Kanji

Name: Kanji (Mustard-fermented carrot and beetroot drink)
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Makes about 2 litres/3½ pints/8 cups
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 5 carrots, cut into long 5cm/2-inch pieces; 1 tsp kalanamak (black salt); 3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds, roughly ground in a mortar and pestle; 1 tsp kalanamak (black salt); juice of ½ lemon; 1 beetroot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces; 1 tsp red chilli powder; 2 litres/3½ pints/8 cups water

Mustard-fermented carrot and beetroot drink

Preparation info

Makes about
2 litres

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
15 min

Appears in

Summers Under the Tamarind Tree

By Sumayya Usmani

Published 2016

About

This is a recipe that’s made in northern Punjab and one that my aunts prepared with blood-red Pakistani carrots (which only grow in winter). No other carrots come close in colour or flavour, but if lacking these, I add beetroot, which gives the drink a similar redness as well as a lovely tang.

Ingredients

5 carrots, cut into long 5cm/2-inch pieces
1 beetroot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
juice of ½

Method

Put the carrots, beetroot and the remaining ingredients into a large ceramic bowl or jar and cover with a lid or muslin cloth.

Place in a sunny or warm place for 3–5 days, stirring every day with a wooden spoon (not metallic, as it reacts with the pickling liquid) until mixed.

Taste each day and when it tastes sour, the kanji is fermented and is ready. Strain the fermented liqui