A Better Way to Get Juiced

By Elaine Liner Thu., Sep. 23 2010 at 3:26 PM

Lalani Amin makes juice. Lots of juice. Fresh juice from Louisiana-grown sugarcane mixed with fresh-squeezed lime and kiwi, a cold, green kiss of a juice that tastes just sweet enough to be a treat instead of a health drink (though it is). Amin also makes falooda, a traditional Indian dessert that's a sort of milkshake mixed with ice cream, vermicelli noodles and tapioca seeds. He makes snow cones called gola that combine shredded ice with a combination of sweet and sour flavorings like rose syrup and tamarind. And there's kulfi, another traditional Indian dessert, similar to gelato, made of dense milk and add-ins that might include pistachios, avocado, cardamom and saffron.

You'll find Amin behind his Agha Juice counter at the back of the Tajmahal grocery in Richardson, a place we've spent considerable time exploring recently. Amin started making juice in Carrollton a few years ago and Agha Juice is his first try at starting a franchise.

We tried many of his juice, milk, yogurt and coffee-based concoctions during a visit to the counter last week. Highly recommend the coconut water, served chilled and fresh right in the coconut. Loved the "V5," an Indian take on V-8 juice made of fresh apple, carrot, pomegranate, ginger and beets. A 16-oz. cup costs $4.50. That's about the most anything costs at Agha Juice. You can get small-sized servings of most items for only $1.50.

"Try this. It will clear up your sinuses," said Amin, handing over a tall plastic cup of something bright green and sweet/sour with a definite kick of peppery heat behind it. We drank it down and breathed through both nostrils the rest of the day.