Ingredients
Base
- 2 kgdark red grapes, or 2 litres unpasteurised grape juice
Ferment
- 30 gblack mustard seed, coarsely crushed
- 20sour cherry leaves
Optional
- 100 gsugar
Directions
- Crush the grapes, skins and all, into a clean non-reactive container, or start from fresh unpasteurised juice.
- Crush the mustard seed coarsely, so that it is broken open but nowhere near a powder.
- Crush it rather than grinding it. Broken seed releases its compounds steadily across the whole ferment, while powder gives everything up at once and turns the drink harsh.
- Layer the grapes or juice with the crushed mustard seed and the sour cherry leaves.
- The mustard is the entire trick of the drink. Its antimicrobial compounds hold the yeasts back, so the juice sours and keeps without fermenting through to wine, which is why hardaliye is drunk as a soft drink.
- Cover the container with a cloth rather than sealing it.
- Leave it at cool room temperature, around 18°C (65°F), for 5 to 10 days.
- Taste it daily from the fourth day onward. It should turn tart, aromatic and faintly peppery, and you stop when it tastes right rather than on a fixed day.
- Cooler is better and slower. In a warm room the yeasts outrun the mustard and you end up with something closer to a young wine, which is precisely what the mustard is there to prevent.
- Strain it through a cloth into clean bottles.
- Refrigerate it immediately and drink it within about two weeks.
- Cold storage is what holds it where it is. Left warm in the bottle it keeps working and turns eventually to vinegar or to alcohol.
- Serve it very cold in small glasses, with börek or alongside meat.
- It is a Thracian speciality of Kırklareli and holds a Turkish geographical indication.
Technique
- It is classed and sold as non-alcoholic, though a trace of alcohol is normal in any fruit ferment.
- Commercial producers use a permitted preservative alongside the mustard to give it shelf life; the home version relies on the mustard and the fridge.
- Sour cherry leaves carry the aroma and are not an optional extra in the Kırklareli version.
Substitutions
- Bottled unpasteurised grape juice, which works well.
- Grape leaves if sour cherry leaves cannot be found, at some cost to the aroma.
Variations
- Sweetened with sugar or with grape molasses.
- With more mustard seed, for a sharper and more peppery drink.
- Made with white grapes rather than red.
History
A Thracian speciality of Kirklareli, where mustard seed checks alcoholic fermentation and preserves the juice; it holds Turkish geographical indication.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hardaliye?
Hardaliye is a drink from Turkey: non-alcoholic fermented grape drink flavoured with crushed mustard seed and cherry leaves. A Thracian speciality of Kirklareli, where mustard seed checks alcoholic fermentation and preserves the juice; it holds Turkish geographical indication.
How long does Hardaliye take to make?
Hardaliye takes 20 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes about 2 litres. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Hardaliye?
Yes, within limits. Bottled unpasteurised grape juice, which works well. Grape leaves if sour cherry leaves cannot be found, at some cost to the aroma.
What is the most important thing to get right in Hardaliye?
Crush it rather than grinding it. Broken seed releases its compounds steadily across the whole ferment, while powder gives everything up at once and turns the drink harsh.
