Sparkling Plum drink recipe
Sparkling Plum drink is a great summer drink to beat those heat pangs. It is refreshing, healthy , and the taste of fresh juicy sweet plums make it a favourite amongst the kids as well.
A great way to quench your thirst this summers.
This is really easy to make, and the best thing is that you can make this in a big batch and store the concentrate for 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Just take it out, add sparkling water , ice and have it whenever you like.
One of my cousins introduced us to this drink, when I was a kid, and since then this is a regular in our home in summers. It is one of my favourite fresh fruit drinks (apart from the aam paana of course, thats my first choice any day), for summers. Check out my two aam pana recipes on the blog- Classic aam panna recipe, and sparkling aam panna recipe.
Plums are so easily, and widely available during summers.They are full of healthy vitamins and minerals. These aid digestion, and are also known to improve cardiovascular health, boost the immune system, aid skin health, fight free radicals and lower cholesterol.So you have to , have to include plums in your diet!!
Making this drink is a great way to add this seasonal fresh fruit to your diet. For people like me, who do not eat plums whole (as a fruit), and for kids, this is a perfect way to have plums .This is so much better than giving kids artificially flavoured water and fizzy drinks!!!!
I made this twice this season.The first time, I got red plums, from the market( as in the picture above), and the next time I got the black plums( in the below picture) which are much more sweeter. The difference in taste was of course the sweetness. The result of the red plum was the sour sweet drink, and the black plums was a much more sweeter drink, – and less use of sugar of course. I liked the drink made with the black plums more than the red ones.
Ingredients required to make this drink
This simple recipe just needs plums, sugar, and soda/sparkling water.
Like I said, you can make it in large batches, and store in clean airtight glass bottles in the fridge. As the plums are cooked, it does not go bad very soon.
Lets get started
To start with boil the required quantity of plums in a little water , for a 5-10 minutes till the plums become soft and tender. You can even pressure cook the plums in a little water for 1-2 whistles.
Once plums are boiled, add the sugar, and mix it well. I used the brown unrefined cane sugar.I guess this is better than the regular refined white sugar, and you get it easily here in UK.Im not sure if you get it easily in India. If you are able to get this, using raw unrefined cane sugar is a better option .
Once the sugar dissolves, let the mixture cool.
Once cool mash the plums, and sieve the puree, so that the plum seeds are separated.It gives you a thick puree. Something like in the below pictures.
You can throw away the peels left in the sieve. However if like me, you do not want to throw away the peels, I did not want to waste it, so I blended the peel separately in a blender, and added it to the plum puree I had.
Lastly add a little seasoning- salt, black salt, pepper.
The plum concentre is ready.
Suggestions for serving
To have it, add half a glass of plum concentrate (you can vary this as per your taste and sweetness you want) in a glass along with ice.
Add a few crushed mint leaves, and a dash of lemon (these are completely optional), and top it up with chilled sparkling water (soda).It tastes so good.Im sure you people are going to love this drink.
P.s.I tried having this with plain water, instead of soda (sparkling water), but it did not taste so good.So I’m sticking to the soda.
Let me know if you try, and leave your comments.
A refreshing, healthy,tasty summer drink ,made using fresh plums and sparkling water.
- 1 kgs plums ripe or even over ripe would do
- 2 cups sugar raw unrefined cane sugar
- 1.5 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper optional
- fresh lemon juice
- fresh mint leaves for garnish(roughly crushed)
- lemon slices for garnish
- sparkling water/ soda water to serve the drink
- ice to serve
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To start with, add the washed plums in water . Cover and boil for 10-15 minutes or till the plums become soft and tender. You can even pressure cook the plums in a little water for 1-2 whistles.
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Once plums are boiled, and still hot ,add the sugar, and mix it well. I used the brown unrefined cane sugar.You can use any sugar you prefer.Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
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Once cool, mash the plums using the back of spoon/ladle or potato masher.
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Using a sieve, filter the puree, so that the plum seeds, and peel are separated, and the plum flesh is filtered.
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You can throw away the peels left in the sieve. I did not want to throw away the peels, so I blended the peels separately, and added it to the plum puree I had.
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Add a little seasoning- salt, black salt, pepper. Using black pepper is optional.If you do not like it, you can avoid using this.
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The plum concentre is now ready. Pour it into clean glass bottles, and store it in the fridge.
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To serve, add half a glass of plum concentrate (you can vary this qty as per your taste and the sweetness you want) in a glass along with ice. Add a few crushed mint leaves, and a dash of lemon (these are completely optional), and top it up with some sparkling water (soda).It tastes so good.
- I tried having this with plain water, instead of soda (sparkling water), but it did not taste so good.So I suggest using soda, and not plain water even for kids. Don't worry, Plain soda/sparkling water is good for health !!!
- If you want you can make it in large batches, and store in airtight glass bottles in the fridge. As the plums are cooked, it does not go bad.
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