Homemade Carrot and Orange Granita! A welcome way to beat the heat!

Name: Homemade Carrot and Orange Granita
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 500 grams carrots; 7-8 oranges; ½ tsp lemon (adjust as per taste); 4 cups water (approx); 3 tsp; sugar; Mint a few springs

My summers start with “Hello Summer! “

Granita from oranges and carrots served garnished with mint

Homemade Carrot and Orange Granita

Because summer means no school and I can sleep till 7 am, mangoes, watermelon, no cooking but basically the girls have holidays. We work at a more leisurely pace.

Then the heat starts and living in Goa means the humidity soars up, even as I type this post the humidity is 75%. So it just zaps you up.

So we start looking for foods that cool you down. The most loved being “Masuru Anna” Curds rice, then buttermilk, various mocktails like Cranberry Sangria~A mocktail, shakes and how can we forget ice creams or Phirni.

There was a time I emptied the freezer and made ice creams at home. The girls had a gala time many times because of the heat they skipped meals and the nanny took the easy way out and gave them ice creams.

I used the CMS power and alginet powder until I started thinking do I want these chemicals in our tummies. Now we go out for ice cream we may buy a tub and that is okay with me, portion control.

Carrots and Oranges

The other day, Apeksha shared an image with me and then told me she had this carrot, orange sorbet topped with coffee ice cream.

She said she was told it was carrot orange gelato but I felt it was a granita. Then it can also be called a carrot orange sorbet.

A chilled scoop of orange and carrot granita with mint leaves

Carrot and Orange Granita

As we discussed the tastes I was intrigued enough and I made it the very next day. Confusing?

If you too are wondering what are the difference between granita, sorbet, gelato, ice cream, and sherbet. Remember in India Sherbet is a drink!

Let’s take a look…

	Granita	Sorbet	Sherbet	Gelato	Ice cream
Main Base	Water and fruit	Water, wine and fruit	In the USA Fruit with milk	Dairy-based	Dairy-Based
Differences	Ice crystals give a granite texture and are crunchy. A granita is not churned	No milk is used. Flavours with herbs and spices. Whipped to lighten the texture. The flavours are very intense. Used as palate cleansers. Is churned.	Sherbet in India is a drink of fruit juice (commonly lemon) with sugar and salt. Creamier than sorbet and lighter in texture and flavours are less intense. Is churned.	Texture as more milk than cream the fat content is lesser. Lesser air is churned in. Freezing temperature, lesser. the Sugar content is higher. A good gelato is best consumed within a few days of making.	The texture is smoother as more cream is used. Fat content is higher than gelato but the amount of air churned in is also more hence is softer and smoother. Stored at low temperatures so can be stored for months.
Main Ingredients	Water, fruit and/or liquor	Water, wine, liqueurs, fruit, chocolate, herbs and spices	Fruit and milk	Sugar, milk, eggs, fruit purees	Sugar, milk, eggs, flavourings
Storage	–	–	–	Stored at a higher temperature so softer, melts easy but is smooth	Stored at low temperatures so can be stored for a longer period.

It is The World Carrot day on 4th April and thanks to Poonam I have already posted Oven Roasted Carrots. the rest of my group members of FoodieMondayBlogHop shared out carrots recipes do check them out they are really innovative.

With Ugadi/Padwa round the corner I wanted to make something festive but nothing too sweet. I am the only one who enjoys sweets and can eat them. Rest of my family are either not allowed sweets or do not like them. So I have made this Carrot, Orange Granita.

Homemade Carrot and Orange Granita

Carrots are popular in juices and being naturally sweet are ideal for granita and sorbet. The Orange season is coming to an end in Goa so using the last of the oranges I made this delicious granita. I have avoided using mint while crushing the carrots as my Father-in-Law does not enjoy mint. But do add it as the flavours are intense and enjoy a refreshing dessert.

You can also use liquor like vodka to flavour your granita.

Scoops of Icy Granita made from carrots and oranges and garnished with mint leaves

Granita with Carrot and Orange