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Aloe Vera and Amla Juice

 
As is obvious from the title of this blog the main ingredients used for making this Juice are Aloe Vera and Amla. To help you identify the herbs correctly I have included both the scientific name and the common names

Aloe Vera : Scientific- Aloe barbadensis; Common Names- Marathi-Korfad ; Hindi-Kumari ; Telegu-Klabanda; Tamil-Kartazhai; Malayalam-Kaattu Vazha

Amla: Scientific Name- Phyllanthus emblica, English- Indian Gooseberry, Hindi, Marathi- Amla/Aonla, Tamil,Kannada- Nellikai, Telugu-Usirikaya

List of Ingredients for making 1 Glass of Juice (300ml):

50 grams of Aloe Vera Gel*

10 ml Amla Juice ( First pass / Concentrate) or 20-40ml of Amla Juice (Second pass ) **

1 tsp of Lemon Juice ( 1/2 Lemon) - You can skip it if you prefer a mildly sour drink

250 to 300 ml of water

1 tablespoon of Honey ( Or Salt and Ground Pepper to taste)

( Procedure for making Amla Juice and Scooping out Aloe Vera Gel has been outlined in the foot notes)

Preparation:

Blend together, either by hand or in a blender, Aloe Vera Gel, Amla Juice and 1 tsp Lemon Juice with 200-300ml of water. Sweeten it with a tablespoon of honey and serve fresh.

If you do not wish to sweeten the juice, you can add a pinch of Pink Himalayan salt and ground pepper to taste

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Notes ( About Aloe Vera Gel and Amla Juice )

The Aloe Vera Gel that we are going to use has to be made at home. It should not be store brought. Aloe Vera Gel /Juice available in the market would have added preservatives. Moreover keeping the juice for longer than a couple of days leads to a deterioration in the quality as well was the healing properties of the juice. The Amla Juice too should be made at home for best results. Amla juice available in the market has added preservatives like Sodium benzoate. These preservatives are detrimental to your health- some are also known to be carcinogens ( Cancer causing)

* Making your own Aloe Vera Gel :

1.      You will need a Aloe Vera plant that is at least 2-3 years old.

2.      Choose Aloe Vera leaves that are quite thick and mature. You will find these at the bottom of the plant and along the outermost sections. The smaller and thinner leaves that comprise the inner core, tend to have very low gel. As a rule of thumb choose leaves that are as wide as your palm.

3.      After choosing a thick leaf, make a cut as close to the stem as possible.

4.      Wash the leaf well, wipe it dry and then let place the leaf vertically in a vessel. Keep it that way for 10-20 minutes so as to help drain all the resin.

5.      Once the yellowish bitter resin has drained off, you can now wash the leaf once again and start by removing the thorns with a scraper or a sharp knife.

6.      After removing the thorns, slice the leaf into two halves so as to separate the upper and lower portions of the leaf.

7.      For those of you who want to avoid any bitter taste whatsoever, wash off any remaining slimy resin on the insides - near the cut portion.

8.      Keep each portion of the leaf on a cutting board, gel side facing up, and use a spoon to scoop out the gel.

9.      You can puree this gel with a hand blender and then keep it refrigerated in a glass bottle for 3-4 days. 

** Amla Juice Preparation

1.      Take 15-20 Indian Gooseberries ( Amla) and wash them well

2.      Cut the amla and discard the seeds

3.      For best results, extract Amla juice using a slow juicer/ Masticating Juicer like Hurom. If you do not have a slow/Masticating juicer you can extract the juice using the small chutney jar that you get along with your mixer grinder. Extract it in two stages.

4.      First Pass: The best way is to extract the juice by grinding Amla with very little water and then to keep this juice as a concentrate. This juice can last for 4-10 days in a refrigerator.

5.      Second Pass: Use the residue from above process , add to it another 50-70ml of water and grind once again. Filter the juice. This juice is milder and will keep for 2-3 days. You might have to use 2-3 times the quantity of this juice if you are to use it as a replacement for the concentrated juice. 

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