An ancestral recipe modified with spices – for Christmas. You can’t go wrong with home made spicy golden wine at Christmas. Nothing like a light, delicate wine that goes well with Rich Fruit Cake.
Mash up 10 large or 15 small Kerala bananas in a ceramic wine jar. Add 10 gms powdered yeast and 1kg sugar to 2 litres of warm (not hot) water. Pour into the jar.
Add 5 cloves, 4 cinnamon sticks, 3 pieces of mace.
Toast 3 dry red chillies on a pan. Add them to the jar. Stir the mix well with a new wooden spoon (this spoon should not be used for any other cooking)
Tie the opening of the jar with a muslin cloth and then close with the lid. Every evening for the next 10 days, open the lid and stir the mix with the wooden spoon.
Make sure the lid is on tight, afterwards. Strain on the 11th day and pour into wine bottles or a new glass jar.
This golden wine is ready to drink in 10 days and gets spicier as the days go by.
Best enjoyed with a slice of Rich Fruit Cake.
By Linda Joseph Kavalackal,
Christ & Co.
