Pomegranate wine: The 'Anarkali' drink can lower stress levels

How about making a robust wine out of pomegranate and that too at home in just seven days, for Christmas? The drink, which is also known as Anarkali wine, is rich in Vitamin C and reduces stress levels. Pomegranates can also increase platelets blood levels and haemoglobin count and hence having this amazing fruit will prevent diseases like anaemia. Hence making pomegranate wine at home can be a rewarding and delicious process. Here’s the simple recipe:

Ingredients
1 ½ kg pomegranates
½ to ¾ kg sugar
1 litre water (boiled and then cooled)
7 to 8 cardamom pods
6 to 7 cloves
6 to 7 pieces of cinnamon
1 teaspoon yeast
2 slices of beetroot (if required)
1 small piece of ginger

Preparation
Thoroughly wash the pomegranate fruits and peel off the skin
Make sure that there is no water content in the vessels, sieve, spoons, or mixer jars used for wine-making
Put yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water and add one teaspoon of sugar
Stir well and keep it aside for 10 minutes
Put the peeled beet pieces, ginger, two each cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon pods in a mixer and mince well Shift this to a steel vessel
Add ½ cup water and boil the same for five minutes on low flame after closing the lid
Keep it aside to cool off
Now put the kernels of pomegranate fruit in a mixer jar, add sugar, and mince well
Pour the same into a steel vessel (You can also use a glass vessel)
Stir and blend well the fermented yeast, water, the remaining cardamom, cinnamon, and clove pods, and the beetroot-ginger mix
Pour the same into a dried earthen or glass jar
Now tightly close the jar
For this, wrap a cloth mesh around the jar lid
Keep it aside in a cool, dark place for seven days
Open and stir the wine every day and keep them again in the dark place
On the seventh day, use a siphon or racking cane to transfer the wine to another clean and dry earthen jar or carboy, leaving the sediment behind using a sieve
Add more sugar if you want to make it sweeter and bottle it
Now savour the homemade pomegranate wine little by little for days altogether
Allowing the wine to age properly will enhance its flavour and character