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One perfect recipe of Falsa juice that can be turned into sherbet or sharbat. Possibilities are endless when you have Grewia Asiatica AKA Falsa in hand. Find uses, variations, and everything about "Khattay Meethay Phalsay".
Today I hail the love of South Asians, the warm region's Falsa berry. The sweet and acidic tartness is difficult to imagine and even difficult to forget once tasted! Snack it with some masala or sprinkle black salt and savor it like candies popping one after another.
Phalsa (sounds so much like a Greek science lab berry, lol!) unlike grapes gives you a different experience. The shriveled and dark-skinned falsa ones are sweet (meethay) and firm reddish-purple ones are sour (khattay). So it's a pleasure snacking falsa in summer.
Falsa juice is a diluted and sweetened drink made from Grewia Asiatica also known as falsa or Phalsa. Falsa juice is also called falsa sharbat.
More summer drinks to enjoy are Jaggery drink, Plum juice, Peach juice, and Water Melon juice.
Benefits
Falsa, also known as Indian Sherbet Berry is scientifically known as Grewia Asiatica is a fruit similar to a berry but it is not a berry.
Falsa is rich in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. It is good for a weight loss diet as well as it can replenish many nutrients. It helps quench your thirst and acts as a summer coolant. You can find more Falsa benefits here!
You may make a drink, sherbet whatever you call it from the extracted Falsa juice. If it is possible to get your hands on falsa, it is not to be missed Asian berries nicknamed Grewia and even Phalsa Berry.
Ingredients
So the ingredients are obviously Falsa, sugar, and black salt.
Falsa: Use fresh and crisp fruit because it will last longer without getting acidic.
Sweetener: Sugar is most commonly used to sweeten but jaggery or any sweetener would be good. Just remember you'd need a lot of it to balance the tartness of falsa.
Black salt: This ingredient is most commonly used to cut down the tartness and enhance the flavor. You can use pink salt too. Use half of the measure if using table salt which is more potent.
How to make it?
Making falsa sharbat is a bit of work! Ask me when my hubby and FIL keep getting kilos of these berries and I have to make sherbet which is gone it ¼ amount of time it takes to make it, like really?
So let's begin! We'll try to keep it as hygienic as we can.
- Use fresh falsa, and separate stem and other dirt particles from falsa. Then wash thoroughly. In a food processor blend falsa with little water. Work in 3 batches adding about 1 cup of water in each batch. Using pulsation gives 2-3 pulses only so the seed separates from pulp without grinding seeds. (Do not grind seeds that give bad flavor and sticky texture to juice.)
- Place a strainer above a bowl to collect the juice. Extract the juice by pressing it with a rubber spatula. Work in two batches.
- Add 1 cup of water and mix well. We'll strain once more to extract every last drop of flavor.
- Strain the juice again. (I prefer squeezing the pulp with my hands at this stage.)
(Pro tip: You may line the strainer with cheesecloth and squeeze the juice out with your hands but I find it extra work.)
- That's the juice collected by straining twice. Now, add sugar and salt and mix until sugar dissolves. Falsa Sherbet syrup is ready. (Pro tip: You could do all the blending in an immersion blender as well.) At this stage, you can make sharbat and serve. Or freeze the phalsa syrup.
- IF not freezing and storing the syrup for more than 24 hours in the fridge then boil the juice for 30 seconds. Skim the foam.
- The color, taste, and nutrients diminish after boiling so try to consume fresh juice or freeze the syrup.
- Add water and ice to the syrup. Mix well and do a taste test. Add more water as/if required. Serve chilled.
Expert Tip
To Store: I've made falsa juice year after year. I've frozen it, cooked it, and tried everything. Raw falsa juice has higher nutritional value and tastes well, freezing also retains the taste of the juice considerably.
Boil only if you feel the sherbet is about to rot. Because falsa rot very quickly and you often think of using fruit in a recipe when not consumed fresh so I wanted to discuss the boiling option.
To Use: Here are a few ways to use the falsa syrup.
Popsicles: The sweetened falsa juice makes out of the world falsa popsicle just mix some water in syrup to dilute and freeze it. The only thing to warn is you just won't be able to concentrate on anything until all popsicles are gone. Yeah, it's that amazing!
Falsa sorbet: If you have an ice cream maker, make falsa sorbet in it.
Chutney: We also make falsa chutney just in case you want to have a look, guess what you can make falsa jelly or jam too. (It's not my cup of tea, we already can't get enough of sherbet and popsicles. )
FAQ
Falsa is called Indian Sherbet Berry or Grewia Asiatica in English. Other common names are Grewia Berry or Phalsa Berry.
Yes! go ahead. Just strain and blend in batch.
If phalsa is over-ripened and close to rotting. Pick all rotting fruit and discard it. Make juice from good once. Give the juice a boil. Boling will stop the extracted juice from rotting quickly.
Thirsty for drinks? Try these!
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📖 Recipe
Falsa Juice (Sherbet) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg Falsa, use fresh
- 2 litre water, divided
- 1¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon black salt
- Ice, to chill
- More water to dilute as required.
Instructions
- Separate stem and other dirt particles from falsa and wash thoroughly.
- In a food processor blend falsa with little water. Work in 3 batches adding about 1 cup of water in each batch. Using pulsation gives 2-3 pulses only so the seed separates from pulp without grinding seeds.
- Place a coarse strainer over a bowl. Transfer the blended falsa to the strainer and extract juice by pressing with a rubber spatula. Work in two batches.
- Transfer the residue from the strainer to a bowl and mix with about 1 cup of water. Strain again. (Pro tip: You may squeeze the residue with your hands to extract all the remaining juice.)
- Once Falsa juice is extracted, add sugar and salt to make falsa syrup. Store syrup in air tight container in freezer and use as needed.
- Make sharbat by mixing water and ice as needed. Serve chilled.
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