Sharbat-e Sekanjabin

Name: Sharbat-e Sekanjabin
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 400 g sugar; 500 ml water; 120 ml white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar; 1 bunch fresh mint; 3 tbsp sekanjabin syrup; 2 tbsp grated cucumber; iced water and a mint sprig

Mint and vinegar syrup drink with cucumber · شربت سکنجبین

10 min Prep
25 min Cook
10 Servings
Easy

An ancient sweet-and-sour syrup of sugar, vinegar and fresh mint, mixed with iced water and grated cucumber on hot days.

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Sharbat-e Sekanjabin — Photo: MRG90, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, colour-adjusted)

Sekanjabin is one of the oldest drinks in Persian cooking, described in medieval medical texts as cooling for summer heat. The syrup keeps for months, so a jar in the fridge means a refreshing drink is always seconds away.

It is also served as a dip for crisp lettuce leaves, a favourite summer snack in Iran.

Ingredients

Servings 10

Syrup

400 g sugar (14 oz)
500 ml water (2 cups)
120 ml white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (½ cup)
1 bunch fresh mint

Per glass

3 tbsp sekanjabin syrup
2 tbsp grated cucumber
iced water and a mint sprig

Instructions

Dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Add the vinegar and simmer gently for 20 minutes until slightly syrupy.
Take off the heat, push the mint into the syrup, and leave it to steep until completely cool. Remove the mint and bottle the syrup; it keeps for months in the fridge.
To serve, stir 3 tablespoons of syrup into a glass of iced water with grated cucumber and a mint sprig. Adjust to taste.

Tips & variations

Serve the undiluted syrup in a bowl with whole romaine lettuce leaves for dipping (kahoo sekanjabin).

Where to buy the ingredients

Persian grocers carry the saffron, dried herbs, spices and long-grain rice that Persian cooking depends on: