Carrot Kanji: A Fermented Drink

Carrot Kanji is one of the well-known and must-have fermented beverages. Generally made during winters, with or without beetroot.

In fact, a recent post on carrots on one of the food groups and the mention of this beverage brought back pleasant memories. During my graduation years, in one of our nutrition practicals while studying beverages I came across an interesting beverage that was not only therapy for the eyes I.e. rich in vitamin A and antioxidants but was a great probiotic too. I had to give it a try. The recent post on the drink made me crave it again. So I had to make it and share it with you guys.

The red drink I am talking about is Carrot kanji.

Carrot kanji is a fermented beverage from the northern regions of India. It is made with ingredients like carrots, red chili powder, black salt, and mustard.

It is sour, tangy, and pungent, definitely an acquired taste.

Traditionally, it is made from black carrots but if they are not available one can use regular carrots and a little bit of beetroot to get the distinct color.

Ingredients:

Red carrots:3medium size, chopped in medium size strips

Beetroot:1 small, chopped medium size strips

Water: 6 cups

Mustard: 2 tbsp, ground into a fine powder

Red chili powder:1-2 TSP

Black Salt as per taste

Procedure:

• Take a glass bottle, put in the chopped carrots, and beet.
• Add the mustard powder, red chili powder, salt.
• Pour in the water.
• Leave the jar in sunlight for approx 2-3 days. Since it is winter you could go up to 10 days. Basically, it needs to turn sour.
• You can then place the bottle in the fridge and have the drink chilled.