‘Tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la la, la la la la!!
So how many of you have gotten into the Christmas mood already? Did I hear you say “me!”. Well, I am in the mood for sure and I can’t wait to play some Christmas carols and put up the tree & decorate it. Wow! Even the thought of Christmas puts a smile on my face. Now that my little one has reached an age where he can understand a lot of things, I think it is the right time to start some Christmas traditions at home. Things that he will fondly remember all his life. So I thought to myself, what better than to start early with some ‘Christmassy’ things – like making our first batch of home made wine?? Perfect!
I had mentioned earlier that I wasn’t a lot into making wines, preserves & pickles, but then my first attempt at making home made grape wine was a huge success and now well, the wine making bug has gotten into me. A couple of months before Christmas every year my cousin and I discus the number & type of goodies each of us would be preparing. We have tried making Christmas cakes (click here for the recipes) & other traditional Mangalorean goodies called as the ‘Kuswar’ (recipes to follow). This time I thought of taking a shot at preparing the ginger wine as well along with her.
Ginger wine in my opinion sounds like the perfect beverage to be served during the festive season especially because it helps to get the digestive juices flowing ~ we’ll need that especially after all that festive binging that we’ll be indulging in! Home made wines tend to be sweet & if served freshly made taste as good as a mildly fermented fruit juice. It is only when the wine ages that the heady spirits can make you feel extra good! So if you make this right away you will have a lovely batch ready to be tasted during the Christmas season and most importantly, ready to be served along with your gala Christmas lunch or dinner.
When I made this recipe I did not have a ceramic jar famously known as a ‘buyaon‘ in Konkani which is also used to store pickles and salt in Mangalore. Ceramic or glass jars are what you need to make wine as it is not safe to use plastic and steel.
On my recent trip to Mangalore I went on a mad hunt for ceramic jars. Luckily I found one in a whole sale shop (H. Manjunath Laxman Nayak, Opp Town Bank, Car Street) and took ages to decide which size to buy. Eventually I settled for size# 10 which fills up to 5 litres of liquid. Perfect! The next task was to lug it back to Mumbai without breaking it. I packed it snugly into my cabin bag. However, the airport security at Mangalore asked me to open the bag & were rather amused to see the jar. So out came each & every item from the Pandora’s box ~ 3 types of rice, 2 types of jaggery and Christmas goodies made by MIL etc. much to my embarrassment & their amusement! Cost of the jar – Rs 162, excess baggage charges Rs 600, the look on my face ~ priceless!
Anyway, the buyaon has been my most treasured purchase till date, so I don’t regret the airport fiasco. My buyaon is already on its way to becoming my wine making companion in the years to come! I am in love with home made wines now!
A big hug & a thank you to my cousin Prema for the inspiration, guidance & tips to help me make this ginger wine. I had so much fun making this wine from scratch – discussing & deciding the quantity of ingredients and size of the jars with her, sharing its progress on a daily basis, reminding each other to stir the contents and clicking & sharing pictures of the wine. Technology has definitely revolutionised the way we share our lives with our loved ones hasn’t it?
Prema, I guess we should say cheers & clink our glasses with some ‘Blackberry‘ wine soon 😉 what say?
Equipment
- a large thick bottomed pan for boiling the liquid
- a clean & dry 3 litre glass or ceramic jar ('buyaon' in Konkani/ 'bharani' in Kannada)
- a long spoon or spatula to stir the contents
- a clean & dry empty wine or liquor bottle
- a clean & dry funnel to pour the wine into the bottle
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 litres 2250 millilitres water
- 40 gm ginger * see notes
- 700 gm sugar * see notes
- juice & zest of 1 lime or lemon
- juice & zest of 1 orange
- 100 gm raisins preferably golden
- 1/2 tsp dried yeast I used DCL
- 40 ml brandy
Instructions
- Zest (grate the outer rind/skin) the orange & lime and remove their seeds & extract the juices of both the fruits and set aside in the refrigerator. Clean raisins, wash, dry & set aside
- Place the ginger in the thick bottomed pan and crush/poke the ginger with a fork, add the water, sugar & zest of lime & orange and bring the water to a rolling boil. Reduce the flame and simmer it for 30mins and then turn off the flame.
