By Tript Arora

In the month of February when you visit the vegetable market, you will see these dark purple color carrots. Fermented in the Sun with water, salt and mustard powder, these carrots make an excellent probiotic drink. In India it is called Kaanji. It is rich in antioxidants, dietary fibre, vitamin C , potassium & magnesium. It also boosts your digestion thereby boosting your immune system. Kaanji is the miracle health drink. Easy to prepare and full of health benefits. What else one can ask for ? All you need is black carrots, Black salt, mustard seeds, red chillies and water. In the absence of Black carrots you can use ¾  part red carrots and ¼ part beetroot for that beautiful colour. But I prefer black carrots any day since they taste good as well as produce a very vibrant colour. These are all mixed with water and fermented in the Sun for 4 to 5 days. You can strain it after five days and drink immediately or keep it in a fridge. The carrots in the kaanji can be used as pickle and tastes awesome with khichdi or rice. Always  use glass or terracotta pots for the fermentation process. The benefit of using terracotta pot is that it will cool in a natural way and there is no need for refrigerating the Kanji. My mother used to make it in a big terracotta pot and keep it in the sun. It is pungent in taste so as a kid I didn’t relish it so much. But my mother made it compulsory to drink this because of its health benefits. But as I grew up I started relishing it as well as preparing it myself. It has the balance of sourness and sweetness. So enjoy this super healthy, gut friendly drink. It is like Kamboocha made in your own home.

We need

6 Black Carrots, 2 Tbsp Mustard Powder (rai), 2 Tbsp Black Salt, 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder or Black pepper powder, 7 glasses of Water

Here We go

–              Cut carrots in thin strips.

–              In a glass jar drop carrots slices, black salt, red chilli powder, mustard powder.

–              Fill with seven to eight glasses of water.

–              Cover it with a lid.

–              Keep it in the Sun and let it ferment for 4 to 5 days . Stir it daily.

–              Strain and Enjoy this gut friendly Kaanji with or without ice.