If you are looking for some amazing summer coolers with seasonal fruits - Try this Non-Alcoholic Spiced Mulberry Cooler and make the most of Mulberries or Shahtoot this season!
Spiced Mulberry Cooler
Last month has been extremely hectic at home. With blogging many recipes to continuous travel by husband and loads of house hold chores, an absent house help for the large part of the month, my sister and niece visiting us, still managed to achieve a lot of my blog related and personal commitments. With schools and my classes closed (yes I am a teacher too) I thought I would be relaxing in March and April but doesn’t look like that is going to be the case.
A good blog needs few props and in a month or so, I would be completing one year of blogging. Can you imagine this? I don’t! Honestly, I haven’t made a lot of exclusive purchases for the blog so thought of indulging myself and hence went off in search for some blog props etc. Though I didn’t have much time on hand, with husband leaving the very next day for a week long trip to Bangalore, I could still manage few things.
Along with blog props, the thing that I was most happy about securing were these beauties – Mulberries! Crawford Market is one of the largest markets in Mumbai where you can manage to source anything you want, if you don’t mind the crowd and the chaos during weekends. Exotic vegetables, fruits, baking essentials, household goods. You name it and you get that there. Of course, the price is reasonable too! I got a box of Mulberries for 100 bucks so I ended up buying 2 of them. I love berries of all kinds while Narayan doesn’t, with the exception of strawberries. So, I was glad I didn’t have to share this with him. My original plan was to make a Panacotta but since Narayan wasn’t around to share it with me, dropped the idea. I always like him to taste and provide feedback on my first attempts. He is brutally honest, has great taste buds and helps me improve.
After chomping on literally half a box of these beauties, yes these are pretty addictive if they are the right balance of sweet and sour. I thought of making this pretty looking cooler since its summers and look at the gorgeous colour when they are blitzed! Sheer beauty! I like my smoothies sweet and my coolers kinda funky with a combination of sweet, sour and spicy. Kept adding few ingredients and blitzed it. After tasting some, I wanted more. Made another batch, and finally thought of shooting this and posting the same for the blog.
Planning to post more Mulberry recipes soon, with the 2nd box that I have stashed in the chiller tray. All berries in general are good for health. A little more digging on Wiki revealed that Black Mulberries were imported to Britain in the 17th century to cultivate silkworms. Mulberries are derived from Morus Plant. Black, Red and White Mulberries are found in Southern Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. The dark colour of the mulberries which often stains your hands, are due to anthocyanins present which are present in foods that are red, purple, black and blue. They are natural food colorants and can be easily extracted.
Mulberries are rich with nutrients like Iron, Riboflavin, Vitamin C, Vitamin K etc. Like most berries, they have a good amount of dietary fibre which keeps you full and enables good bowel movements so great for those suffering from constipation. Berries in general are also found to be very useful in fighting cancer, blood pressure and heart ailments.
I certainly don’t need any reason to have Mulberries or Shahtoot as they call in Hindi. They are gorgeous and in season – Get a batch and stay cool!
Looking for a Sugar Free Smoothie Recipe – Try the Mixed Fruit Smoothie.
Ingredients for making one tall glass of Cooler
Prep Time - 10 mins max
Cook Time - Nil
- 15 nos of Fresh Mulberries
- ¼ tsp of Himalayan Pink Salt
- 1/4 tsp of paprika powder
- 1 tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp of Chaat Masala Powder
- A small pinch of roasted Jeera Powder
- Few mint leaves
Method –
- Wash and pat dry the fresh mulberries. Don’t wash mulberries under running water as they are tender berries and often get squashed easily. Just soak them for a couple of minutes in a bowl of cold water and then drain / dry them in a colander.
- In a mixer grinder jar, add the fresh mulberries along with salt, paprika powder, sugar, chaat masala powder, roasted jeera powder and 1-2 mint leaves.
