Wine Recipes - Part 2

Passion Fruit Wine
Ingredients:
Passion fruit pulp-1kg (without the white pith)
Sugar-1 to 1 1/2kg (if the passion fruit is very sour use 1 1/2kg or use only 1 kg)
Boiled and cooled water- 3 bottles (750ml bottles)
Yeast-1 tsp (I only used ¼ tsp)
Egg white -1 beat nicely
Method:

·         Mix passion fruit pulp, sugar, water and yeast.

·         Beat egg white well and mix well with above mix.

·         Pour this into a clean sterilized bharani / bottle and tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose. Keep aside for 21 days.

·         Stir the mixture with a clean wooden spoon every day.

·         After 21 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth.

·         Keep the wine in the vessel covered with a clean cloth for 6 hours and again strain the mixture and pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.

Jaathikka Wine / Nutmeg Fruit Wine

Ingredients:

Jaathikka Thodu / Yellow fruity cover of Nutmeg -1 kg

Sugar- 1 ¼ - 1 ½ kg

Boiling water - 3 bottles (750ml bottles)

Yeast-1/4 tsp
Method:

·         Put chopped jaathikka and sugar in a bharani / bottle and add boiling water and mix well.

·         When warm sprinkle yeast and mix well.

·         When the mixture cools down, tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose.

·         Stir this mixture every day for 5 minutes.

·         After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.

·         Keep this again for 20 days untouched. After 20 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use.

Red Grape Wine

Ingredients:
Black Grapes -1kg

Sugar- 1 kg

Normal Wheat Grains - 50 gms

Cloves - 5 nos

Method:

• Wash grapes and remove stems.
• Fill the clay jar with grapes and sugar layer by layer and add cloves.
• Clean the wheat grain in water and tie it in white cloth and put it in the clay jar along with the grapes and sugar mix.
• Open every day for 15 days and stir it nicely with a wooden spoon and close it air tight and store in a dark cool place.
• After 41 days, filter the liquid to get clean red wine, through sieves covered preferably by cloth, making slow filtration for clearer wine.
• Keep again the filtered wine in the same jar cleaned, for another 3-4 days.
• Fill the clear red wine in clean dry bottles to serve.

Grape Wine without Yeast
Ingredients:
Black Grapes -1kg
Sugar - 1.25 kg
Water - 4 litre
Cloves - 20 nos.
Method:

·         Boil the water and keep aside to cool.

·         Separate grapes from its stalks and wash the grapes well.

·         Wipe water from each grape very well with a clean cloth or kitchen towel.

·         In a big bharani / bottle add sugar and grapes; mash it very well with hand or potato masher.

·         Then add boiled and cooled water, stir well.

·         Tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose.

·         Stir this mixture every day for some time.

·         After 14 days, mash the grapes once again & strain through a cheese/ muslin cloth.

·         If the wine tastes sweeter you can add a little more boiled and cooled water to it.

·         Crush 20 cloves a little and tie this in a small piece of clean cloth.

·         Pour the wine in to a clean dry bottle.

·         Add 1 table spoon Vanilla Essence & cloves pouch in it.

·         Keep this again for 30 days untouched. After 30 days strain the wine again, bottle and use.

Mixed Fruit Wine
Ingredients:
Mixed Fruits- 1kg (I used a mix of apples, oranges, peaches, grapes & strawberries)
Sugar-750 gm
Water-4 litre
Yeast-1/4 tsp
Method:

·         Wash and clean the fruits and finely chop them and put them in clean big wine bottle.

·         Boil water and sugar and pour this boiled water into the chopped fruits.

·         When it becomes cool add yeast and tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with the lid a little loose.

·         Stir this mixture every day for some time.

·         After 20 days strain the mixture to a clean bottle and keep this again for 2 weeks untouched.

·         Slowly strain the upper part of the wine to small bottles and enjoy!

Ginger Wine

Ingredients:
Ginger-250gm.
Sugar -1 1/4kg
Dried Red chillies -10nos.
Citric Acid-2tsp.
Caramelized Sugar Syrup (optional)
Water -3 1/2bottle (measure in a 750ml bottle)

Method:

·         Boil water, sugar, grated ginger and chopped chillies together. Reduce the flame and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the gas and keep aside for one day.

·         On the next day drain the syrup in to a big glass bottle and add citric acid.

·         Add cooled caramelized sugar syrup if desired at this stage.

·         Keep aside for one day and drain the wine without shaking the bottle and pour in to small bottles.

·         For Caramelizing the sugar heat 3 tablespoons of sugar until it becomes dark brown on medium flame. Add 1/2-cup hot water to the browned sugar and boil. Turn off the gas and mix with the wine when it becomes cool.

Carrot Whisky / Carrot Wine!

