Dried Roselle Iced Tea

While shopping for some prunes at Carrefour, my eyes fell on something that was called 'Dried Roselle'. They looked vaguely familiar and when I smelt them, the aroma took me straight back to my childhood and to my neighbour's verandah where these would be left to dry out in the summer sun - sweet and delightfully tangy, we would eat them by the fistful, regardless of the fact that we had no clue what they were!

A quick google search (oh what would I do without the search engines) revealed that these are actually a variety of hibiscus that is native to India and Malaysia - Hibiscus Sabdariffa or ambadi or gongura or red sorrel!

(Madhumati and Mangocheeks, you were absolutely spot on!)

What you see in the picture is actually the calyx that has been dried. The calyces, either fresh or dried, are used extensively in jams, marmalades, relishes, salads,juices and herbal tea. In fact, across many cultures and countries, roselle tea is believed to have anti-oxidant, diuretic and hypotensive properties.

Given the cooling effect it has on the body, in the sweltering Singapore heat, a tall glass of chilled roselle iced tea seemed just THE thing to have.

Dried Roselle Iced Tea:
Not much of a recipe here, but this is what I did:

Boil water and pour it over the dried roselle - for 3 glasses, I used about 16 nos of dried roselle.

Steep for a few minutes or until the water turns bright red. Strain and let it cool.

Then, add some fresh ginger juice, some lime juice, jal jeera (I used chaat masala), a pinch of rock salt and some sugar. Stir, strain once again and pour it over ice into (tall) glasses.

Garnish with some mint leaves and lemon slices.

Mmmmm.... at once tangy and sweet, this refreshing summer cooler was unlike any other drink we'd ever had. Seriously, should you find this anywhere, don't even bat an eyelid, just grab it! I am certain you will simply relish it.


This dried roselle iced tea goes to AnuSriram's Refreshing Drinks for Summer.