I have been sick the past couple of days, so I've taken advantage of this opportunity to eat lots of kasha and drink lots of Kalmyk tea. I've also tried a mix for Russian kisel that I bought a while ago. Kisel is a semi-thick juice that is eaten as a dessert or can be a drink if diluted with milk.I did not make homemade kisel but instead used a mix from the grocery store that reminded me a little of Kool-Aid. The directions say to mix it with cold water in a small portion and then mix that cold water mix into hot water and boil. This is what I did to create a sort of thickened gel dessert/drink. It is sweet, smooth, and refreshing. When I was in Elista about a month ago, I also tried the more liquid version mixed with milk and enjoyed it. This is more like a berry milkshake almost.
Homemade kisel is made by mixing and heating berries, water, and sugar to create a syrup and then adding potato start to thicken the mixture. The process appears to be relatively simple (see the recipe here), but until I feel a little better, I'm going to be making mine using a packet!
