In Quest of Quenchers: Watermelon Juice

Before going to the recipe, some watermelon facts from wiki and here.

• Watermelon is native to South Africa and records show that it was cultivated in Nile valley as early as 2nd millennium BC. Numerous watermelon seeds were recovered from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhmun.
• Over 1,200 varieties of watermelons are grown worldwide in 96 countries now.In Japan, farmers found a way to grow cubic watermelons, by growing the fruits in glass boxes and letting them naturally assume the shape of the receptacle.
• The flesh of the fruit is red / yellow /orange. Water melon is a good source of vitamins A & C. Watermelon is 92 percent water by weight, the highest percentage of any fruit.
• It's seeds are rich in fat and protein, and are widely eaten as a snack, added to other dishes, or used as an oilseed.
• Their rinds are also edible, and sometimes used as a vegetable. In China, they are stir-fried, stewed, or more often pickled. Pickled watermelon rind is also widespread in Russia, Ukraine, and Romania. The first cookbook published in the U.S. in 1776 contained a recipe for watermelon rind pickles.
• Watermelons have higher concentrations of lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable.
• The largest watermelon ever grown was 262 pounds according to the Guinness book of world records.

Here is a refreshing drink for these sultry, summer days. Grab a blender / juicer and few chunks of watermelon and you are ready for the simple job. I used the seedless variety and hence directly blended the watermelon with a little quantity of water until smooth. For a cup of chopped melon, you will probably need a tbsp or two of water. Using chilled water is much more better. There is no need to add sugar unless you prefer a very sweet drink. I didn't intend to dilute my juice with ice cubes and hence went ahead with some crushed watermelon ice that I had prepared earlier.
For watermelon ice, just pour the above juice in ice cube trays at least a couple of hours before serving the juice. Remove and use them when needed.

This is for AFAM - Watermelon hosted by Jugalbandi's Bee & Jai . The person behind the fruit event is Maheswari of Beyond the usual.

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