Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Spiked Grapefruit !


Summer vacation lunch hour was nothing less than an event at Aai's place ..... Cooking and feeding a bunch of juveniles was no joke ..... and each of us being willful kids ! Lunch time equalled to an hour of mothers howling and kids complaining, cribbing, sobbing and eating. It was like an everyday ritual. Another thing that was an everyday thing was the summer power cut.
Thankfully there was no afternoon power cut that day. But it was still hot and humid. Ajaa (Grandpa) sat by the window bare bodied, reading a book. He picked up the newspaper at intervals and fanned himself. The dusty ceiling fan which was never oiled in it's entire life made a periodic noise with each rotation. I laid on the Araam Chair (Recliner) licking the takuaa (mango seed). The juice dribbling down my elbow.
There was a strange silence in the room after the loud lunch hour. Sundaari our pet cat moved around the house and purred in anticipation of some left over rice and fish.
The only sound that could be heard was that of the ceiling fan and the jingle of Aai's glass bangles. Also some broken piece of peppy Odiya music from the baasti close by (slum) ........
Aai moped the dark grey cemented floor with a wet cloth before she rolled out the sapaa (grass mat).
I jumped off the Araam Chair and snuggled on to her mat. She started patting my back .... a gesture to make me fall asleep. Those days I demanded Aai for an extra story telling session in the afternoons. Aai had a bottomless treasure of stories ....... she could even weave stories from her imagination. The story telling sessions often ended with Aai falling asleep and me slipping off.

Late afternoons all of us (cousins) would gather on the staircase ..... that was the safest place where we could sneak in, far from the sight of our mothers. Somehow we never felt the summer heat. We would play silly games. I being the eldest and the bossy one would direct them all to be my students while I act out as a teacher, a strict one !! Sometimes I would become a doctor and write illegible prescriptions to my patients. We would roll out small balls of papers ..... yes you guessed it. They were pills . We would even enact our moms and play with our cooking sets ..... I wonder if kids today still play such games.
And our games only lasted as long as the nap time of our mothers'. The long hours of silence would break into another session of howls and cries ! Loud enough for Aai to wake up ........ She would walk straight up to the kitchen with puffy sleepy eyes and slice up a watermelon into pieces ... while calling our names.
We would all gather around the big plate of watermelon ..... I would hurriedly pick up my share and go sit by the dusty wooden framed green window with cob webs hanging from the grill and watch the baasti (Slum) children play and hoping to catch up a street fight of the women, if lucky !


Preparation Time - 30 minutes

Ingredients

Freshly squeezed Grapefruit - 1.5 Cup or 2 (Nos)
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Granulated Sugar
Mint Leaves - Few
Freshly Squeezed Lemon juice- 1/3 cup
Ginger - 1 inch
Water - 1 cup
Vodka - 1/2 cup



Method of Preparation

1. In a sauce pan add water and sugar. Put the heat on and stir till the sugar dissolves. Add few drops of lemon juice to it.
2. Muddle few mint leaves and ginger and add it to the sugar solution.
3. Keep it in the fridge for 2-3 hours to cool. It will also allow the mint and ginger flavor to infuse into it. You may do this overnight for instant use.
4. Strain the mint and ginger from the sugar solution.
5. Dip the rim of 6 martini glasses first in a dish with lemon juice and then a dish with sugar. Set aside to dry.
6. Combine the grapefruit juice and lemon juice and vodka, if using, in a pitcher.
7. When ready to serve, place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker, add the cocktail mixture to fill the shaker 3/4 full, and shake for about 30 seconds. It's important to shake for a full 30 seconds to get the drink very cold and dilute it slightly with the ice.
8. Pour into the sugared martini glasses and garnish with mint.

35 comments:

divya said...

superb...Tempting clicks..

Love2cook Malaysia said...

Cheerssss!!! :)

Nithya said...

Woooo this is super delicious :) Loving its color and your clicks :)

Unknown said...

Wow looks very tempting...love the clicks!

