Jus de tamarin - Tamarind refreshing drink

Tamarind is a tropical fruit and found everywhere in Mauritius more so in the south of the country and there is even a village called Tamarin in the district of Black River. When ripe the fruit is sweet and sour and is extensively used in Indian cuisine as well as many other Asian cuisines (Thai ..). The trees grow very tall and we used to go pick tamarinds under the trees when in season and these would be turned into of array of different things such as tamarind candy balls, tamarind paste for cooking , tamarind syrup for refreshing drinks in summer . I recently came across tamarind for sale at my local No Frills store ! I simply could not resist .

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag of tamarind
1 litre of water
2 cups of brown sugar

METHOD :

• Peel tamarind and remove from outer layer
• Put in a pot and add sugar
• Cook for 1 hour on low heat
• Remove all the pits and strain to remove all impurities
• Mix with water and add ice
• Enjoy on a hot summer evening !