Homemade Carrot Wine

"Carrot Wine... a delicious orange coloured wine."

Ican never think about special occasions or celebrations at home without thinking about a special homemade wine. Months before the D-day my grandmother, mom and aunts would gather in the kitchen to celebrate the favorite tradition of creating the homemade wine which is to be serve for the occasion to friends and family. A small wine cup of homemade wine and a piece of fruit cake is served to guests to mark the start of any celebration and this has been a long standing tradition of hospitality among the Kerala Christians. Apart from the tradition part of homemade wines, creating your own wine and sharing it with family and friends is also a great sense of pride for any host. The varieties of homemade wine would range anything from Grape Wine, which is the most common... Beetroot Wine... Carrot Wine... Gooseberry Wine... Banana Wine... and to more rarer varieties like the Cashew-Apple Wine... JambakaChambaka(Water Rose Apple)Wine... Rose Petal Wine... Yes you read it just right; yes Rose Petal Wine which I look forward to making only if I could lay my hands on the much required rose petals which makes up the basic raw material. Just as interesting as this list of the homemade wine varieties get, my Hus T gets amused to be served various unheard varieties of wine as we go visiting our relatives during our much awaited yearly India trips. And so this time after we got back to US, I decided to try making them at home. Well only that I took quiet a while in deciding on the ingredient. Finally it was carrots that made it... Carrot Wine!!! Carrots have a natural sweetness, but lack acid. With the addition of some freshly squeezed juice of lemon and orange , carrots will make an interesting orange coloured wine. Making your own homemade carrot wine is a simple process and the following is the recipe for carrot wine.

You'll Need.....

Carrot, grated... 1 kg
Ginger, grated... 30g
Water.... 3.5 litres
Granulated Sugar.... 1 kg
Warm water.... ½ cup
Instant Yeast.... 1 tsp
Lemon Juice... 1 no:
Orange Juice... 1 no:
Cinnamon Sticks... 3-5 no:s
Cloves... 7 no:s

Here Is How....

1. Wash and peel the skin of the carrots & ginger and finely grate them using a hand grater.

2. Microwave ½ cup of water till lukewarm and dissolve a teaspoon of yeast and ½ teaspoon of sugar. Let it stand to bubble and rise. This process would revive the yeast cells prior to its use in the recipe.

3. Set a large Dutch Oven on medium-high heat and bring the water to a roaring boil. Add the grated carrots & ginger to the boiling water and boil it till its fully cooked.

4. When the carrots are well cooked, turn off the heat and let it cool off. Once the mixture cools to a temperature safe enough to handle, strain the mixture using a double cheesecloth or muslin cloth into a clean, dry and airtight container, preferably a traditional bharani. Discard the grated portion.

5. Into the wine liquid, add the sugar and the lemon and orange juice and stir with a clean and dry wooden spoon until fully dissolved. Once the wine liquid is cooled to body temperature, add the dissolved yeast froth, the cinnamon sticks and cloves.

6. Close the container airtight and allow to ferment. Store in a dry and dark space, during the fermentation period of 2-3 weeks(15 days). On the 5th day, stir the wine liquid using a clean and dry wooden spoon and let the fermentation to continue.

7. After the fermentation period is completed, strain it though a muslin cloth to remove any dead yeast and solid organic residues. Allow the cloudy liquid to clear before bottling. When clear, pour into dry bottles and store them at room temperature. Cheers!!!

Good Job Award

Wowie!!! I cant be more excited than when I'm getting my very first blog award : " GOOD JOB AWARD" for the latest blog entry on Homemade Carrot Wine. It was passed on to me by Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner. And now I would like to pass this award to five of my fellow bloggers :

• Route 79
• Easy Cooking
• Tasty Treats
• Happy Cook
• Salt & Spice

Vegan Month Nov 2008

November is Vegan Month!!! November 1st is the World Vegan Day, and all of November is celebrated as Vegan month. My fellow blogger Suganya of Tasty Pallets is hosting the blogging event : "Vegan Month, Nov 2008." And I'm submitting the entry of Homemade Carrot Wine towards this event.

Read more about Vegan Month at "Go Vegan"