- Give all the ingredients a quick blitz until a thick flavoursome paste is formed.
- Pour this in a glass, add required quantity of water, mix and serve it chilled.
Recipe Notes –
- When you buy mulberries, always store them in a chiller tray in a dry box minus the lid. Don’t overcrowd the berries as it leads to spoilage. Keep a tissue paper on the base of the tray so that the moisture levels are controlled. Don’t wash them until you use them. Keeps them fresh for longer. Use it within 2 – 3 days of buying else, make a compote and refrigerate or freeze them for using later.
- Paprika powder is not very spicy but lends a great flavor and colour to the drink. Since I prefer spicy, I have used a good quantity of the same. You may tone it down as per your taste and preferences.
- You can add rock salt or table salt instead of pink salt. I love the flavor and the taste of pink salt, hence added the same.
- You can add more sugar, if required. Since the mulberries were naturally sweet and sour, I prefer not adding additional sweeteners. You can replace sugar with honey too.
- I have not added lemons since the mulberries are naturally a mixture of sweet and sour. Also, the chaat masala powder has aamchur powder, which really balances the flavours.
- You can add soda instead of water and make it more interesting. Since I avoid fizzy drinks as much as I can, I haven’t done the same.
- Want to turn this into a cocktail, Add some vodka or gin, this would be fabulous!
Vidya Narayan
sounds delicious have never tried this before !
Do try if you can find fresh mulberries, they taste delicious. thank you.
Very refreshing drink
Thanks and I agree.
Looks so beautiful & refreshing !
Thank you so much dear
Love Mulberry.... Cooler looks so inviting Vidya.. very flavourful so delicious
Thanks dear Ruchi.
Refreshing drink and a lovely color!
Thanks so much
Mulberry Cooler looks so refreshing. I am throwing a party next weekend. I ll surely give this a try. thanks for sharing.
Oh that sounds great. Let me know how it turned out. Thanks dear.
Oh! If I had seen your post earlier those mulberries that I gulped down, would have been converted to cooler.These days its very difficult to get mulberries. Luckily, I saw a hawker selling them and bought some for myself.
The cooler looks so good with that bright color.
Thanks dear.. I dont get it nearby either so had to go all the way to town to get it. I love berries.
Perfect share for this summer season. Love to have this chilled yummy cooler. Enjoyed reading.
Thank you so much!
Mulberry cooler looks so refreshing, cool and perfect drink for this summer season YUM! Lovely share Vidya! 🙂
Thank you so much dear
Perfect one for the season.. I like the mildly spiced summer coolers a lot. The taste is well balanced.
Absolutely agree with you. Thanks so much.
I am jealous you have a great source for mulberries. Takes me back to when I was a kid and we used to ransack the neighbour's tree. I love the colour here Vidya and as for the taste, I can comment only when I taste it right? So when are you feeding me this cooler?
Just kidding its beautiful and I love the flavours you have described here.
come over soon, I would feed you so much more than this cooler for sure! Would be a pleasure meeting you. Sadly as a kid I never ate berries and Mumbai has no such trees in the vicinity so yes, learning it all now and enjoying them while they last. Thanks and glad you liked it.
BTW congrats on completion of a year .
thanks dear .. hold it until next month though..
Beautifully captured?
Thanks dear
I wish I could get some mulberries. We use to pick these from the tree in our garden in Nairobi when I was young. Pluck and pop it into the mouth and my grandmother would shout at my siblings and me for eating them without washing them. A nice cooling drink and love the colour.
Oh wow.. Straight from the trees - thats amazing and super fun! Thanks and glad you liked it.
Wow, wat a catchy and eyepleasing cooler, extremely irresistible.. Wish i get that glass rite now eventhough its too late for me to drink a cooler. Cant take my eyes from that stunning drink.
Never too late to enjoy things you love - Isnt it? Thanks so much dear.
