Chicha Morada – Peruvian Beverage with Purple Corn

Do you shop impulsively? Sometimes this happens to me when I buy groceries. I was in a Latino store and suddely this purple corn (in Spanisch maíz morado) caught my eye. I was like, I had never seen anything like this before, so I needed to buy it. When I got home, I sat down and googled what to make out of it. I soon found out that chicha morada seemed to be the most common recipe. It is a refreshing beverage from Peru that does NOT contain any alcohol and has a crazy cool color. Sounded super interesting. So I had to try it. The hardest part was the waiting part because it had to chill. But then finally my husband and me gave it a try. Wow, it was completely different. We drank it on a hot day and it was truly refreshing. Yes, it does contain some sugar, but seriously, I hate sodas that contain so much sugar, you have to drink a lot of water afterwards to quench your thirst. My husband (Colombian) had tried it several times before. For me it was the second time. We were both delighted, this was so much better than what we had tried before. I had only tried it once at a festival, but was not too excited. You can skip the chopped fruit and drink it pure. It is really amazing.

I don’t know about you, but I drink water mainly, plus some coffee and tea. But a soda? Probably a coke during a holiday or some juice mixed with sparkling water. But otherwise not that much. So making a refreshing beverage myself sounded great. Kind of like a homemade lemonade. But with an exotic ingredient, purple corn, instead. Doesn’t it look amazing? I bought it dried, you may also find it online. Yes, I understand that this is not something you make every day. But maybe for a special occasion or for special guests this is something for you. At least I understand why it is so popular in all of Peru. So let’s get started.

Credit: A cozy kitchen

Print Recipe

Chicha Morada from Peru, Cold Beverage with Purple Corn

Serves: 8-10

Prep Time: 15min – Cooking Time: 50min – Total Time: 1hr 5min

Chicha morada is a cold beverage from Peru made with purple corn, some spices and cut fruit.

Ingredients

• Beverage
• 500 grams of purple corn, I bought it dried, e.g. here
• 150 grams of regular sugar
• Peel of one full pineapple
• Peel of one tart apple (I used Granny Smith)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 5 whole cloves
• 
  
• Shortly Before Serving
• 200 grams of lime juice
• Cubed pineapple and apple pieces
• Ice cubes

Instructions

1

Combine all ingredients from the corn to the cloves in a large pot, fill with 3-4 liters of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take out the corn and filter. Be sure to keep the scraps. Chill for a few hours. Shortly before serving add lime juice, chopped fruits, and ice cubes if desired. You can use the scraps to make more, I made another batch with about 1 1/2 liters of water. If chilled, it will keep for a week. If using sterilized bottles, you can keep it longer.