Spiced Winter Warmer🍷

Hello....

I am posting a recipe for winter during summer!

I was wandering in the beautiful streets of Prague on a Christmas Day and found a small restaurant by the street side where they were selling some kind of colourful drinks. It was terribly cold, started to drizzle and the smell of spices just pulled me towards it (also the shelter😉). I went and happily ordered one of the very good looking drinks and started searching for coins to pay while the shopkeeper poured a glass for me. I soon realised that I was short of cash! I started looking inside my bag hurriedly while the shopkeeper patiently waited. To my embarrassment I couldn't find any extra cash...I had spent all the money that I had withdrawn and now I could see no ATM machine within immediate vicinity...my face must have gone red by embarrassment and the shopkeeper must have noticed it. He said it's alright ma'm give me how much ever money you have! I was a little bit shocked and recovering from embarrassment, asked him in doubt, 'really?! are you sure?' He reassured me that he was really ok with it. I paid him, thanked wholeheartedly, wished him Merry Christmas and walked away sipping my spiced winter warmer. That simple act of generosity and kindness towards a stranger is exactly what the world needs more and more. Someone rightly said 'Do good and good will come back to you in very unexpected ways' 😊

Ingredients:

650 ml water

7-8 dried kokum/mangosteen peel soaked in 100 ml water for 2 hours

3-4 big cinnamon sticks

1-2 dried/fresh orange slices

1 star anise

2 bay leaves

8-7 cardamom pods

10-15 dried cranberries

1 inch ginger crushed

6-8 cloves

sugar as per taste

Method:

- Add all the ingredients to water and bring it to boil. Let it boil for 15 minutes

- Strain the spices and serve hot

Notes:

- You can replace sugar with honey or any other sweet syrup

- I used dried cranberries because I had it. You can either skip this or replace with any other dry fruits

- You can also add these spices to grape, apple juice or orange juice, boil and drink

Cheers!