HEALTHY RECIPES | Beetroot Kanji

Kanji is a simple 4 ingredient fermented drink made around the time of Holi every year in parts of Northern India. It can be made using black carrots and beetroots depending on the availability. It’s also called Indian Kombucha and is a great digestive probiotic! An interesting aspect is the by-product of the kanji process, the fermented chunks of beetroot or carrots which make for a delicious pickle!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 15g yellow mustard seeds
• 15g low sodium salt
• 5g red chillies (you can use dried/powdered)
• Hot drinking Water 1.5 litres
• 1 larger beetroot, peeled chopped

Instructions:

• Grind the mustard seeds, salt and chillies into a fine powder.
• Add to hot water along with chopped beetroot.
• Transfer to glass bottles/jar to ferment in sun for 2-3 days.
• Agitate the mixture daily using a wooden spoon.
• You may remove the beetroot pieces on end of 2nd day to use as pickle.
• The drink is ready after mixture turns bright red and mustard seeds rise to top indicating that vegetable sugars have turned acidic.
• Refrigerate the mixture after it has fermented.

Enjoy chilled!