Beside the bissap and bouye at any Senegalese market stand two more coolers: gingembre, hot with fresh ginger, and dakhar, the sweet-sour tamarind juice. Here are both, one a two-minute mix and one a proper recipe from the pod.
Serves: 6 glasses each · Time: 5 minutes for the ginger cooler, 40 minutes for the tamarind juice
Ingredients
- Ginger-mint cooler: 1 cup Tonton Jeb Ginger Syrup, 4 to 5 cups cold sparkling or still water, juice of 1 lime, a handful of mint, ice
- Dakhar (tamarind juice): 1 cup Tonton Jeb Tamarind pods, 6 cups water, ½ to ¾ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, pinch of salt
Method
- Ginger-mint cooler. Pour the syrup into a jug, add the lime juice and mint, and top up with cold water. Stir, taste, and add more syrup if you want more heat. Serve over ice.
- Tamarind juice. Crack the tamarind pods and remove the brittle shells and strings. Put the pulp and seeds in a bowl with 2 cups of hot water and leave for 20 minutes.
- Work the pulp with your fingers until the seeds are clean, then push the mixture through a sieve into a jug, pressing well. Discard the seeds and fibres.
- Add the remaining water, sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir until dissolved. Taste: it should be sharp and sweet in equal measure.
- Chill and serve over ice. Both drinks keep for 4 days in the fridge.
Tips from the pantry
- Mix the two: half ginger cooler, half tamarind juice is a market favourite.
- For a warming winter drink, dilute the ginger syrup with hot water and add a slice of lemon.
- Tamarind pulp also seasons stews: a spoon in thiéboudienne broth or a peanut sauce gives it the sour note the recipes call for.
