NOT your mother's 'Chukku kaapi' (Flames optional!)

(Entering this recipe for Monica Bhide's spicy cocktail contest..Hey if you try, you might... if you don't you won't!!)

If there is anything that could possibly earn me the wrath of the angels, enough to flambe the top of my head, this recipe would be it.
The inspiration came from out of all things... a ginger spiked coffee that is part of the standard prescribed diet for new moms in many South Indian communities. Ginger being a natural digestive aid, is prescribed for its healing powers during the first 40 days of recovery after delivery! (I've probably disgusted half the men reading this by now!).
Personally speaking, there is little to compare over a warm mug of this freshly prepared spiced coffee (called 'Chukku kaapi' (chukku: dried ginger, kaapi : coffee in Tamil) in the early hours of the day, especially when prepared with care by a loving mom! The beverage is sweetened with honey or jaggery, never refined sugar.

Back to the fun stuff...
This creamy cool & fiery cocktail is created using fresh ginger root extract, Kamora Coffee Liquer, Van Gogh double espresso vodka, espresso coffee (I used a traditional South Indian Filter drip to get a concentrated brew, which explains the 2 chambered steel appliance in the picture) & milk.
I gave up trying to get an picture with the flames, the pink birthday candle I used to light the 100 proof vodka wouldn't exactly cooperate! The drink tastes AWESOME the instant the double espresso is added, although the flames add a carmelization to the sprinkled sugar.
The mocktail non-alcoholic version of this is coming up, give me a day or two to post it. -N.

Serves 2

30 milliliters Kahlua or Kamora coffee liquer
30 milliliters Canton domain de pays Ginger liqueur
30 milliliters Van gogh double espresso vodka
1.5 tablespoons Freshly squeezed Ginger extract
1/4 cup whole milk plus some extra for frothing
Freshly brewed espresso as required

Optional:
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons 100 proof clear flavorless vodka (optional)

To make ginger extract, grate a 2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, preferably using a ginger grater or the fine side of the box grater.
Squeeze out the extract & allow to settle for about 5 minutes. Decant the liquid, discarding the white residue settled at the bottom.
Combine the ginger extract, Kamora, part of the ginger liqueur and milk .
Add espresso as per your preference. Taste to see if the sweetness is adequate. If not adjust using the remaining ginger liqueur. Allow to chill.
If the mix is not alcoholic enough for your personal taste, add a shot of double espresso vodka prior to serving. Pour into mini martini glasses.

Optional
Pour the 100 proof vodka (only if flaming the drink) into a metal coffee scoop (with a long handle) & keep ready.
Using a frother, whip the remaining milk. .
Spoon the froth over the cocktail (the froth will begin dissipating almost immediately due to the alcohol content) and immediately sprinkle the sugar.
Light the 100 proof alcohol & immediately pour over the froth.
The cocktail is ready to serve once the flames have extinguished.

Sputtering back....

I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been

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Sanctified SpacesMarch 25, 2011 at 12:05 AM
I just saw the article by Shonaly on paper.Really enjoyed reading the same.One unique blog,love your twist on traditon.Congrats.
radhaMarch 25, 2011 at 5:53 AM
Saw the article in The Hindu. Found it interesting enough to hop over here. Shall browse through. Like the twist!
Veggie BellySeptember 9, 2011 at 9:17 AM
i cant believe you spiked good old chukku kapi!! lol! brilliant!
PanfusineSeptember 9, 2011 at 3:45 PM
@ veggie Belly: yep! (& blindly posted this a day before Shonaly Muthalaly covered panfusine in the Chennai edition of the Hindu.. (needless to say, it went underground for the week before it surfaced up again!)

Panfusine

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