Passion fruit- two ways

K I admit it, I have a slight obsession for passion fruit going on :)

It all started when I discovered a brand of exotic fruit juices and there was no looking back. Passion fruit and mango are my current favs and once I was done with the mango obsession, I jumped to passion fruit. I'm sure the next is lychee, but till then I'm gonna over do the passion fruit juice a bit. Bear with me

I have been experimenting with a few cocktails and loving the outcome. Made passion fruit mojitos for the ladies when we had some family over last weekend, and it was a hit (If I may say so myself). And then this Indian Mojito which I came up with, after Ro taught me the only way to eat the fruit- slice it in half and onto it add some sliced green chillies, sprinkle loads of salt and using a spoon mix it all in and eat to your hearts content. Believe it or not, while I'm typing this, I'm drooling.

Apparently that's how he used to have it when he was younger..and one whole afternoon we spent eating passion fruits with salt and chillies. The combination is just so awesome, I wondered how it would be as a cocktail. Whipped it up one evening and I wasn't wrong. Its sooo good, I'm thinking I should patent it ;)

Indian Passion (Mojito with an Indian touch)- makes 1

Vodka- 50 ml

Lime wedges- 3

Mint- a few sprigs

Sugar- 3 tsp

Jal jeera mix- 1 tsp

Crushed ice

Passion fruit juice

Soda water

Green chilli- 1, half slit

Passion fruit- one half (optional)

Salt- for the glass rim (optional)

Take some salt in a saucer. Rub a lemon wedge lightly around the rim of a glass to moisten it and then turn it upside down and dip the rim in the salt. Slightly shake it, so all the excess falls off. You don't want it to be too salty.

Then into the glass add vodka, lime wedges, sugar and jal jeera mix along with about 4 or 5 sprigs of mint.

Muddle well to give out the lemon and mint flavours and then top with loads of crushed ice.

Pour enough passion fruit juice to fill about 3/4th of the glass and then top the remaining with soda water.

Using the slit chilli, slightly stir the contents and leave it in or take it out if you don't want it too spicy.

Spoon out the passion fruit pulp and seeds and add it to the drink, sprinkle some more jal jeera mix on top, garnish with mint and drink away.

Notes: Rimming the glass is purely optional. I have tried it both ways and it's really a personal choice.

Crushed ice is available to buy, but you can also make your own by putting some ice cubes in a freezer bag, wrapping it in a towel and then whacking the hell out of it using a mallet or rolling pin. Store it in the bag itself.

I ran out of crushed ice when I made the drink, so used ice cubes, which was absolutely perfect as well

The jal jeera mix also can be avoided if you are not that big a fan. In that case, rimming the glass is a must for that salt kick.

Go ahead and do a non alcoholic version without the vodka, and I'm sure it would be just as nice.

Passion fruit Iced tea

This was the outcome on one of those Saturdays the heat wave took over UK. Ro had somehow managed to sleep in spite of the dreadful heat and I was getting pretty agitated by that, and to keep myself sane, I whipped up this iced tea. It turned out pretty decent and although I may not really have to make them for the next 6 months, here I am adding it to the passion fruit madness.

Makes 3 to 4 tall glasses, recipe from here

Tea bags- 4

Boiling water- 1 litre

Caster sugar- 3 to 4 tbsp (adjust according to taste)

Lemon juice- 1/4 cup

Passion fruit juice- 3/4 cup

Lemon, 1 thinly sliced

Place the tea bags in a pitcher and pour in the boiling water.

Let it steep for about 3 minutes and then remove the tea bags.

Stir in the sugar till dissolved followed by lemon juice and passion fruit juice.

Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

When ready to serve, add the lime slices and pour into a glass filled with ice.

garnish with mint leaves and drink away.

Notes: Add some orange juice as well for more flavour.

I like it pretty sweet so I ended up adding more sugar. You can use honey as well.

Don't keep the tea bags in for long, it could turn out bitter