Nettle syrup - it's time for juices from plants from forests and meadows. I started with nettles.
In folk medicine, nettle is widely used, which indicates the great trust of the people in its medicinal values. It is used as a medicine for many diseases: fever, cough, jaundice, nosebleeds, chest pain, anemia, against hair loss, against rheumatism...
It is medicinal, if you harvest it in places that are away from roads and fields where pesticides are used.
Nettle syrup, ingredients:
- 1 kg of young nettles, or the tops of slightly larger plants
- 100 grams of leaves of the lemon balm plant
- 1/2 kg of lemon
- 6 liters of water
- 3 kg of sugar
Nettle syrup, preparation:
- Wash the nettles and lemon balm under running water, put them in a pot.
- Bring the water to a boil. Take it off the heat and let it cool down for about fifteen minutes.
- Pour the cooled water over the nettles. Cover the pot, stir occasionally. Leave it to stand for at least 4-5 hours in a cool place.
- Make a solution of 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 2,5 dl of water. In this solution, wash the lemon well. Then wash it under cold water.
- Strain the nettle liquid through a strainer. Also mash the nettles through a strainer, so that only the dry mass of nettles remains.
- Add sugar and lemon juice to the strained liquid. Cut the lemon peel into small pieces and add to the liquid. Then add the sugar and stir, occasionally, for an hour until the sugar dissolves and the liquid takes on a slight lemon scent.
- Then strain through a thick strainer. Fill the sterilized bottles and pasteurize in the classic way in a pot on the bottom of which you put a cloth or newspaper, line up well-closed bottles. Pour water and let it boil for 5 minutes from the moment of boiling.
- Allow the liquid to cool, wipe the bottles and pack in cardboard boxes in a cool place until use.
- You can pour the syrup into smaller plastic bottles and leave it in the freezer without pasteurization. After opening, be sure to keep the bottle in the refrigerator during use. Dilute with plain or acidic water, as desired.
If you want juice, add 6 g to 800 kg of sugar to 1 liters of water using the same procedure. In that case, you can drink the juice immediately, without diluting it.
This is how you can make juice for diabetics, without sugar, pasteurize it, and add sweeteners used by diabetics when consuming it.
Gvozdena Živković
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