Indian Style Lemonade

Mr. Peacock is very fortunate to have a wonderful produce store, called Golden Produce, in my neighborhood. They always stock reasonably priced organic produce, and much of it is grown locally. Right now they have oodles of small, Meyer lemons.

Growing up in the Midwest, I never tasted a Meyer lemon until I lived in California. Meyer lemons are always described as a cross between a lemon and mandarin orange. I actually think they taste sweeter than a regular lemon, and a bit herbal.

The organic Meyer lemons at Golden Produce have very tender skins and sweet juice. I substitute Meyer lemons, whenever a recipe calls for lemons, and it always makes even the simplest recipe extraordinary!

Last weekend, we had another abnormal heat wave (it's becoming a regular thing) with the temperatures in the 90’s in San Francisco. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky either. Unfortunately when it’s that hot, our apartment gets just as hot inside. As the saying goes….when life gives you lemons—make lemonade. So to quench our thirst from the heat, I made a batch of lemonade, and not just any lemonade either, but Indian Style lemonade—Nimbu Ka Sharbat.

Mr. Peacock loves Indian food, both eating and cooking it. There’s so many variations of recipes for every dish, so it’s an endless journey learning how to cook Indian cuisine. I picked up a little book called, Indian in Minutes by Monisha Bharadwaj, that has simplified, but not Americanized, Indian recipes. I particularly like these recipes from the book: Squash with five spices, cauliflower korma, and the Indian lemonade. The lemonade is so simple, yet very flavorful and thirst quenching...and, I used my vintage milk glass citrus reamer to juice the citrus fruits.

Indian Style Lemonade
Makes 2 servings
This recipe is so simple, but the flavor is very sublime!

1/2 cup of lemon juice (I used a combination of Meyer lemons, limes, and oranges)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoons of salt (yes salt!)
1/2 teaspoon of finely ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups cold water

Combine all of the ingredients, making sure the sugar dissolves. Add the cold water. Serve in glasses, filled with ice. Enjoy!

Mr. Peacock wonders if Indian lemonade was the inspiration for Gatorade. I’ve never been a fan of Gatorade though—too sweet, too salty, and too artificially colored. Indian lemonade is much more about the flavors. The addition of salt and pepper may seem strange, however, they subtly accentuate the flavor of the citrus juice. If you’re fortunate to have access to Meyer lemons, use those, but regular lemons are also good. Treat yourself this weekend and make some homemade lemonade!