Chicha Morada
Posted on | April 1, 2011 | 5 Comments
Image by lindsaybanks via Flickr
Go ahead – ask me why I’ve never posted this recipe. And the answer will be – I just don’t know! Honestly, I thought I’d done it a long time ago. But I realized today that I hadn’t, so better now than never!
I’ve talked about chicha before – specifically chicha de jora, and talked about how it’s used in cooking. Well, chicha morada is a bit different.
Like chicha de jora, chicha morada is made from maize – or corn. Morada means “purple”, and as you might expect, it’s made from a variety of purple grained corn. It’s a sweet drink and opposed to the chicha de jora, it’s not fermented before drinking.
When you get a glass of chicha morada, it looks like nothing more than a big glass of dark purple grape juice (although sometimes there will be fruit floating in it.) In fact, when I first tried it, I didn’t particularly care for it. My brain expected it to have a grapey taste, and it just didn’t. Ever picked up a glass of iced tea, thinking it was soda, and it tasted all weird because it wasn’t what you expected? It was like that.
But over time, I adjusted to the flavor and now it’s one of my very favorite things. If you can find Peruvian purple corn, I encourage you to give it a try!
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of Peruvian purple corn (maiz morado)
- 1 large piece of cinnamon bark, or 2-3 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cloves (clavos de olor)
- 1 pineapple husk
- 2 quince fruit, cut in halves (membrillo)
- 5 liters of water
- 4 limes (limones)
- 1 cup of peeled and cubed apple (optional)
Directions:
- Put the first 6 ingredients in a large stock pot, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer, and let it boil until the corn begins to burst open.
- Let it cool, then strain the liquid into a large jar or other pot.
- Add the juice from the limes.
- Add sugar to taste – I usually go with a slightly heaping cup of sugar per 3 liters to start.
- Add the apple cubes, if desired. Some people also go with a bit of chunk pineapple.
IMPORTANT TIP: Chicha morada can ferment quickly after sugar is added. If you’re making it in advance, you should wait to add the sugar until the last minute.
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I got tired of life happening while I made other plans, so I quit my job and came to Peru. I live here with my Peruvian husband, two sons, three dogs and various other family members, depending on the weather.
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April 1st, 2011 @ 20:11
I remember how back in the US, I used to serve Chicha at my son’s B-Day parties and people were always trying to guess what it was. Some people thought it was grape juice, some thought it was Jamaica, a mexican drink… when I told them it was purple corn drink everyone was surprised. Most people liked it! It’s one of the things I missed the most when I was living in California.
April 1st, 2011 @ 20:52
Ah, chicha morada! I’m obsessed with the stuff. It’s the perfect way to cool down in the jungle – either that or a nice cold agaujina.
April 2nd, 2011 @ 01:10
We buy liter bags of it for 1 sol from the same lady we buy our breakfast sandwiches from. I love it when it’s got lots of cinnamon.
April 5th, 2011 @ 10:31
Wow!! So great you enjoy our country, great posts!! From now I’m your follower
April 5th, 2011 @ 13:53
Thanks Johanna.
I went over and checked out your blog – what fantastic photos you have! Thanks so much for stopping by!