HOME MADE DATES SYRUP:
I am becoming a homemade maniac said my friends when I shared this to them during my first attempt. I made an attempt of this when I read the recipe in Aval Kitchen. But the process took some time and I was not satisfied with the process.I kept trying for better processes and especially a way to use the pulpy/fiber part which is discarded in the process. And finally I did it!Stay tuned to know what is that other dish :). This recipe is 200% better than what is sold in markets.
HOMEMADE DATES SYRUP:
Homemade dates syrup is just yummmmm… You can have it just like that. The taste is so heavenly. This recipe is an excellent natural sweetener for babies/toddlers & kids.Adding cinnamon to dates syrup and including the same in daily food for babies above one year will also help in fighting infections says few experts.
I wouldn’t recommend sweetening baby food with this or any fruit on a regular basis before one year because babies might get early cavities and expect to always sweeten dishes.
You can use this syrup in the following way
-Add to puree, porridge as a sweetener
-Spread over bread, roti, phulkha, dosa
-Side dish to idly/dosa/roti(My favourite)
-Add to juices,smoothies,shakes
-Replace sugar/palm sugar in kheer/payasam/halwa/cake recipes
-Spread over in kathi rolls before stuffing
-Replace honey and jaggery syrup
-Consumed as such early in the morning
HOMEMADE DATES SYRUP:
Ingredients:
- Dates-1 cup(de-seeded)
- Water-1 cup
- Cinnamon powder-A pinch(Optional)
I have used 25 dates approx and it yielded only 100 ml approx 🙁
HOMEMADE DATES SYRUP:
Procedure:
- Remove the seeds from dates and add to one cup of water in a saucepan.
2.Let it get soaked for 10 minutes.
3.Now heat the saucepan.
4.Let the dates get boiled for 10-15 minutes.Stop when the dates turn soft.
5.Cool them and then filter.
6.The juice would have got collected and add the dates to a blender.
7.Run the mixer well and grind it totally like puree.
8.Filter this puree using a muslin cloth and squeeze out the puree completely.
9.Usually this puree is discarded.But i saved it for another recipe(Stay tuned :))
10.Heat the juice in low flame by occasionally stirring for 10-15 minutes.
11.Add the pinch of cinnamon powder when it getting reduced and thickening.Switch off the flame after 3 minutes of medium flame cooking.
12.Cool and refrigerate by storing in an air tight/glass container.
P.S:
I used soft dates.So this timing was fine.If you hard dates prefer to soak for 2 hours after boiling and then filter.
The syrup will thicken after cooling and on refrigeration. So don’t over boil the syrup.
This will typically get a honey like thickness and texture
The amount of syrup obtained seemed very less to me that I didn’t have such small glass bottle to store.
The syrup will be slightly frothy once you switch off the flame and cool. This will settle down and the syrup will thicken to reach a texture like honey on cooling and refrigeration
Use a clean container to store.
Always use dry and clean spoons to fetch the syrup
You can skip adding cinnamon too.
You can store them in refrigerator and use till 3 months when used carefully.
Always have a word with your pediatrician before introducing any new food to babies.
Read below to know more medicinal properties of dates.
Nutritional Information:
- One whole date has 1.6 g of fibre,.22 mg of iron,15 mg of calcium & 67 mg of potassium and no fat.It also has Vitamin A,folate,magnesium and niacin.Dates is rich in calcium than IRON.
- Dates is extremely good baby’s growth and brain & dental development.
- Dates helps in curing all intestinal disorders.
- Dates helps in quick recovery during typhoid and hepatitis as it improves liver health.
- Dates enable speedy recovery during fever and gastric ulcers.
- Dates pulp helps in relieving dysentery and the fibers help as a natural laxative
- This syrup helps in curing sore throats.
Dates for babies:
Dates can be given after introducing all basic foods to baby post 6 months. Dates is much associated with choking risk,so be careful while offering dates.If you prefer to offer dates very early,just soak them and make it soft and offer baby.Post eight months you can just deseed and mash and give. Choose a preservative-free natural date especially if your child has ashtma.The sulphite/sulphate used intensifies Ashtma.Also prefer seeded dates to seedless.
References:
canigivemybaby.com
sfgate.com
parentinghealthybabies.com
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Very useful recipe! Trying it today itself. Do let us know what u did with the remaining puree.