INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

  NOTES:
You can leave out melon seeds and double the quantity of almonds.
Potassium metabisulphite is a chemical preservative. This recipe
doesn't mention refrigeration as a means of storing this syrup; a
western adaptation would be to leave out the chemical and store the
syrup in the refrigerator.
While neither this recipe nor the cookbook mentions diluting this,
I assume this is a syrup concentrate meant to be diluted before
serving. The cookbook says the recipe yields "1 bottle."
"Almonds mixed with kernels of melon seeds is an age-old Indian
drink. In addition to being a refreshing drink it is considered
highly useful in improving intellectual capacity. The conventional
method consists in grinding the ingredients and preparing the
sharbat, which has to be made fresh every day just before it is to be
served. The method described below however eliminates this tiresome
procedure and enables one to prepare and store the sharbat."
Soak the almonds and seeds overnight in cold water sufficient to cover
them. Peel the skins and grind (use a stone slab or a mortar and
pestle that does not smell of spices) into a smooth paste whilst
adding 4 ounces of water every now and then. Strain the paste through
muslin. Reserve juice.
Grind the leftover paste with 3 ounces water, strain and repeat this
process a second time. Add this juice to reserved juice.
Then grind the leftover pulp using 3/4 pint water. Strain; mix in
sugar, stir and cook on slow fire til the syrup thickens to one-thread
consistency.
Add 1/2 pint of the reserved juice and the extract of the cardamoms
prepared by grinding them along with their skins and a little water.
Simmer and remove the scum over the boiling syrup. Boil for a minute
or two; remove from the fire. Strain through muslin and cool.
Add ruh kewra or essence, the almond essence and potassium
metabisulphite dissolved in a small quantity of syrup. Pour into
sterilised bottles and cork with cleaned and boiled tops and seal
with paraffin wax.
Source: Mrs. Balbir Singh's Indian Cookery
Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V3 #245
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 1996 12:18:05 +0000
From: Linda Place <placel@worldnet.att.net>

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