- Allow the liquid to cool down. When it is tepid (lukewarm) pour the contents into a jar/buyaon. Add 1/2 tsp yeast & cover the mouth of the jar with a thick cloth and tie a knot at the neck of the jar. Keep overnight.
- Next morning add the orange/lime juices (at room temperature) & raisins and stir once with the wooden spoon. Cover with the thick cloth & place in a warm dark place for 2 weeks.
- You are required to stir the contents daily - ideally use a wooden spatula if you don't intend squeezing the puffed up raisins that remain on the surface with your fingers - this is just to get all the juices out of the raisins.
- On completion of 2 weeks you will notice that the sediment has settled down & no longer floats at the surface. Add the brandy, give it a stir, cover & keep for another 2-3 days after which you can strain it into the empty wine/liquor bottle and cork it lightly. I left it for another week untouched (unfiltered). I plan to bottle it just before serving.
Notes
2. I added an extra 50gm of sugar (total of 750gm), however I think 700gm is perfect as it gives out a delicately sweet wine.
3. All equipment used should be sterile ie washed clean and completely dry with no traces of moisture. You may dry the ceramic jar/bottle & the wine bottle in the sun (preferably) or just dry it out in the shade for a longer time.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Looks like xmas preparations have begun already…This is a refreshing wine..Cheers!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
Looks very tempting:)
Sure gonna try my first attempt at wine making. 🙂 Thanks dear for all the tips
Wow ginger wine looks fabulous, seems ur xmas preparations have started already..
Wow..delicious n lovely..I have tasted this..tastes lovely..had thoughts of preparing this x'mas..will try !!
oh.. that looks soo nice Shireen.. I can almost hear the excitement of Christmas in your post. Happy times. :o)
So happy Shireen. Thanks for good words. Making the wine with you was a great idea. My wine color is the same. Cheers!!!
Very refreshing…neat n clean presentation…
wow, Ginger wine sounds great..never tasted it..looks like u are all ready now itself for the xmas celebrations 🙂
Flavourful wine..Perfect and tempting with beautiful clicks…
Wow this is cool ….ginger wine must be such a kick to drink ..
Shireen U had to check for bharni here itself…. u wudn be tht embarrassed to open the baggage ;).
I saw bharni here in art nd craft mela :D.
I too have to buy one…. HM nayak's shop is like we get almost such stuffs… So r u sending me the Christmas goodies??? ;)….
lovely recipe……
Refreshing yummy wine…Detailed info on making it too…Thanks dear..
Ginger wine sounds very yummy and refreshing too…
im in the holiday mood already! 🙂 this looks interesting..would love to taste some to see how it is 🙂
Since my return is to a dry state…;-), all my wine making experiments will be then…:D
its been two weeks and the sediment has settled. except the raising, which are still floating on the top…any idea why? also i might have messed this batch 🙁 it doesn't taste very much like ginger wine. but i have added the brandy today and will monitor it for another week…
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments 🙂
@ May: Yes, u have a lot of experimenting waiting for u 🙂
@ Sherman: On the 17th day i found the sediment had finally settled. Have u squeezed out the juice from all the raisins? If there are one or two that haven't been burst yet, they will continue to float. What does your wine taste like?
Shireen I had recenly gone to an anglo indian friends house and he served us "the virgin version of Ginger Wine. It was superb and could not wait to try it! The sugar content was just to much for my liking so clever me thinks why not put splenda and oh boy!!!!! HAve to make it with sugar to get te true taste which was out of this world! BTW this VVOGW cooks in an hour or two and can be stored for a couple of months.
