Sharbateh Sekanjabin - Guyana style

I tasted Sharbateh Sekanjabin earlier this year.. I did not know the name then, all I know is that it had mint and cucumber in it and it was Persian/Iranian in origins.

My mind was on it, as the place get more hot and I glimpsed a pack of mint leaves from Arya Foods in the supermarket cooler. A long time ago I had a mint plant in the yard but it dried up . It is good to know that people growing these locally.

There are different recipes. The first time , I left the syrup and it burnt.. or carmelised and I did not realise.

Here is what I ended up doing :-

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar (I use brown sugar, I guess people would use white sugar)
1/4 cup water
a little more than half of a 1/4 cup vinegar (yeah I know.. next time I will probably use lime or lemon juice with grated rind)

1/2 of the pack of the mint leaves on sale (or one sprig or as much as you want)

grated cucumber to 'garnish' - but I left some in the water in the fridge for a while because there is an additional flavour.


Method
1. Put sugar in the water and put on the heat until sugar dissolves.. watch at it because it could burn easily. Throw in the vinegar and let it boil for a 5 minutes more.. watch it carefully - sugar syrup thickens as it cools.

2. Turn off the fire.

3 .Chop up the mint leaves and throw them in the syrup. Leave to cool.
The Iranians strain the leaves out of the syrup, but I am a Guyanese man and I will leave them .

4. Mix up the cold water, ice, and grated cucumber. This whole glass here took about two dessert spoons of the syrup!



Apparently the Iranians dip lettuce into the syrup and eat it. I guess this must be a salad in a drink. I have put the rest in the fridge to use later.

I know I could buy a pack of mint/lemonade and mix it up, or make some iced peppermint tea and throw in some vinegar... with honey (that is the original thing).

But I think the fresh mint makes a big difference. 

The day is a bit cooler now.