Jello Shots or jello shooters are a party favorite, be it a holiday Christmas party or just your regular Friday night kegger. And you don’t have to live in a dorm to enjoy them. I was recently introduced to a very unique (for me) way of serving these at the JW Marriott in Mumbai. I was there for the IFBA Awards (see that badge in the sidebar?), and the JW Marriott along with the Food Bloggers Association threw a lavish post awards dinner. I’d like to call it the ‘after party’. 😉

The moment I was presented with these orange wedges on a tray, my mind instantly connected the dots and I realized these had to be jello shots. I still asked the young server and my guess was confirmed. I sampled one, yeah, just one, keeping in mind the occasion and the venue, and decided I simply had to make these at home.

After the euphoria of receiving the blog award and actually shaking hands with the great Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, and saying high to popular TV food show personalities like Ranveer Brar and Vicky Ratnani died down, I spent one sleepless night pondering over how the Jello got into the orange. Yeah, I do have these Legally Blonde type moments, sometimes. After all, Genius needs a break too, ya know? 😀

Well, my structural puzzle was solved in a New York minute and ROFL by my precocious sibling who simply has a better technical aptitude than me. Step number 1 was getting hold of some Jello. The trip to Dorabjee’s eventually yielded some at about 10 times the price – an 8 oz package of Jello originally costs just around 50 cents – but I shelled out the moolah this time. Actually, plain old gelatine can be used easily here with some food colors and flavors or just your favorite crushes or syrups.

Since Mosambi or sweet limes are in season, and so are oranges, I chose to go with them. If not, navel oranges are available in stores like Reliance almost through the year. Grapefruits are also a good alternative here, I guess. Super sized alternatives!

Note: Jello is jelly by any other name. Jello is an American brand of jelly, just like Weikfield and others in India.

These Jello Shots are alcoholic by definition. You might make them minus the alcohol for kids just for fun, of course. You can use any kind of liquor and any kind of flavor or mixers. Since vodka goes well with citrus, I decided to use Lemon Jello with vodka, and then I added orange crush and Curacao liquor to get different flavors and colors. The base lemon flavor of the Jello did not clash with any of these.

Other options are mixing a cocktail or say mixing pineapple, orange and rum for a punch or Hurricane like drink. As you can see, you just have to use your imagination here.

I got a soft set for some reason, and these jello Shots will handle better with a harder set for the jelly.

Jello Shots Recipe

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So what are you waiting for? Serve these Jello Shots at your next party and it will be a big hit, I guarantee!

P.S. – In case you need any pointers on how to ‘shoot’ these….nah, I don’t think you do!