Bael, a healthy & nutritious Indian fruit is known for its juice. The Bael or wood apple is an indigenous tree of India which also grows in the countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Pakistan & most of the South east Asian countries. The sourness of bael fruit makes it a perfect fit to make juice. The juice is also used as a medicine in Ayurveda and folk medicines to treat various ailments. The juice is very common in North east and other parts of India especially during summer.
The tree and
fruit is believed to be the favorite of lord Shiva. The heart touching story of
Shabari (an old and ardently devoted women known for her Bhakthi towards lord Rama)
is not very new to many of us! The story mentions the name Bael fruit. It goes
as “Shabari wandered the forest with walking stick to find best offerings for
lord Rama, and used to keep only the best tasted Bael fruits after tasting it.
She was blessed by Rama for her devotion.” The practice continued with the process
of making bael juice or panaka on the occasion of Ram Navami along with
Kosambri/ moong salad as an offering to lord Rama and then distribute the same
as prasad. The juice is seasonal and definitely it is the best during the
summer when Ram Navami is celebrated. Similarly kosambri is good as it is light,
juicy and the raw ingredients used are summer friendly and each of them have
the cooling properties.
Now, lets
learn how to make bael juice. Here you can check my recipe of Bael gojju.
Preparation
time: 1 hour (includes soaking time)
Serves: 4 glasses
Ingredients:
Bael fruit/
wood apple/ Belada hannu – 1 large (or 2 small)
Jaggery
powder – ¼ cup or little more
Cardamom
powder – of 2 cardamoms
Pepper
powder – of 4 corns
Water – 4 glasses
Method:
- Crack the bael shell with a sickle/ using a stone. Scoop out the pulp into a bowl.
- Add 1-2 glasses of water, squeeze using fingers a bit. Cover the lid and keep aside for 45 minutes. No worries even if it is more time ( up to 3-4 hours or overnight refrigerated).
- Once soaked well and pulp loosens up, run through a sieve/ juice strainer pressing with a spatula gently.
- Pour remaining 2 glasses of water little by little and follow the above process until you extract complete juice and left out only seed and the hard fibrous part of the fruit.
- Now, add jaggery powder to the extracted juice. Add cardamom & pepper powder.
- Keep stirring the juice until jaggery is dissolved in juice and it combines well.
- Pour the sherbat to the serving glass and add ice cubes (optional) which I prefer as it tastes & feels great to have the juice with added ice.
Notes:
- A pinch of salt can be added to the juice if you like it.
- Optionally crushed mint leaves can be added too.
- Cardamom & Pepper powder can be replaced by Cumin powder.
Comments
Post a Comment