Recipe: Gemini Xettigar
Makes 1 litre
Ingredients
- 1 fresh medium sized coconut, grated (2 cups grated coconut)
- 2 cups of water for each 1 cup of coconut
- 6-7 kokum shells
- 1 teaspoon jeera
- 2 fresh green chillies
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped (optional)
- A small handful of fresh coriander
For Tempering (optional)
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 dry red chillies
- 1/2 tsp groundnut or coconut oil
Method
- Grind coconut, jeera, and garlic if using, to a smooth paste with as little water as possible. Strain this through a fine damp muslin cloth placed over a pot by squeezing out as much milk as possible.
- Place the fibre back in the blender jar and grind once more using as little water as possible. Strain once again.
- Wash the kokum shells, and let them soak in very little hot water for around 3-4 minutes. If you are using kokum around May, June, July or up to around 6 months after they are freshly harvested, skip the step of soaking in hot water. That is only to get the bright colour.
- Strain the kokum water (to remove the kokum) and add the strained dark pink liquid to the coconut milk.
- Wash and chop coriander and slit the green chilies. Add these and salt per taste, and let it steep for around 15 minutes to half an hour.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled either as a separate drink or along with a meal. This can also be served as a thin soup or a thin gravy with rice.
Optional: Heat oil in an iron tempering ladle. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chilies broken in two. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter and the cumin and red chillies to become light brown. Add this to the kadhi.
For the Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) version:
This cannot be a whole food dish because the fiber is removed from the ground coconut. You can try keeping the fibre and having it like a thick drink or soup or curry with rice instead.