I grew up at various places in central India. It had rich flora and fauna, and there were many beautiful and scenic places of untouched  natural beauty. We would often go for picnic on the riverside, or forests. All this led to my increased interest in plants and trees of various kinds. At these places there used to be amla (Indian gooseberry) trees, and we would pluck these and enjoy eating sour berries. This fruit is full of nutrition. It leaves a sweet after taste in mouth. Being very sour, many people prefer taking candies, murabba (preserve), chutney, juice etc. rather than eating the fruit. Few years back I had made amla lemon ginger squash. Sweet and sour taste of this drink was liked by all. I am sharing the recipe of this delicious drink made of amla lemon and ginger.
Amla (Indian gooseberry), scientific name Phyllanthus emblica is rich in Vitamin C and minerals. It is a powerful antioxidant. It an important ingredient in many Ayurvedic medicines. It improves the immunity of our body. It aids digestion and is good for liver too. Taking amla juice diluted with water first thing in the morning is said to cleanse our system.
I prepare this amla drink concentrate, and store it in refrigerator. I can then mix a small amount of this concentrate with water, and enjoy the drink whenever I want. Instead of serving synthetic soft drinks to my guests I prefer to serve this amla drink, or any other healthy drink such as aam panna or nimbu ki shikanji. They are refreshing as well as nutritive. You can check my aam panna recipe too.
To prepare amla lemon ginger squash, de-seed amla, and cut it into small slices. Grind these slices in a grinder, adding small amount of water to help in grinding. Use a sieve to strain the juice from the amla paste. Extract ginger juice in the same way. Then prepare sugar syrup and add these juices to it. After cooking for few minutes switch off the gas, and add lemon juice and spices to it. When cooled, store in sterilized bottles. It remains good for three to four months if stored in refrigerator. You can watch video to see how I made this drink.
Check the recipes of refreshing watermelon smoothie, kiwi cucumber mint mocktail, and pineapple mocktail too.
Recipe of Amla Lemon Ginger Squash
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| Servings | Prep Time |
| 3 1 litre bottles | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 10 minutes |
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This drink concentrate can be stored in refrigerator for three to four months. To prepare the drink, fill one third of glass with this concentrate, and then add water, Drink is ready. If you like you can use soda instead of water. You can add ice cubes and serve it chilled in summers.
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- 1/2 kg amla (Indian gooseberry) chopped into small slices, and seeds removed
- 1/2 kg lemon
- 200 gm ginger peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 kg sugar
- 1 litre water
- 1/2 tablespoon black salt
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds roasted and grounded
- In a grinder, add amla slices, and one or two tablespoons of water. Grind it into smooth paste. If all the slices cannot be grinded together, divide it into two parts, and grind. Use a sieve and drain out all the juice from the pulp. (See embedded video)
- In the same way extract juice from ginger slices as well.
- In a large vessel, take sugar, and add about half litre of water to it. Heat it so that sugar dissolves completely. Add amla juice and ginger juice to this solution, and allow it to simmer for a minute or two. Now switch off the gas.
- Extract lemon juice, and add it to the prepared solution. Also add black salt and roasted grounded cumin seeds. Mix everything properly. Allow the liquid to cool down.
- Take sterilized glass bottles. Pour the concentrated solution that we prepared, into these bottles. Close the lids tightly. Store these bottles in refrigerator.
- Fill one third of a glass with this concentrate. Add water and also ice cubes if required. Serve chilled, decorated with lemon rind and mint leaves.
- Store the concentrate in clean bottles in refrigerator.
- Adjust the quantity of sugar according to your taste.
- In place of water you can add soda to the concentrate, and create a fizzy drink.
- To increase flavor, you can add mint leaves to the drink too.
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