koko's corner

Watermelon in rose-lime syrup

I was just cruising around some food blogs <read putting off chores> when I ran across a couple of recipes for watermelon in rose-lime syrup.I found one at Travelers Lunch box who found it at Richa's blog As Dear As Salt .Travelers lunch box tweaked it for her taste, she didn't use the black salt. So I got busy and made some. Here's what I did.

The ingredients.

I decided I wanted to use the black salt the recipe called for. All I had was Hawaiian black salt, I don't know how different it is from the kala namak but it worked for me.

The black salt is coarse so I ground some up in a mortar so it would dissolve in the syrup better.

It turned into a gray ashy looking powder. When it was all ground up it made me think of fireplace ashes.

Make a basic simple syrup *
2 cups of sugar to
1 cup of water
then add
lime juice to taste
splash of rose water

 kala namak (black salt)
1 watermelon

* put the 2 cups of sugar and water in a saucepan and heat up over med heat until the sugar is completely dissolved stirring occasionally.

Basically here's what you do.
Dice up the watermelon into cubes in a bowl and add the rose-lime syrup about 6 tablespoons for one small seedless melon or to your taste, I added considerably more.
Add lots of ice, about a cup to a pound of melon and chill for several hours for the flavors to mingle, stirring occasionally.

Iced watermelon

Dished up and delicious. I drizzle the syrup on other fruits also.

 

Jal Jeera

Saveur Magazine featured an article on the street drink vendors in Mambai, India.The article included a recipe for Jal Jeera Cumin-laced tamarind and mint cooler. Jal Jeera in Hindi means cumin water.

From the article.
"Jal jeera, an exquisite tamarind drink spiked with lime and sugar, is infused with cumin and mint and seasoned with warming spices."

Tamarind pulp with some of the ingredients

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Jal Jeera Cumin-Laced Tamarind and Mint Cooler

beverages

1/4 lb tamarind pulp
5 cups hot water
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/2 tablespoon cumin seed; toasted
1 teaspoon black salt
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon red chile powder
1/8 teaspoon garam masala
10 large fresh mint leaves

Put tamarind pulp and the hot water into a bowl; let soak for 30 minutes,periodically mashing the tamarind with your fingers and freeing as much as the pulp as possible from the fiber and seeds.
Working in batches, pour mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Press down on mixture until nothing but seeds and fiber are left in strainer. Discard solids.

To strained liquid, add sugar, toasted cumin seeds, black salt, lime juice, red chile powder, garam masala and 10 large fresh mint leaves; stir to combine.

Puree in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher and chill.
Serve over crushed ice.
Contributor: Saveur March 2007
Yield: 1 quart
** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.77 **