Chicha Morada – Peruvian Purple Corn Drink (Recipe)

Since becoming aware of Chicha Morada a few years ago, this delicious Peruvian purple corn drink has become one of my favorites. In fact, every time we go to a Peruvian restaurant I try out their Chicha Morada and it is one of the key factors I judge the restaurant by – call me a Chicha snob if you’d like but I will immediately know if it is homemade or pre-packaged from a bottle.

With all that said, I am excited to have finally documented and in my eyes, perfected, my personal Chicha Morada recipe. Keep in mind that aside from the base ingredients the final product is 100% based on your personal preferences. I like my Chicha Morada more spiced while others may enjoy it with a heavier presence of fruit flavor.

Let’s move on with the chit-chat and get right into the Chicha Morada recipe which is why you have clicked on this blog post.

How To Make Chicha Morada

If you are reading this and want to make Chicha Morada today then you are going to use fresh pineapple and fresh apples. Let’s say you plan on making it at a later date then you can keep all the apple peels and cores as well as any pineapple peels and cores you have at home, freeze them in Ziploc bags and use them when you make your Chicha Morada.

No matter which route you choose, the outcome will still be the same and you will still craft up some delicious Peruvian purple corn drink.

Chicha Morada Ingredients

• Peruvian Purple Corn (3 Cobs)
• Cinnamon Sticks (5 Sticks)
• Cloves (10-20)
• Pineapple (1 Whole, Cubed )
• Apple (3 Whole, Sliced)
• Water (16 Cups)
• Sugar (1 Cup)
• Lime Juice (1/2 Cup)

The first thing you will want to do is to get a large pot that is able to hold all of the ingredients which includes 16 cups of water – make sure you have a large enough pot!

Take your 3 Peruvian purple corn cobs out of the packaging and add them into your pot with 5 cinnamon sticks, a handful of whole cloves (10-20), an entire pineapple that is diced (use the core and peel as well), 3 whole red apples (slice them up and use the cores and skin as well), and lastly add in 16 cups of water.

Note: I used frozen pineapple chunks which is 100% fine – if you go this route, 4 cups of frozen chunks is about 1 whole pineapple.

Take your pot of Chicha Morada ingredients and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the temperature to Medium-Low and let it simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

The smell alone of the Chicha Morada is incredible and you will now notice that your liquid is a dark purple color. Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain your first batch of Chicha into a large mixing bowl – please be careful as the liquid is going to be extremely hot!

It’s now time to add in 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of lime juice – mix in the sugar and lime juice well. Keep in mind that this is going to be a step in the recipe that you will want to adjust to your taste. Like I said in the beginning, this recipe is what I have found to be the best for my taste. Give your chicha morada mixture a try and add in more sugar or lime if you’d like.

Now that you’ve got a bowl of finished Chicha Morada, let it cool for about 10 minutes before you put it into the containers you will be serving it out of. I will link to the glass jugs I recommend below. Chill the Chicha Morada in the refrigerator and then serve over ice.

Note: Once you have finished batch one, use the same pot of ingredients and add 16 more cups of water and repeat the entire process. One set of ingredients is good for two batches of Chicha Morada (32 Cups).

That’s It! You’ve now made a homemade batch of Chicha Morada (Peruvian Purple Corn Drink) and you get to enjoy one of my favorite drinks to ever exist. Let me know what you think and if you tweaked the recipe at all!