Today I’m sharing a juice made from dried apricot, or qaseer qamar al-din.

After a long day of fasting during Ramadan, there’s nothing like the sweet nectar of this delicious juice. It originally comes from Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus which is known for its tasty apricots. The fruit is dried, sweetened and made into a paste. The paste can then be snacked on or soaked to make juice or various desserts.

In the U.S., the leathery paste can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores or on Amazon. In Dubai, you can find it in just about any dried fruit section, especially during Ramadan. To make the juice, it’s soaked overnight in water and then blended. It’s really that simple. Some people like to add orange blossom water, but I like it just the way it is: viscous, tart, sweet and refreshing.

There are many uses for the juice. You can drink it straight, or you can also add nuts and cheese to make a light snack, which is often done for suhoor, or the pre-dawn meal. I’ve also seen others add it to fruit salad, giving it a nice added sweet acidity.

I do hope you give this a try! If you do, don’t forget to put it in the comments or tag @omayahatassi or #omayahcooks on Instagram!

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Apricot Juice (Qaseer Qamar Al-Din)

Yield 4

Author Omayah Atassi

Drink this sweet, tart and refreshing juice on its own, add nuts and cheese for a light snack or season a fruit salad.

Ingredients

• 1 packet dried apricot paste (14 oz. or 400 g)
• 3 c water

Instructions

1. Cut the apricot paste into 1 to 2-inch pieces. Soak in water overnight. Blend with a hand blender or upright blender and pour into a pitcher. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Can be made up to 3 days ahead.