Donna
Thank you Donna!! Yeah, u shud make it with regular sugar, but use less of it. Artificial sweeteners are not so healthy they say in the long run.
Hi Shireen, This wine turned out absolutely great! We had made this a few months ago and only recently served it to some friends. Refreshing Fresh Taste
It has since received nothing but rave reviews. Great recipe!
Hi Vincent! Thanks a ton for the feedback!! Feels great to know that the wine is getting you rave reviews!! My ginger wine is almost over, I need to make another batch soon! I will shortly post the recipe of the pineapple peel wine too..I am sure u'll like that as well 🙂 Enjoy the wine..cheers!!
@Zenzero..sorry i deleted your msg accidentally. Yes, gm means grams
thank you very much! i'll try this recipe this friday!!! thnx again~~!
how much would the yield of this?,
i'm so sorry, i didn't notice the note above that the approximate yield would be 2 liters., :), maybe i'm just to excited to try this one, :)..
ZenZero: Unfortunately I did not measure, the wine got half finished almost as soon as the process was completed. I would say approximately 2 litres
one more question,, 🙂
are 40g of ginger and a 1/2 tsp of dry yeast enough? 🙂
Zenzero: I think you have not read the entire recipe! You need to read my notes as well 🙂 that should answer your question
HI! thank you for this recipe! 🙂 the wine turned out abolutely good!. the alcohol is there, the minty taste of the ginger is there, we will be doing our product testing this friday., hoping to get higher grade, XD…
@zenzero: That sounds fantastic!! I am so glad you liked the wine. Did you use more than 40gms? Product testing at home right?
yeah we've used about 100g of ginger., 🙂
we will be doing our product testing at our laboratory., 🙂
hi
One question once the wine is ready or bottled , can this be kept outside or does it ahve to be refridgerated
also where do i see the notes you have mentioned
@ Anonymous: The wine can be stored in a cool dark place in your kitchen or wine cabinet or cellar – for as long as you desire, there is no need of refrigeration – this is provided you have prepared it hygienically and hasn't developed mould. The notes section is right above the last picture of ginger wine (glass jar with red cap)
thanks you so much Shireen for your reply ,I have some more queries for you
1) Do we need to use the ginger with skin or witout skin, also , can i chop the ginger instead of just poking the ginger with fork as the pieces would be quite big,
2) can i skip the orange juice and zest ,
3) if we add lime and ornage , will the tast not change of the ginger
4) also while adding the yeast , do we need to add it dry or can we soak it and then add, and also stir the wine after adding the yeast
5) about the raisins , can we squeeze the puffed up raisins with our hands 🙂
I know it is too much of questions , but planning to make ti this weekend and dont want to go wrong anywhere and mess the wine, hence asking
Thanks
Pretty Vaz
Hi Pretty,
Here are my answers:
1. Yes, you need to clean the ginger well and scrape the outer skin, after that poking is more than enough as you will be boiling it for quite a bit in the water…but if you wish you can cut large chunks into smaller pieces, no need to chop. By the how much ginger do u intend using? It will be too strong if you want to use anything more than the given amount.
2. My recipe calls for orange juice and zest as it gives a great taste to the wine. It is upto you if you want to skip it.
3. No, adding orange and lime juices won't make it a citrusy wine if that's what u r worried about. Ginger is a very very strong tasting root and the wine will taste only of ginger with some nice flavours that the orange and lime bring in.
4. You can add the yeast directly into the jar which contains the boiled ginger liquid.
5. Yes you can squeeze the puffed raisins with your hands daily 🙂 Make sure that your hands are thoroughly washed with soap and then completely dried…squeezing of raisins is done only for the first few days, after that you can just use a wooden spoon to stir the contents.
Also, ensure that all equipment used during the making of the wine are absolutely clean – washed in soap and dried before using. Good luck with the wine!! Waiting for your feedback!
