Passion Fruit Juice

My Ma has a green thumb and she adores her plants, her tiny garden and loves the baby saplings. A tiny sapling growing into a a fruit bearing tree certainly adds to the motivation. When we were kids, she potted few seeds of Passion Fruit which were gifted by a dear friend. The fruit grew into a wild climber and crawled over half of our house and atop the terrace. There was a certain method to the madness as our house now had a canopy of green foliage. For couple of years, we enjoyed a pleasing harvest of Passion Fruit during summer days. 

Passion Fruit Pulp

Finally, the climber took official possession of our property so much that the house was completely covered with the tendrils, woody twigs and wild vines. The beauty of the vine were the fruits which bore a light green color (there are many different varieties of Passion Fruit) and the flowers looked very pretty, purple like a dainty dame. The vine caused damage to the property and much to our dismay, a professional tree feller was called to trim the vines. I assume that the poor plant was dejected and sadly thereafter the climber stopped growing beyond a expected height. That was the tragic end of Passion Fruit saga in our home. Ma felt sad as we could not salvage the climber and restore her to grow and flourish. Finally, we moved from the home and the new owner weeded her out which breaks my heart as I write this. I choose to address the climber as 'her' as Ma personified the climber as a woman who bore children and needed constant help and care.

Purple Passion Fruit

For the first time we got these fruits as a gift, we did not know what to do with it. Happens in your home? I am sure. Finally, after some expert intervention, my Ma figured a way out to deal with the pulp. Hence, I decided to post the recipe for everybody's benefit. I found Purple Passion Fruit at Whole Foods. The store associate told me that they are very seasonal and are available for a brief period of time is US during late summer. The taste of this fruit is very mild, natural, a bit tangy and tastes better when freshly extracted. It comes very close to Rasna Mango, a summer beverage I loved as a kid. 

~ Passion Fruit Juice ~

Processing Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 oz of concentrate

Ingredients:

Passion Fruit: 6

Sugar - 2 tsp/ Fruit

Ice Chips

Water

Contraption Needed: Large Sieve

Method:

Rinse the fruits and halve them. You will spot a yellow pulp which is seeded. Extract the pulp in a large metal sieve. Add sugar to the pulp and stir well with a strong ladle. This is a painstaking process and could take long. At regular intervals, add little water to support the stirring process. Extract the concentrate in a bowl. Store the concentrate in a non-reactive jar and use within 3 days. For making the juice, use 1 part of concentrate for 3 parts of water. No need to add extra sugar. Serve with ice chips.