Chicha Morada

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Chicha morada, a refreshing sweet-tart Peruvian drink, gets its gorgeous hue from dried purple corn. Garnished with chunks of pineapple and apple and spiced with cinnamon and cloves, this sangria-like mocktail is the perfect summer drink. Slideshow: More Party Punch Recipes

By

Anna Painter

Updated on July 20, 2023

Tested by

Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Active Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

5 hrs

Yield:

9 cups

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

1 pineapple (3 /2-pound trimmed, peeled and cored, peel and core reserved, one-quarter of the pineapple diced)
2 Granny Smith apples (1 quartered)
1 bag dried purple corn (6-ounce see Note)
2 cinnamon sticks (-inch)
½ teaspoon whole cloves
¾ cup light brown sugar (packed)
½ cup fresh lemon juice (plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
½ cup fresh lime juice (plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Ice (for serving)
Lime wheels (for garnish)

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the pineapple peel and core with the quartered apple, the purple corn, cinnamon sticks, cloves, sugar and 14 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Uncover, reduce the heat to moderate and simmer until the corn is softened and the liquid is slightly reduced, about 1 hour.
Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard the solids. Pour the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a large heatproof bowl and let stand until no longer steaming, about 45 minutes. Whisk in the lemon juice, lime juice and salt and refrigerate the chicha morada until very cold, about 2 hours.
Peel, core and finely dice the remaining apple. Add the apple and the diced pineapple to a pitcher or punch bowl, then pour the chicha morada on top. Serve in glasses over ice, garnished with lime wheels.

Make Ahead

The recipe can be prepared through Step 2 and refrigerated for 4 days.

Notes

Dried purple corn is available from amazon.com.

Chicha Morada

Ingredients

Directions

Make Ahead

Notes

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