Chicha is a Venezuela drink, which has oatmeals as one of its chief components. It is also known by the name of Chicha de avena. It is a chilling relief for parched throats on a particular hot day and is favored by the Venezuelans. However, people across the world, especially in countries like Ecuador and Columbia, have their own special recipes for making the drink. Venezuelans, on the other hand, prefer making it with different mouth watering combinations of fruit juices and milk, teamed up with ice. This is a non-alcoholic drink, which is also favored by the Venezuelan children.
Chicha is also a health drink for the Venezuelans, which is high in protein and vitamin content. Unlike alcohol, it is rich in iron and fiber content. It also has low fat and is cholesterol free. Components like milk and the fruit juice add value to the to the calcium and the Vitamin C content.
Chicha Ingredients
The Chicha drink in Venezuela needs ingredients that are easy to find in the market. Some of the ingredients that are needed for making Chicha are:
- 1 cup of oatmeal
- 3 naranjilla fruits or three passion fruits
- 6 cups of water
- ¼ cup of sugar, which is an optional ingredient
- A pinch of saltto taste
- Some whole cloves and cinnamon sticks to taste
Preparing Chicha
Preparing chicha is as easy as buying it from the departmental shop or ordering it in the restaurant. Following are the steps for preparing Chicha.
- The naranjilla fruits have to be washed and cut into 4 parts each. It is advisable to peel the fruit. If passion fruits are being used in the recipe then it is advisable to scoop the pulp out of the fruits and then blend them with water. Then the mixture is to be filtered and the juice has to be set aside, only to be added during the last phase of cooking.
- The water has to be put and the fruit cut in a big Dutch oven. Then oatmeal and salt are to be added. The mixture has to be boiled till the water reduces considerably. After the mixture cools down, sugar, cloves and cinnamon have to be added. For a thicker drink, it is advisable to heat the drink at low temperature for the next 10 minutes.
- When the avena is thickened, it should be removed from the heat and cooled slightly.
- The still warm mixture is to be blended and then strained. It has to be refrigerated to resist rotting.
- A few teaspoonful of sugar can be added to taste. The drink is ready to be served and enjoyed.
A hot day and a glass of
Chicha makes the day really refreshing.
