Ginger Wine

Ingredients:

Ginger          -- 250 gm.
Sugar            -- 1 ¼kg
Dried Red chillies -- 10 - 12
Citric Acid  -- 2 tsp
Yeast            --  ¼ tsp
Water           --  3 liters

Preparation :

Grate the ginger. Add the sugar, ginger and chillies to the water and let it boil.
Reduce the flame and let it simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes. Keep it aside.

The next day, strain the wine into a big glass bottle / big glass vessel. The bottle should be clean and dry.

In ¼ cup of luke warm water, add yeast and a teaspoon of sugar and let it rise.

Add citric acid and the yeast to the bottle and mix.Leave for 3 days.

You will see sediments in the bottom, without shaking the bottle, transfer the wine into smaller bottles.

Serve chilled.

Chilly Paneer

Ingredients: (Serves 3 - 4 as starters):

Paneer(cubed)      --   200 gms  
All purpose flour  --   1½ tbsp
Corn flour                --   1½ tbsp

Onion                         --   1
Capsicum                 --   1
Green chillies         --   2 - 3
Garlic                         --   5-6 cloves
Soy sauce                 --   2  tsp
Chilly sauce             --   1 tbsp, I used green chilly sauce
Tomato sauce         --   1 tbsp
Vinegar                     --   1 –2 tsp
Pepper powder      --    ½ tsp
Coriander  leaves  --  3 - 4 sprigs , chopped
Salt                              --   as required
Oil                                --   as required

Preparation:

Mix the all purpose flour and corn flour. Add salt and few tablespoons of water and mix well to make a semi-thick batter. Dip the paneer cubes in this batter and deep fry until it slightly turns brown. The paneer should have/only have a thin coating of the batter just to hold its shape.

You can omit the above step of frying, but make sure that you don't break the paneer cubes in further steps. Otherwise, store bought fried paneer works good too. I did not fry it this time, but it was the cubed ones from the store – so I could manage without breaking it.
 
Cut the onion and capsicum into small cubes. Slit the green chillies and thinly slice the garlic and keep aside.

In a pan add 2 - 3 tsp oil and once it gets hot, add the green chillies and garlic. Sauté for a minute and then add the cubed onions. Saute until it gets transparent. Add the cubed capsicum. Increase the flame to high and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the raw taste of the capsicum is gone. You can see that the colour changes slightly when capsicum is done.

Reduce the flame and add the soya sauce, chilly sauce, tomato sauce and vinegar. Mix well. Do a taste test and then add required salt. The sauces will already have some salt in it and hence make sure you do a test before adding the salt.

Add the fried paneer cubes and carefully mix well until the paneer is well coated with the sauces. Garnish with pepper and coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

Wishing You All Merry Christmas with a glass of wine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients:

Black Seedless grapes  --   ½ kg
Sugar                                  --   5 cup sugar
Egg White                         --   ½ of a large egg
Yeast                                  --   1 tsp
Wheat kernels                --   ¾ cup
Water                                 --   6 - 8 cups
Cloves                                --   3 - 4
Cinnamon                        --   1 small stick
Cardamom                      --   1 - 2

Preparation of Wine:

Boil the water in a clean vessel. Let it cool completely.
In another cup of luke warm water,add yeast and set it aside for 15 -  20 min.
Clean and dry the grapes. Crush the grapes well. I used a mortar,but your hands should also do a wonderful job.Make sure it is clean.



Take a clean dry jar, preferably a dark colour one with a tight lid. The jar should have the capacity to fill in double the quantity of the above ingredients.
Now add the crushed grapes,sugar, wheat kernels, spices, yeast, beaten egg white and water. Cover the mouth of the jar with a clean cloth and tie tightly. Close with the tight lid.



Keep this in a dark corner for 21 days. I was using a glass jar and hence covered it with foil paper to make it dark. Stir this with a clean and dry wooden spoon every day.
On the 21st day, strain the mix with a muslin cloth / cheese cloth into a clean and dry glass jar. Keep this for minimum of 21 days, removing the sediments every 3 - 4 days until you get a clear water. Use dark colour jars/ bottles to store the wine to preserve its colour.

Recipe Courtesy: Vanitha magazine