Sparkling Lemonade Arab Style ليمونادا غازية

Well if you haven't noticed yet....I am a bit obsessed with everything that reminds me of Syria. This is a lemonade that i drank at the amazing restaurants in Syria last time i went. I changed it a little because Oussama isn't a huge fan of mint.

Start off by squeezing the juice of 2 lemons (about 2/3 cup) and place it in a container. If you want you can make more of this mixture and keep it in the fridge for whenever you feel like having a refreshing drink.

To the lemon juice i add about 1/2 cup of atar (arabic simple syrup with rose water and orange blossom water, ingredients and directions can be found on my Hrissa post) Of course this measurement is approximate because it depends on how sweet you like your drink and how sour the lemons were (i don't like mine too sweet so this is a good amount to start with)

Now if we wanted to make this the real lemonade and mint i would take my mixture of lemon juice and syrup and blend it in the blender with a bunch of picked mint leaves and then strain the chunks of mint) Fill a glass about half way with the concentrated lemon juice.

Slowly pour Perrier (or any sparkling water or plain water) over the lemon juice and ice and serve!! I garnished my cup with julienne slices of mint leaves, its pretty and yummy and refreshing. MMMMMMMMMM

Written Recipe:

Juice of 2 lemons or 2/3 cups

1/2 cup of Arabic simple syrup

Perrier water

ice

mint leaves

Tamarhindi شراب التمرهندي

What is more Ramadan like and Syrian than tamarhindi!!! i love the stuff its like a thickish brown arabic version of a lemonade. I actually never tasted the stuff until after i got married. My MIL came from Syrian and taught me how to make it (Allah ikhalilna yaha). The only problem with this drink is that it has the same effects as apricots...if you get my drift.

Tamarhindi comes in a package like this when it is not in the pod. It says seedless but it really isn't. Oh and if your wondering NO you cannot just use the jarred tamarhindi paste, it doesn't really taste the same.

break the bar into pieces into a pan

add enough water to just barely cover the chunks of tamahindi

Let the mixture boil for a little, until the tamarhindi breaks up

Next you want to strain the mixture into a bowl pressing as much as you can so that you have smooth tamarhindi in the bowl and in the sieve your left with fibers and seeds.

This is what the paste looks like.

Put the paste in the container and fill with water (for my tamahindi i added enough water to fill a 56 ounce container) and then add sugar to taste, i added in mine about 6 to 7 tablespoons of sugar.

If you want to cut some sugar out you can add ma ward in it, it tastes really good like that but my husband doesn't like it so i never add it.

Pour and serve to your thirsty guests!! but remember don't let them have TOO much or they will hate you later that night.