As a cautious mother to a toddler, I wasn’t comfortable giving her table sugar or too much honey. So made this date syrup at home to try something new and alternative for honey. It’s indeed very simple to make but yeah definitely time taking and it’s totally worth it as it helps the little ones a lot with their digestion, as dates are rich in fiber and anti oxidants. Also it helps to reduce anaemia, as it is rich in iron and also has calcium.
So here goes the ingredients and process of it
Ingredients
Dates – 2 cups
Boiling water – 3 cups
Procedure
1. Heat a pan and add the water and bring it to a rolling boil.
2. Meanwhile chop the dates roughly and transfer the dates to the boiling water and switch off the stove.
3. Let the dates sit in hot water for 2-3 hours without covering it, as it helps in softening and extract the pulp more easily.
4. Now take a potato masher and mash the dates to a smooth consistency, spread a muslin cloth in a bowl and transfer the mashed dates mixture to the cloth and bring the ends together and squeeze to extract all the juice.
5. Now take the extracted dates juice to a thick bottomed pan and let it boil on low to medium flame until it thickens and comes to a rolling boil. This may take around 30-45 min.
6. Lower the flame and dip a spoon into the syrup and lift it, the syrup should be dripping slowly like honey if that’s reached, then switch off the stove and let it cool to room temperature.
7. Then transfer the syrup to an airtight glass container(make sure there’s no moisture) and store up-to 3 months in refrigerator and up-to 2 weeks in room temperature.
Also I made some delicious burfi’s using the remaining dates pulp while making this syrup. Do checkout this recipe as well, as it’s healthy and nutritious. RAGI OATS & NUT BURFI
