Theme: Lemon/ Lime Recipes
Dish: Agua de Papelon (Limeade with Panela/ Jaggery)
For the final day of 'Lemon/ Lime recipes', I was thinking of making something sweet. But I'm not a big fan of lemon flavored desserts -- I prefer vanilla or chocolate flavors. As I was looking through 'Viva Vegan' cookbook, I found the recipe for a Limeade with Panela or South American unprocessed cane sugar.
I bought a slab of panela a while back but totally forgot about it until I found this recipe. Papelon or Panela (as it's called in Venezuela and Colombia) is produced by cooking the juice of freshly squeezed sugar cane down to a solid, crystallized mass. I wasn't sure how it would taste because it was really dark in color, I thought it will have a molasses-ish taste but I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted just like jaggery (our own unprocessed cane sugar from India).
This limeade is an old-fashioned pick-me-up beverage in Colombia & Venezuela, valued for being chock-full of minerals from the unprocessed sugar. The traditional emthod for making this limeade is even couldn't be easier -- just simply soak the panela in water overnight until it dissolves. But to speed things up, a sugar syrup is made by boiled sugar & water in the recipe below. 
Ingredients:
Panela (aka papelon or pilancillo) or Jaggery - ¼lb., grated or chopped into ½" pieces)
Water - ½cup
Freshly squeezed Lime juice - ¼cup
To Serve & for garnish:
Cold Water - 1½cups
Thin slices of Lime
Mint leaves
Method:
- Make the Limeade Concentrate: In a saucepan, combine the panela & cover with water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce and stir occasionally and cook till panela has melted. Then remove from heat and let cool.
- Stir in the lime juice. The concentrate can be used right away or can be refrigerated in a covered container in the refrigerator.
- To serve: Pour the concentrate in a pitcher and add cold water, stir well, and pour into chilled glasses filled with ice cubes. Garnish with lime slices or mint.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 46.
