CHEATER'S MULLED WINE

“his lips drink water

but his heart drinks wine”

― E.E. Cummings

 

 

So I was waiting to put together a series of posts on food and drink to make you feel better in the bitter winter except it was so cold out that I got lazy. Then day before yesterday the temperature started to rise and I realized that my recipes were going to become useless soon and Delhi would be back on its diet of Cucumber Coolers and Melon Martinis. So here's me getting my act together while the temperatures stay low.

 

Again this is one of those indicative recipes. That's why it's called Cheater's Mulled Wine. Actual Mulled Wine recipes tend to have a lot more stuff floating in the wine but it's too cold for me to try to make the effort.

 

Feel free to mess around with the proportion till you find something that works for you. Also with the ingredients. I imagine you could do away with some of the ingredients below or add more of your own (maybe nutmeg?). You'll see I've put in a lot of fruit options - go with whatever you have at hand, so either just one fruit or a combination of what  you have lying around. It will all work.

 

This is a wonderful drink to drink when you come back in from the cold. Put your feet up, get your book and have a furry, warm dog lying by your side while the mulled wine heats you inside out.

This is what I was looking at when I was drinking my Mulled Wine this winter.

 

What you’ll need: 

A bottle of wine (any will do but a red or deep fruit wine may take on the flavours better)

2 tbsp sugar (more if you want it sweeter)

1 cup fruit juice (ideally to match the flavor of the fruit you’re putting in but orange is a good failsafe)

3 -4 pods of Cardamom (crushed)

3 -4 sticks of Clove (crushed)

2 -3 sticks of Cinnamon

Oranges/ Pomegranate/ Lime (not lemons)/ Pineapple/ Apples (chopped)

 

How to:

1. Smash together the cardamom, clove and cinnamon. Keep some sticks of cinnamon aside to garnish your drink.

2. Pop all ingredients together in a pot and let sit for as long as you can.

3. When time to serve, place pot on stove and heat through. Make sure you don’t boil the mix because you’ll boil the alcohol away.

4. Once warmed through ladle into mugs and serve! I really like having some of the fruit pulp in my drink but check if your companions want the drink strained.