Food
Lemon Squash
INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)
- 500 grams lemons, 10 to 12 lemons or 1 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 500 grams or 2 heaped cups of organic unrefined cane sugar or regular sugar or raw sugar
- ½ tsp saffron/kesar, crushed (optional)
- 8 to 9 green cardamoms/chotti elachi, crushed or 1 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- First in a pan or sauce pan, take 1 cup water and 500 grams sugar.
- Keep this sugar-water solution on a low flame. Stir so that the sugar dissolves. The solution will be sticky when you touch it.
- When all the sugar has dissolved switch off the flame. You can also heat the sugar solution till ½ string or 1 string consistency.
- Next step will be to filter the sugar solution of its impurities. Line a bowl with a strainer. Line the strainer with a muslin cloth.
- Now pour the hot sugar solution carefully through the muslin lined strainer into the bowl.
- Here’s the collected sugar syrup in the bowl. Let this filtered sugar solution become lukewarm or come down to a room temperature.
- Then rinse the lemons well in water. Halve them.
- With a lemon squeezer, extract juice from each half in a bowl or mug.
- From 500 grams lemons, i got 1 cup lemon juice.
- If there are small seeds in the lemon juice, then filter it through a tea strainer.
- Powder seeds of 8 to 9 cardamoms and ½ tsp saffron/kesar in a mortar-pestle. Keep aside.
- Now add the lemon juice to the sugar syrup. The sugar syrup should be lukewarm or at room temperature when you add the lemon juice.
- Add the powdered cardamom and saffron. Stir the lemon squash very well.
- Now pour the lemon squash in a sterilized bottle or jar. Close the lid tightly and refrigerate.
- When preparing the lemon squash drink, add 3 to 4 tbsp of the squash in a glass and add water. Stir and serve. You can also add ice cubes in the drink or make the drink with chilled water.
