Ev Limonatasi (Homemade Turkish Lemonade)
Cloudy, ice-cold and intensely lemony, Turkish-style homemade lemonade is made by blitzing whole lemon zest with sugar — no bottled drink comes close.
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Ingredients
6 large unwaxed lemons, washed well
1 orange, washed well
200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
1.5 litres cold water
1 small bunch fresh mint, plus extra sprigs to serve
1/4 tsp lemon salt (citric acid), optional, for extra sharpness
Plenty of ice cubes, to serve
Chilled lemon mineral water, optional, for a sparkling version
Instructions
- 1
Finely zest 3 of the lemons and the orange, keeping only the coloured part of the peel — the white pith is bitter.
- 2
Put the zest and sugar in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips (or pulse in a food processor) until the sugar is damp, fragrant and pale yellow.
- 3
Squeeze all the lemons and the orange; you should have roughly 250 ml of juice.
- 4
Warm 250 ml of the water with the zesty sugar in a small pan for 3-4 minutes, stirring just until the sugar dissolves, then let it cool.
- 5
Combine the syrup, citrus juice and remaining cold water in a large jug; add the lemon salt if using and stir well.
- 6
Bruise the mint gently in your hands, stir it into the jug and chill for at least 2 hours.
- 7
Strain the lemonade if you prefer it smooth, or leave the zest in for a rustic, cloudy pastane style.
- 8
Serve over plenty of ice with fresh mint sprigs, topping up with sparkling mineral water for a fizzy glass if you like.
Turkish ev limonatası is a different animal to the thin, watery lemonade you might know. The trick, passed down through generations of Turkish grandmothers, is to rub or blitz the sugar with the lemon zest first. The zest releases its fragrant oils into the sugar, so the finished drink tastes of the whole fruit, not just its juice — cloudy, aromatic and beautifully sharp.
Use unwaxed lemons if you can find them, or scrub waxed ones well under warm water. A single orange mellows the acidity and rounds out the flavour; it is the quiet secret of most pastane-style lemonades in Turkey. A tiny pinch of lemon salt (citric acid) sharpens everything up if your lemons are on the sweet side.
The lemonade keeps well in the fridge for three to four days and actually improves after a few hours as the mint infuses. Serve it over plenty of ice on a warm afternoon, or top up a glass half-and-half with sparkling water for a fizzy version. You can order fresh lemons, mint and all the pantry bits from Turkish Online Market and have them delivered anywhere in the UK.
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