Nobody can make fresh fruit juice like us Indians. In Maharashtra, after Shirdi, on way to Shani Shingnapur, came across one whole village having sugarcane juice huts with the sugarcane being pulped by oxen, in one side of the highway, in mini grinding mills. Such a rustic setting it was as we relaxed in the hammock like cot (typical in Indian countryside) sipping the sugarcane juice filtered, with no additives added, and handed over to us. No ice cubes either. It was heaven really.
This week I was walking through a street near the famous Kapaleeshwar temple in Mylapore. Forgot my water bottle. Little apprehensive, dared to go for fruit juice in a shop to quench my thirst. I fear contamination in juice shops that’s why. The girl who was there said, they added no water or sugar. Instead with any fruit over there, they added freshly pulped sugarcane’s extract.
I chose orange juice from the menu. The girl did not pulp the entire sugarcane. The long cane was already in the mill. She ran it just for a minute and showed me the blender jar where she collected the necessary volume of sugarcane extract/juice. Probably the sugarcane is to serve a number of customers that day! To this sugarcane juice, she added two peeled whole oranges big size. Then she gave a pulse of 30 sec in the blender before filtering the juice concoction. What a taste that was! Imagine orange juice blended with natural sugarcane, sans water and sugar and no ice cubes. Never had anything like that in my life before this! It was served in a tall glass to the brim. Sugarcane normally gives me soar throat so I was a little worried. Also the place was only so-so. One whole night I waited for cough or cold to set in! Thank god, no infection I caught on. No wonder. The girl did not even use a glove. But she put the entire two oranges peeling them in front of me into the blender jar. The sugarcane extraction was also direct in front of my eyes. I needn’t have feared. This power packed and yummiest freshest juice cost me sixty rupees that’s all.
Then I wished I could have gone for pomegranate (90 rs)or apple or sweetlime or mosambi. All these I am reserving for future dates!
Mylapore with its congested streets is a heaven for vegetarian cuisine. If I have to have residence there in present times, I don’t have to cook at all! Cheap and best!
vijiravindran's 