Recipe for a Ramadan Special Cooler Drink ‘Jhil-Mil’
Recipe for a Ramadan Special Cooler Drink ‘Jhil-Mil’
I've created this drink for the Special season of the Holy Month of Ramadan 2020.I was super excited to share this recipe on one of the episodes of a famous food show on Television but due to the unfortunate circumstances of the outbreak of COVID-19, leading to the global lockdown, we couldn't do the show. But, does that stop me?? Naaaaah! I thought I should share the recipe on my blog with all my loved ones and for all of my friends who will be fasting during this most Holy Month of Ramadan.I didn't really have a name for this drink. But, As soon as I showed it to my Bitter Better, he immediately said You should name this Jhil-Mil because as soon as you see it, it's various Colours are so Exciting and immediately brings a Smile on the Face and a Sparkle to the Eye. So, that's how 'Jhil-Mil' got it's name…. Yesssss I do listen to my Husband sometimes! hahahahIn this cooler, I've combined ingredients that are usually consumed at the time of breaking the fast at Iftar.Here's my recipe for Jhil-Mil. It's perfect for the Summers too! Hope you enjoy making it as much as I enjoyed creating it!*Ramadan Kareem*
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 200 gms Dates(with Seeds)
- 2 Cups Water(For soakingthe Dates)
- 150 gms Fresh grated Coconut
- 450 ml room temperature water(For extracting the Coconut Milk)
- 6-7 strands of Saffron(soaked in 1 tspn Lukewarm water for 15-20 minutes)
- 1 Tbspn Sabja(Soaked in ½cup room temperature water for 1 hr)
- 15 gms Sugarcane Jaggery
- ½ Tspn Green Cardamom Powder
- 4-5 Pistachios(chopped fine)
- 1 Tbspn Pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- De-seed the Dates and keep aside
- In a vessel, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and turn the gas flame off
- Add the de-seeded Dates,Cardamom Powder & Jaggery into the hot water and keep aside to cool.
- Once the Date Mixture has come down to room temperature, blend the Date mixture into a smooth runny paste.
- Place a fine Net strainer or Muslin cloth over a vessel and transfer the Date paste into the strainer. Note:- If you wish to enjoy your drink thick, you can skip this step and step no.6
- Strain this mixture into the same vessel used for soaking the dates
- In the same mixer Jar, add the fresh grated coconut and 200 ml water, extract thick Coconut milk and using the same fine net strainer, strain the Coconut Milk into the same bowl in which the date mixture in strained
- After extracting the Coconut Milk, add the coconut remains back into the mixer jar. Add 250ml water and extract Thin coconut milk and follow the same procedure(you have to extracts Coconut Milk twice, basically)
- Using a ladle, Mix the Date Mixture and the Coconut Milk well
- Here you have two options.A) You further strain the mixture using a Muslin cloth (this will give you a runny drink)B)You use it as it is (This will give you a thick drink)
- Add the Saffron water,soaked Sabja seeds, chopped Pistachios and Pomegranate seeds and give it a gentle stir
- Tuck the bowl into the refrigerator until chilled. You can add some Ice cubes if you wish
- Once nice and chilled, Our Jhil-Mil cooler is ready to be servedNote: Besides Pistachios, You can use any other Dry Fruits of your choice as wellYou can also add finely chopped fresh fruits like Mango and Watermelon or grapes into the drinkIf you don't have access to fresh grated coconut, you can use tinned Coconut milk as wellIf you don't wish to go through the entire process of extracting coconut milk, you can either use tinned Coconut milk or use regular Fresh Milk or Almond Milk as well