them in ample water.

Let the water cool down and crush the life out of them with your bare hands.

Strain.

This juice is very very sour, so beware.

At this stage it looks like this: A beautiful cloudy pink.

Pink Juice with pink peppercorns

Try it as salad dressing with olive oil. Or continue to make juice. Add sugar to taste and let it boil until it is dissolved.

For the color conscious, brown sugar makes the juice brown and white sugar leaves it pink. I put brown sugar so to bring some blush back, I added crushed pink peppercorns. They usually compliment sour taste.

250gm falsa made me a half empty glass of juice. Unfortunately there’s no picture of the final preparation because by the time I got back to the kitchen with the camera, the glass was fully empty and the husband was oddly pleased.

Oh yes, don’t forget to add some salt.

(You can also add mint leaves for extra flavour. )

(Actually it makes a great base for cocktails too.)

(If you reduce it further you can probably also use it as tart-sweet chicken glaze, a little like pomegranate molasses. ) If you try that, do share the results

Tags: Berry, Cooler, Cuisine, Delhi, Falsa, Food, India, Juice, Summer