Love that you have given this a lovely Indian touch with chaat masala! Fabulous write up and beautiful share 🙂 🙂
Thanks and glad you liked it.
I am with Narayan. Don't like berries! 😀 😀 But your pics are making me reconsider.
oh is it? ha ha .. Thanks dear.
Ohhhh missing these lovely juicy mulberries here in Bangalore, can’t find them anywhere, your post reminded me of my childhood memories of the mulberry tree in my backyard, we used to spend the whole afternoon playing under it and enjoying them, loved your refreshing recipe.
Glad you could revist the memories with the post and so happy to hear that. Thank you dear.
Fantastic writeup.. Love to have a glass of mulberry cooler now... Such a refreshing drink !
Thanks and glad you liked it Priya!
Congratulations in advance for completing a year of blogging! You have donned too many hats and are doing a great job! Hats off. Now can you please pass me a glass of this cooler. Look at the gorgeous colour. Its a shame that I haven't explored these berries yet. I will definitely get a box of these. Good for the taste buds, good for health. What else is need!
Cooler is all yours dear and I hope you love them once you make it. Thank you so much for the advance wishes and all those kind words. Cooking is pure love for me and am glad this blogging world has opened so many opportunities including meeting good friends like you.
Although it's raining outside and temperatures are only reaching 10C here, I feel like grabbing that glass of juice right now:) I wish I can visit that market, imagine me there:) BTW didn't know you are a teacher?
Oh you in that market will be one crazy experience and I am sure we will have to pack you and loads of luggage back to US fully loaded with blog props. Teaching is not something I do few days a week for school kids. Its purely my wish and desire to give back something to the society and nothing else. In return I benefit with a lot of love and affection from them.
oh! so nice you got these mulberries. Its been a long time I saw these beauties. Lovely drink.
Thanks so much dear.
Shahtoot are synonymous for me with happy childhood memories and summer delights. My mom used to sun dry them and give me as cough suppressants too. Not only they tasted yummy but actually worked wonders.
Drinking this luscious drink would mean tasting that same happiness with each sip. I can imagine how exciting the addition of chaat masala would be to this sweet and sour coolant. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the writeup!
My pleasure always to see your response to my posts and I always look forward to your feedbacks. You sound very similar to me in terms of eating traditional foods and produce and focusing on healthy ingredients. Glad you loved the chaat masala element .. I was wishing I had gol gappa puris nearby to dunk some of this juice in that and have .. Seriously !! It just gave me those vibes.
Looks so refreshing! Is this same as blackberry? Addition of chaat Masala also sounds interesting. Totally refreshing and flavorful juice!
Blackberries are a bit plump but the tangy sweet element is same. Mulberries are slightly longer and slim. Thanks and glad you liked it.
I agree every blog will need a few stunning ones. Invariably in mine, it was my mom and mils pathra potti which I dig for props. All the backgrounds are simple everyday stuff and let see where this goes. but then i too indulge in the produce when I see a good source. Spotted a mulberry tree nearby, will try this when i see the mulberries up.
Oh my MIL's brass vessels I am eyeing to shine / polish and use as blog props shortly. Nothing will ever be enough dear. Unfortunately we are not really blessed with yard sales etc that happen abroad so a lot of searching needs to be done for good props. Hopefully you make this and love it. Thank you so much dear.
Oh how I miss the mulberries here. We used to pick them on our way to school when we were kids. The cooler with spices must have been refreshing and delicious for hot summer days.
As a kid, I never experienced eating any berry other than strawberries which is the reason why today I am a big crazy berry fan. Glad you liked the spiced cooler.
I definitely loved the idea of having spiced cooler..that's interesting..and glad to know that you are a teacher too
Thank you dear so much.
So good to see mulberry again, i think it is almost a decade since i have seen mulberries..Lovely recipe, so refreshing !!
Glad you liked it Anshu, the recipe has got so many similar responses on how much they miss this fruit since their childhood days.