I cooked Polish Redcurrant Kompot, as lately I got a plenty of redcurrant from my friend. Kompot is a drink, that Poles usually drink to dinner. It is served in every Polish office and school’s canteen.
Kompot is a fruit drink made of fresh or dried fruits. Wikipedia says that the tradition of kompot drinking has more than 700 years! The most special kompot is made for Christmas Eve– you cook dried fruits with seasonings like cloves and cinnamon. It smells like Christmas:)
In the Summer when there are many fresh fruits available, you can easily have this nice, healthy, simple drink for kids and adults. You can cook kompot using cherries, apples, rhubarb, strawberries, plums or peaches. You can also mix few different fruits in one pot. It is much better than soda. It’s fresh, with no preservatives and you control the level of sugar, or use healthier sweeteners, such as stevia.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg redcurrant or other fruits (apples, cherries, rhubarb, strawberries, plums)
- 4-5 l water
- 2-3 tbs sugar for each liter of water
Strip redcurrant from stalks and clean them. Place in a big pot.
Cover with water.
Cook on medium heat until it boils and then 15 minutes more.
Add sugar or stevia or any other natural sweetener you like. Add less sweetener and try kompot. Adjust sweetness to your taste. Polish redcurrant kompot may need some more sugar than other fruit’s kompots, because redcurrant is sour.
In Poland kompot is often served warm. You can have it warm or cool it in the fridge. Drink it within 3 days. You may eat cooked fruits if you like.
You may like to have oatmeal cookies with your kompot, try this simple recipe: http://cookinpolish.com/oatmeal-cookies/.
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