This may seem to be a lot for a drink, but was made as an offering to the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is one of the oldest Gods of the hindu pantheon and among the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva he represents destruction.
Bhang
2 cups water
1 ounce cannabis (fresh leaves and flowers preferred)
4 cups warm milk
2 tablespoons blanched and chopped almonds
1/8 teaspoon garam masala (a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamon)
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 to 1 teaspoon rosewater
1 cup sugar
Bring water to a boil and pour into a teapot. Remove all stems/seeds from the cannabis. Put the cannabis into teapot and cover. Let it brew for roughly 7 minutes. Strain the cannabis through a piece of muslin cloth (cheesecloth will do), collect the water. Take the cannabis and squeeze the remaining liquid into the liquid you just boiled. Place the cannabis into a mortar and add 2 teaspoons of warm milk. Slowly but firmly grind the cannabis and milk together. Gather up the cannabis and squeeze out as much milk as you can. Repeat this process until you've used about .5 cup of milk (4 or 5 times). Collect all the milk that was extracted and put into a bowl. Add the chopped almonds and some more warm milk. Grind this in the mortar until a fine paste is formed. Squeeze this paste and collect the extract as before. Repeat a few times until all that is left is some fibers and nut meal, discard residue. Combine all liquids that were collected including the water the cannabis was brewed in. Add this to the garam masala, dried ginger, and rosewater. Add the sugar and remaining milk. Chill, serve, enjoy.
-scribbles |