Ramya said...

This is the third time i am cumg to ur space to catch one more glimpse of this:-) This is going to be our Friday night Cocktail this week:-)
the clicks really make me drooooool:-)especially the first one!!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Love ur spiced one.. slurp.. gorgeous clicks dear.

Suja Manoj said...

Lovely..clicks are awesome dear

Elaichii said...

Enjoy this refreshing drink!

Plateful said...

That first shot is brilliant-- lovely color and refreshing drink. Can I substitute soda for a non-alcoholic version--would it taste good?

Tara said...

Those grapefruits are so luscious! I love love love the first photo.

Thank you so much for taking a peak at my blog! I really appreciate the sweet comments!

Rebecca said...

Wow, this is a great post. What lovely photos, too!! I found you through Live & Enliven :D !!!

Stephanie Shepherd said...

I'm loving your food photography, particularly the curried shrimp in coconut milk with the actual coconut. So perfectly styled and pretty to look at! I'm a new friend x

PuppyLovePrincess said...

grapefruit and booze?... yes, please!

Ana Degenaar said...

Your blog only gets better and better with time! I am so happy I visited you. Thank you for joining the blog party yesterday.
xo

khushi said...

so beautifulll!!! lovely clicks Satrupa...do participate in the ongoing event and send me some delicious recipes of yours and get a chance to win a gift :)
A Girl's Diary
Event:
What's On Your Kebab Platter

KrithisKitchen said...

Lovely writeup.. miss my childhood days with grandma... used to hear lots of stories from her.. :)

Connie @ Daydream in Color said...

YUM! That looks soo delish.

Daydreamer said...

Hello Satrupa!
Found you thru Ana at Live and Enliven...nice to meet you! Love clicking on your blog and discovering a delish cocktail recipe...you're my kind of girl!

http://daydreamerwashere.com/

Raks said...

The first picture is looking great! Love the colour of the juice. I have had this in my childhood, but never liked. But sure now craving for some :)

Anu said...

love the juice...delicious..

Borosil & You said...

I've came across many food blogs but found yours one very engaging. Best wish for all of your future endeavors.

For food and cooking related tips n facts visit: http://www.facebook.com/borosilandyou.

Regards,

Saraswathi Iyer said...

First time here, you have a great space. Juice looks colourful and nice clicks.

Drop in when time permits. Glad to follow you.

vandana rajesh said...

Love the colour...a real summer treat. Beautiful pics indeed!!

Bikram said...

I am a foodie and a DRINKyyyyy too .. would love to taste this one too thanks for the recipe ...


Bikram's

Shanavi said...

Ur first click is amazingly shot and I would love to have this drink (without vodka )..Thanks for ur heartwarming comments Satrupa..Following u as well..

Lisa H. said...

woow... this is one boozy grapefruit.
Bottoms up :D

aipi said...

This looks rocking good ~ fresh n bright! Love all the gorgeous shots!
USMasala

Jyostna said...

Satrupa, I know my comment wld luk totally out of context but I wanted drop a note abt ur comments on Ms.De's blog which made so much sense. In fact they all seemed very gutsy. I donno if she responded to u.

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a lovely summer drink.This is my first visit to your blog, so I took some time to browse through your earlier entries. I'm glad I did that. You've created a great place for your readers to visit and I really enjoyed the time I spent here. I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Kalyan said...

This one looks so fresh, yummy and easy to make...can't wait to taste it!

Unknown said...

oh that is simple story from heart, took me to the days to childhood! and grapefruit colour is gorgeous!

Taste Melanger said...

I told u..u r a storyteller....loved the last line..." to pick a street fight of the woman, if lucky" ha ha, shows ur naughty self. And this drink looks quite vibrant!

Mugdha said...

Looks soo tempting, yummy and delicious.....:)

Satrupa said...

Thank you all for all those intoxicating comments :)

Nellie Aloevera said...

I'm very excited to try this. All the ingredients are so simple. Very creative way to serve alcohol!

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