Or a Spicy Indian Guavarita, if you please!
If you were to offer me a drink, it’s most likely that I will opt for beer. Usually because it’s the easiest choice. Almost everyone stocks it for a party or dinner and I love it. But the other reason I would do that is because I’m playing it safe. I love cocktails as much as I love beer but how can I ask for the kind of cocktail that I like without sounding fussy, or worse, a snob? I know I have mentioned the fact that I don’t like sugary, aerated drinks or sodas – just doesn’t go with my sugar threshold. Most drinks that people make are made of these and some alcohol or the other. There aren’t too many people out there who make non-sweet cocktails.
I love cocktails with at least some portion of fresh ingredients and not everything canned and bottled. A fresh squeeze of lemon juice, some mint, maybe some lemon wedges/ slices are the least of my expectations! But sometimes that comes across as being pretty demanding. I don’t always have to have complicated cocktails with a lot of imported or expensive ingredients. I love a simple G&T with some lemon, or a super spicy Bloody Mary, or a classic lime Margherita.
Actually, my only real condition is that it should not be a sweet, juice/soda-laden cocktail. I can deal with the bottled/ canned stuff too, if I have to!
Coming back to the point, I had an interesting Amrood Chaat Mocktail at a pub-like restaurant in Delhi recently, called The Chatter House. It was chatpata and spicy, just the kind of flavour I like! So I decided that it’s on my to-do list for the blog to try an replicate it, but a boozy version! So when this Urban Dazzle contest came along for the IFBM 2014, asking for an “Indian flavour” inspired cocktail/ mocktail, I thought this would make the perfect entry. I decided to go with a margarita style cocktail, or an Indian Guavarita, if that’s what you want to call it!
Here’s what I used for 2 servings (250-300 ml glass each):
90 ml Jose Cuervo Silver Tequila
200 ml guava juice (pictured in a Snapple bottle above, but it’s obviously not Snapple!)
60 ml lemon juice
30 ml simple sugar syrup
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/8 tsp red chilly powder (cayenne pepper)
10 dashes of Tobasco sauce
Ice cubes, about 3-4 per glass (yes, it’s very hot in Delhi!)
Club soda to top
Lemon wedge, chaat masala and red chilly powder to rim the glasses
Mint sprigs and fresh red chillies for the garnish
Here’s how I made it:
I don’t have step-by-step pictures for you today, for 2 reasons. (1) I’m short on time because I have only today to complete ALL my IFBM contest entries before I leave for a quick belated birthday trip with the folks; and (2) It is really so darn simple that I couldn’t justify too many pictures!
Anyhow, I placed all the ingredients in the list above from Tequila till the ice cubes in a cocktail shaker — you can also just use any screw top jar that won’t spill the contents — and gave them a good shake. This is a good time to give it a quick taste to check if it needs any adjustment — more lemon or spice or even booze!
In a small plate, I spooned in some chaat masala and red chilly powder and mixed them up. Then I used a lemon wedge and rubbed it along the rims of the glasses to moisten them before I dipped the rims in the chaat masala-chilly mix to make a nice chatpata rim!
Then I spooned out the ice cubes from the shaker and divided them between the two glasses. Pouring the juice and tequila mix over the ice cubes, I topped the rest with club soda and garnished it with a mint sprig and a fresh red chilly each!
Done! Told you it was easy. And spicy. And delicious. I don’t know what you’re doing if you aren’t running off to try it right away. I mean it.
I think the drink would look fantastic in this glass from Urban Dazzle. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Notes:
- Tequila is my liquor of choice for this but I’m positive that a vodka or a light rum would also do the job well.
- What I meant to do this time, but didn’t have the time, is to infuse the tequila overnight or for 2 nights with a slit red chilli. It would really take the fire up a notch but that’s the kind of crazy thing I like!
- If you have some sweet & sour syrup, then you can use that instead of the fresh lemon juice and simple syrup.
- You can use Sprite/ 7 up or some other lemony soda to top the drink as well. I think it would taste great but it’s too much sugar for me.