Here's how you can make hibiscus teas and granita:
Kadafa
This flavorful tea combining hibiscus with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, date sugar, ginger, and black pepper is available in Arab and Mediterranean groceries nationwide. Prepare as any other tea and serve warm or iced.
Hibiscus Granita
Here is an alternative to ice cream or sorbet that, though containing sugar, has only 28 calories (1/2 carbohydrate exchange) per delicious serving. The bioavailable vitamin and phytochemical content of the tea is maximized in this preparation.
3 cups hibiscus iced tea.
Pour the iced tea into ice cube trays and freeze overnight or up to 3 days before use.
When ready to serve, turn the ice cubes into a food processor fitted with a metal blade or a powerful blender. Pulse the machine until the granita has the texture of crushed ice.
Hibiscus Iced Tea
1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers or 30 individual red hibiscus blossoms
1/2 ounce (about 1 joint of ginger root) peeled and diced fresh ginger
3 quarts water
Juice from 6 limes
3/4 cup sugar
If using fresh hibiscus blossoms, wash before use. Wash and grate ginger, place it in a large saucepan, cover with one quart of water and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add dried hibiscus or hibiscus blossoms, remove saucepan from heat and cover. When cool, strain liquid into a large pitcher or pot. Add 2 quarts water and juice from limes. Add sugar. Chill and serve cold over cracked ice. Garnish with fresh lime wedge, if desired.
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2 comments:
hibiscus flowers steeped in boiling water and then seasoned with lemon is a wonderful relaxant. make the hibiscus stronger by boiling the actual buds or whole flowers for a few minutes and let it sit for 20 minutes. makes a wonderful "get better quicker" cold tonic.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try it the next time I feel a cold coming on.
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