#NigerianRecipe - Roselle drink

Thank God it's Friyay!!! 

Hi Everyone! 

I know you have been craving for the weekend  to come so desperately. Look it is finally here, and it's time to relax and ease yourself of the stress.  Right about time to spice things up again. 

In today's edition of #NigerianRecipe, unlike before, so you don't start thinking I'm a complete 'swallow' person we will be learning about one of Nigeria’s popular drinks, family beverage and our very own local Chapman. Roselle drink popularly known as  zobo. 

Zobo drink is one of Nigeria’s popular drinks made from dried Roselle plant flowers. The drink is also known as Roselle drink.It is mostly prepared at home as family beverage drink and also as refreshment in parties and get-togethers. 

Ingredients for Zobo drink
Lowers high blood pressure Zobo is gotten from Hibiscus leaf which is an antioxidant.
It is rich in vitamin C and makes a wonderful herbal medicine to fight off infections and cold. 

The following ingredients for  5 litres of Zobo drink. You can get more with the same quantity of ingredients depending on the concentration you want. If you will be using artificial flavours, you need to add more water.

dry zobo leaves

2 De Rica* cups of dry Zobo leaves

1 glove of garlic

1 big piece of ginger

1 big very ripe pineapple

Enough water

  

Wash the dry Zobo leaves repeatedly in cold water. Zobo leaves are usually very dusty so make sure you wash off all the dust. It will seem like all the flavours/colour of the zobo are being washed off but don't worry, you will see that the dry zobo leaves still have a lot of the colour intact when you start boiling it.

Wash, peel and cut the pineapple into thin slices. Some people add the peel of the pineapple when making the zobo drink but I don't do this simple because I always think that dirt is stuck in the peels of pineapples :)

Peel and cut the ginger and garlic into tiny pieces.

DIRECTIONS

1.     Put the washed zobo leaves into a deep pot.

2.     Add the pineapples and pour enough water to cover the contents of the pot and then some.

3.     Start cooking at medium to high heat and let it boil for 5 minutes.

4.     Add the ginger and the garlic, add more water and keep boiling for at least 30 minutes. This is the time it will take for the zobo leaves to be completely soft and the pineapples tender.

5.     Turn off the heat and set aside to cool down completely.

6.     When cool, wringe out the juice from the pineapples and zobo leaves, leaving only the zobo juice in the pot.

7.     Pour the juice through a sieve to take out the remaining large particles then pour it through a chiffon cloth to remove the tiniest particles.

8.     Add any artificial flavours of your choice at this time and stir.

9.     Pour into bottles and refrigerate.

Serve with ice and sliced fruits. Enjoy with any snack of your choice.

HEALTH BENEFITS

It has been seen to be very effective in quenching thirst especially when served chilled. It can serve as an alternative to commercial sport drinks.

Helps fight hypertension: Hibiscus tea has some anti-hypertensive properties which helps reduce hypertension, cholesterol level, and high blood pressure.

Weight Loss: Zobo helps in reduction of dietary carbohydrate and hence can aid in weight loss especially if taking after food.

Please note that "Zobo is not recommended for pregnant women in their first trimester or those who are undergoing fertility treatments. This is because it can lower levels of oestrogen in the body and can prompt menstruation which could ultimately lead to a miscarriage". 


















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