What a typical Londoner might call a bright sunny day, we, the residents of Dubai, call a well-deserved break from the blistering summer sun that beats (mercilessly) down upon us for a good six months each year (five-and-a-half if we’re lucky). I personally love the Dubai winter, especially because it brings with it, a plethora of fresh seasonal fruits from the Middle eastern region, the most noteworthy of which are the strawberries flown in daily from Egypt.

I couldn’t resist myself from buying a kilogram of these tantalizing berries when I last went grocery shopping. Needless to say, we got tired of eating all these strawberries pretty soon, so I thought of making a refreshing drink out of it. I added some coconut water and lemon syrup to compliment the sweet and sour berries and the drink turned out better than expected.

Here’s the recipe if you want to replicate it at home. It serves two people.

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh coconut water (I use yellow Srilankan coconuts as they are a bit on the sweet side)
• 6-8 medium strawberries
• 2 tablespoon lemon syrup (alternately, you can use 1 tsp lemon juice and 2 tsp honey)
• For garnish:
  • 2 medium strawberries (coarsely chopped)
  • 3-4 mint leaves
  • 5-6 ice cubes

Method

1. Wash the strawberries and remove the leafy part; add them to a blender
2. Add coconut water and lemon syrup the blender and mix well
3. Pour the juice into mason jars and add in some ice
4. Top the jars with chopped strawberries and mint
5. Serve immediately

Hope you enjoy this drink as much as I did making it. I’d appreciate your comments if you do try this at home!