Ingredients:
Carrot -3kg
Orange -2 nos
Lime -2 nos
Sugar -2kg
Raisins -300 gms (chopped)
Whole wheat - 1/2 kg
Water -5 litre
Yeast - 1 tbsp
Method:

·         Clean & chop the carrots and boil with 5 litres of water.

·         Transfer this to a bharani or a big glass bottle and add lime & orange juice & peel. (Cut the orange & lime in half, and extract the juice, using a citrus fruit juicer. Remove the orange peel and scrape off any white pith from the inside. Chop up the peel and mix it with the carrot mixture).

·         Then add sugar. When the mixture becomes cool, add raisins, whole wheat and yeast.

·         Tie the bottle with a clean cloth and keep aside the mixture for 3 weeks.

·         Stir this mixture everyday for 5 minutes.

·         After 3 weeks strain the mixture to a clean bottle and keep this mixture again for 3 more weeks untouched.

·         After that slowly strain the upper part to small bottles and use.

·         The peach colour of this wine will change to a richer whisky colour with aging!

Pineapple Wine

Ingredients:

Pineapple - 1 kg

Water - 5 bottles

Sugar - 2 kg

Yeast - 2 tbs

Method:

• Wash the pineapples and cut into small pieces. Don't remove its skin.
• Boil it for about 5 minutes with water and 1 kg sugar.
• When cool, add yeast and store in an air tight mud vessel for 20 days.
• Stir the content daily with a wooden ladle.
• After 21 days, filter the wine through a fine cloth.
• Do not squeeze the contents.
• Add the remaining sugar and store it for another 21 days without stirring.

Dates Wine / Khajoor Wine

Ingredients:
Dates-2 kg
White Grape Juice-250 Grams
Citric Acid-25 Grams
Sugar-1 kg
Water, boiled and cooled-4 liters
Yeast-1 table spoon

Method: 

·         Sterilize all equipment before use.

·         Chop then boil the dates gently for 1/2 hour with 2 liters of water.

·         When cool, strain in a bharani/ bottle and add in the grape juice concentrate. Add the citric acid, yeast and top up the water to around 4.5 liters with cool water. Keep the bottle air tight.

·         Wait until fermentation is compete, for 21 days. Stir this mixture every day with a wooden spoon. Strain this mixture using a cheese cloth or muslin cloth, into a clean dry vessel on 21st day and leave to clear.

·         Rack into clean bottles when completely clear and stable. Store for up to 2 years.

Tips for making Homemade Kerala Wine

• If you are a novice at wine making, its best to stick to a trust worthy recipe and follow it to the dot. Some have a habit of altering every recipe they try but I suggest following the recipe at least once before you start experimenting.  
•  Always use the best fruits for making wine.... Over ripe or under ripe fruits are a big no for making wine..... Fruits should be cleaned and drained well....  It’s advisable to wipe fruits with a clean kitchen towel or cloth. There should not be any water on it or the wine will become sour.
•  Use a bottle with a wide mouth.... always use earthen or glass bottles.....Do not use plastic bottles.
• Don't fill the bottle to the brink. Always leave at least 4” of the bottle empty. While fermenting some fruits will plump and rise to top of the bottle, if there is no space in the bottle there are chances of overflowing.
•  All the utensils & bottle should be clean & dry. If there is water the wine will become sour. Bottles that are used for making or storing wines should be sterilized (wash with hot water) and wipe them.
•  Most of the recipes ask for daily stirring… this is to ensure all the ingredients are mixed. Stir at least 3-5 minutes every 24 hours.
•  It is advisable to use a new wooden spoon for stirring the wine. But do not use the same spoons used for making curry.
•  You should strain the wine on exact day mentioned in the recipe.
•  For straining the wine, use a nice clean cloth. It is better to use this cloth only for this purpose.
•  If the recipe says rack the wine for a couple of weeks, you should not stir, open or shake the bottle during this time. This is to clear up the wine so that it looks better and flows better when poured. Always remember to bottle or re- stain the same day mentioned in the recipe.
•  On the day of making the wine, mark all the dates on the calendar so that it becomes easier to remember.
•  Strain the wine very slowly without shaking the bottles, so that you can strain clear wine from the bottle. If you have a Siphon use it to transfer wine.
•  If possible, use dark colored bottles to store wine, so that it won’t change color. (I usually store in the big bottle itself inside the cupboard).
•  Never close the bottle’s lid tightly.
•  Use good quality yeast in the wine. If you are staying in the Middle East, I would suggest adding half the amount of yeast if you are making the wine during summer time. In the Middle East the outside temperature is really high and wine’s ferment easily.....so use of less yeast yields better results.
•  No matter how careful you are in rare cases you might find a light greenish or white spots in the wine. This is fungus growth. Immediately remove it with a spoon and add 60ml of alcohol to get rid of it.
• Finally, wine making is easy but a time consuming process that needs a lot of patience…. be very careful if you want your wine to be edible or your kitchen sink is destined to have it :D...... If the wine becomes sour it will taste worse than vinegar......