Since pomegranates are in season at the moment and readily available in the UK markets, I cannot help but buy a bunch of them.They are usually imported from Europe, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent from September until February. Their pretty ruby seeds are like jewels that brighten up salads adding a delicious sweet/sour crunch, and are equally more-ish eaten by themselves as a snack. I was lucky enough to experience eating them falling straight of the tree when I was child in Iran. No words can describe the magical taste I experienced, however there can be some reasonably priced ones found in Asian shops, that come pretty close.

When choosing pomegranates for taste, don’t pick the pretty smooth ones with a shiny pink skin, as they tend to be under-ripe with a possibility of white seeds inside. If you’re after a deep red and sweet dark juice, a slightly matt, dry skin that has almost changed into a square shape is what you’re after.

There have been many health claims recently about the health benefits of pomegranates, being high in vitamin C, iron, cobalt and insoluble fibre. In traditional Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine it is used as a heart tonic and believed to be good for infertility. Cobalt is an essential raw material for the synthesis of blood, which is an important factor for pregnant women. *

Here I would like to share an exciting way of extracting its juice without the need to get your juicer out, because let’s face it, I really can’t be asked to clean the juicer. You may have slightly sore hands afterwards but it’s so well worth it. The pomegranate juice found in the supermarket isles no where near resembles the natural taste of a freshly squeezed one. Plus they are loaded with sugar and preservatives, which if asked, I would rather avoid.

Pomegranate Juice (100% pure)

All you need is 1 pomegranate.

Using both your thumbs, start off by gently pressing the pomegranate from the top and working your way round. You should be able to hear the seeds being crushed. Thankfully pomegranates have a tough skin, however, you should take care not to press too hard, because a split (especially if you are wearing something light in colour), would end up messy. Not so good!

Keep pressing gently, but firmly, until you feel there are no more seeds left to crush. There may be some un-crushed seeds left in the centre, we will get to them later.

Carefully bite, or make a small incision using a sharp knife. The deep red juice will start gushing out so you want to be quick and hold it to your mouth sucking all the juice available. Keep squeezing the pomegranate and sucking the juice until there is no more left. At this point carefully insert a knife in the same incision to allow the juice from the central seeds to come out. Firmly press to squash the central seeds and keep going until you suck all the juice from the pomegranate 🙂 You should be left with a wrinkly deflated poor ‘pomy’.

So next time you pass a pomegranate in the market, I urge to have a go at squeezing it and extracting all the juice out of it.

100% fresh pomegranate juice, with no equipment needed, what more can you ask for!

Zayneb

* Source: Dr Ali’s Nutrition Bible, ISBN 0 09188 949 9