Wood Apple Juice is a summer cooling drink made from this typical fruit, also known as elephant apple. This wood apple recipe is a popular summer beverage in northern and eastern parts of India. The drink is tasty, refreshing as well as nutritious.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 25 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 3 wood apple ((elephant apple or monkey fruit) - small to medium sized)
  • 3 to 3.5 cups water (- cold)
  • ½ to ¾ cup water (- added later while straining the pulp)
  • 12 tablespoons jaggery (or add as required)
  • ⅓ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • ⅓ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
  • 2 pinches black salt

Method

Preparation

  1. First take each wood apple and with a rolling pin hit it all around.
  2. You will see the outer hard shell cracking. Open the hard shell and you will see a brown colored pulp.
  3. With a spoon scoop out the soft pulp from all the three wood apples. Transfer the scooped soft pulp in a bowl.
  4. Add 1 cup cold water.
  5. Soak this mixture for 20 minutes.
  6. After 20 minutes, with a veggie masher, mash the pulp in the bowl itself. Mash very well.
  7. Then using a strainer, strain the mashed pulp mixture in parts. Also add about ½ to ¾ cup water in parts while straining the pulp.
  8. With a spoon stir so that the mixture is strained well.

Making Wood Apple Juice

  1. Once the mixture is strained, then add 12 tablespoons jaggery. You can also add sugar. Both jaggery and water can be adjusted as per your requirements.
  2. Then add roasted cumin powder, cardamon powder and 2 pinches of black salt.
  3. Mix very well.
  4. Pour in glasses and serve Wood Apple Juice. You can make the juice thin or thick by adding more or less water.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.