A dry fruit date each day does miracle to body of a human. Besides nutritional benefits, it provides an instant energy and controls food cravings. When I was a kid, I remember my mom used to give milk with lion dates syrup before going to bed. That gives an instant energy, also helps me to do my home work faster. I have some dry dates which I bought few months back, sitting in corner of my pantry. So I was thinking of making dates syrup. This is simple, tastes absolutely yummy and lip smacking. You simply simmer dates and water together until dates turns soft, strain it with a cheese cloth and then simmer the date water to thicken. Done !! It tastes like "HONEY". You can use date syrup as a sweetener in oat meal, tea , smoothies or sprinkle at the top of ice cream, cereal, pan cakes, cakes or pudding. Try this recipe and enjoy !!!!!!!!
Ingredients
1 Cup Dates, Well Packed, I used Tunisia dates
1.5 Cups of Water
Method
- Heat a pan with water , add dates, bring to boil. Cover it and simmer it for 45 mins in a low flame until dates becomes soft. Mash it with a masher and then allow to cool it.
- After that, strain it using cheese cloth or any plain cloth, even cotton hand kerchief works good.
- Squeeze well and extract the juice as much you can. Add 2 Tbsp of water and then squeeze it again.
- Once you done that, filter it and bring the juice back to the stove and heat it in a medium flame and wait until you get the thick consistency. Keep stirring in between in order to prevent the burning at the bottom.
- This takes about 12 mins to thick. At this stage, you can see white curdles and frothy, take a spoonful of syrup, feel it with your thumb and fore finger, somewhat thick and gooey. Turn off the flame. Let it cool for sometime.
- Transfer it to a clean air tight bottle and name it along with a date and refrigerate it.
Tips- Do not do it in a high flame, always do it in a medium or low flame.
- Store it in a clean airtight bottle to avoid contamination.
- You can substitute dates syrup from baking to smoothies to a cup of tea.
- You can add any following ingredients to change the flavor
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Ginger
- Vanilla
Health Benefits of Dates Syrup
- High in Iron content and Florine
- Rich in vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber which prevents LDL cholesterol absorption from the gut..
- They are great energy boosters as they contains sucrose, fructose and Glucose. To get more advantage, add dates to the milk, to make it more nutritious.
- Cures abdominal cancer and constipation.
- It helps in weight gain.
- Good for heart, brain and nervous system.
- Treats anemia.
