Recipe: Watermelon Juice

This is my number one favourite drink in the summers, the only other drink that comes close is chilled tender coconut water (bonda neeru). It is a little troublesome to prep, but the end product is soooo worth it.

The reason, my recipe is troublesome is because I de-seed the watermelon completely before juicing it.You can blend it with the seeds and then strain the juice, mum swears this is healthier as the seeds have some healing properties, but I gleefully substitute taste for extra-healthy. I find the seeds impart a bitter taste and little bits of seeds still manage to find their way through a strainer.

I chop and deseed the entire watermelon and keep it in the fridge. Then each time we want some juice, I just whip it up in the blender.

I do not normally need to add any water or sugar to the juice, but it depends on the melons that you use. You can add chilled water or ice if you like. Since I keep the chunks in the fridge, it doesn't require additional chilling. Its ready to drink as soon as it is blended.

Normally, between the 2 of us we finish off a complete watermelon within 3 days either by juicing it or eating the cleaned chunks for breakfast/dessert.

Variations:
Dress the cleaned watermelon chunks with condensed milk or whipped cream for a fancy looking dessert.

When making watermelon juice, you can add
-freshly grated ginger
-mint leaves
- a squeeze of lime/lemon juice
for a twist in the flavour
 (In the picture above, I have used a little ginger as you can see)

This juice goes very well as a mixer with vodka or white rum.