Rgds
Shireen
Thank you Shireen,
I will be first trying to make out the same measurements that you have mentioned 🙂 , will try it out first in a smaller quantity and then will go in for a larger one
will send you pictures too
thanks da
Regds
Pretty
Dear Ruchi ..Thanks alot for the stepwise delivery for Ginger wine.I've made a real big mistake in adding juice of lime and raisins the first day itself!!!
Please do suggest how to proceed hereafter,what is the outcome??
Hi, tried the ginger wine and rice wine. (dead line not yet over to check the results). Please post some home made vinegar (like sugarcane).
May you and your family have a BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Ramola
@ Susan, sorry for the delay in responding. There is no problem if you have already added. By now your wine must have matured (since we are in December already). How has it turned out?
@ Ramola, I will definitely post the vinegar recipe whenever I make it..haven't tried it yet
Hey shireen, tried out ur ginger wine, it's been 3wks now, I haven't bottled it yet, just wanted to know how long it will keep once it's bottled. I'm quite pleased with the result, but now I have to take it home to my family for the final test.
Hi Vanita,
That sounds great! So glad that you liked the wine. Well, my wine has lasted a year…and I still have a bit to go and it tastes simply great! Just ensure that your bottles are absolutely clean and sterilized…otherwise it may spoil. Good luck!
Do click a picture and email it to me. I will upload it on my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/ruchikrandhap
Hi shireen,
i made 2 wines from your recipes listed one was the rice wine and the second the ginger wine. everything was fine but both wines had a bitter after taste, any guess why this might have happened.
Sneha February 8, 2014.
Hi! Shireen' I made this wine 2weeks now. I yet have to bottle it and it taste very good. So far it looks good. Will post the picture on my blog. Snehasrecipe.blogspot.in
@ Roshan Dsouza: Sorry for the delay in responding, not sure why I missed replying to your comment. Not sure why the wines had a bitter aftertaste..unless it went bad during the process?
@ Sneha Datar: Thanks and I hope you like it. When you post it on your blog please back link the recipe to my post.
I tried ginger wine. It was great. It turned out to be really strong ginger and chilly flavor as I used higher quantity of ginger. May be in next batch will stick to your proportion as mentioned above.
Can u suggest recipe for Turmeric wine?
@ J Singh: Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad to hear that you liked the wine. Yes, ginger wine turns out really strong if you use a lot of ginger.
Sorry, I have never heard about Turmeric wine so won't be able to help you.
Hi Shireen, is it the normal dry yeast that needs to be used or is there any specific yeast for wine?
Hi Janita,
You can use regular yeast, nothing special!
Hi Shireen,
Compliments of the season..ginger wine came out well but I added extra sugar..no alcohol..liked by all.thanks
neeta
Thank you so much for the great feedback!
Can this wine be preserved for some time??? What do you add to stop fermentation???
Wines have a long shelf life. Infact they taste better as they age. I am not sure what can stop fermentation as I have never done it. But Google would have some tricks if you could check..
Hello Shereen,
Instead of half I put one whole teaspoon of yeast by mistake. What do I do!??
Hi Sheryl,
Sorry for the late reply. I hope the wine turned out fine. Extra yeast should not be much of a problem
Very detailed and easy to understand,thank you.
Is there any remedy to correct the taste if ginger wine was made with too less sugar. I made a batch following another recipe however the sugar is almost half than yours. And the wine doesn’t taste sweet at all. Very strong and spicy. Can I save it in some way. Please help.
Hey Angel, Sorry for the delayed response. Well, if you have made wine with reduced sugar you can’t do much about it other than perhaps dilute it with water & some simple sugar syrup in proportions that give you the desired result, every time you serve it. Hope this helps!
Why do you add brandy to every wine ? Is it necessary?
Brandy acts as a preservative – to ensure that the wine does not turn into vinegar – it is a practice amongst most of our senior cooks in Mangalore. You may skip it if you wish
We have Tried The wine Recipe and turned out awesome.
That’s fantastic! Thank you for the feedback!