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Easy recipe for Hindu fermented lemonade, a lightly cultured traditional beverage to add probiotics and enzymes to any meal.
For those of you who are wanting to take the leap and start adding a daily probiotic element to your whole foods diet, this recipe for fermented lemonade, also called Hindu lemonade, is an all-time favorite of traditional foodies.
It is as easy as it is delicious, pleasing both child and parent alike.
This type of healthy beverage is also the answer to those sugar-laden, juice boxes that most kids have packed in their school lunches every day. Worse, that sugar is frequently a juice blend with added GMO high fructose corn syrup.
Even a 100% juice box is still just sugar in the final analysis. Once you pasteurize fresh juice, the nutrition is long gone and all that remains is obesity-promoting fructose and a sugar spike/crash for the child. Not the best choice for school lunch by any means!
How to Make Hindu Lemonade
Packing this homemade fermented lemonade, on the other hand, is a nice treat that will delight, nourish, and strengthen your childโs immune system.
Fresh whole milk a great choice for a school lunch (when the kids were young, I usually packed a thermos of cold, fresh milk โฆ sometimes I packed sipping bone broth too), but when you have run out temporarily or just want to pack a juice treat, this is a great choice.
Note that using freshly squeezed lemon juice produces the most reliable results. Using pasteurized store juice does work, but you run the risk of mold.
Why is this? Store lemon juice is pasteurized, which eliminates the natural probiotics and enzymes that faciliate the fermentation to โtakeโ properly.
Fermented Lemonade Recipe
Easy recipe for fermented lemonade that will no doubt be one of your familyโs favorites as it is rich in flavor and probiotics.
Ingredients
- 6-8 medium lemons or 1- 1.5 cups of lemon juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
- 1/2 cup sucanat
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg preferably organic
- 2 quarts filtered water
- 1/2 cup liquid whey
- vegetable starter optional. Use if you prefer dairy free starter.
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients together in a 1 gallon glass jug.ย
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Cover and leave on the counter for 2 days and then transfer to the refrigerator.ย
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The lemonade flavor improves over time, but is drinkable immediately after the 2 day fermentation period.
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If it is too tart compared with the overly sweet lemonades from the store, mix 1 or 2 drops plain liquid stevia to each glass until your family adjusts to the mildly sweet/sour flavor.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Limes or a combination of lemons and limes may be substituted for the lemons. The juice must be freshly squeezed.
Reference
More Information
Switchel: Natureโs Healthy Gatorade
How to Make Orangina (Fermented Orange Juice)
How to Make Ginger Ale
Brew Your Own Healthy and Traditional Root Beer
I just had a quick follow up question to the one I just posted. Does the fermented lemonade have more probiotics than the whey alone. I just need to get as much of those good bacteria in my gut as possible as I have been struggling with digestion and it has caused all sorts of havoc in my body for the last 3 years.
Thank you!
Rachel
Hi Sarah!
I just want to say thank you so much. Your website and videos have completely changed my life. I do have a quick question. My body does not tolerate sugar very well. Is it possible to drink the liquid whey by itself to get the probiotic effects or do I need to put in in a recipe with sugar added? I do ok with honey, could I replace the Sucanat with honey with the fermented drinks?
Thank you again!!
Rachel
I would love to get an answer for this too… as I have to be careful with Candida issues… so far – I am doing fine with small amounts of sugar… but would be great to hear some feedback from people who resolved sugar/candida related issues if they were fine with this drink and or kombucha etc. Thanks to all of you!
I found your site and watched your video on fermenting lemon lime drink. You said that MILK for your kids is ALWAYS the best for them. If you still believe this about milk you need to do some research. Dairy and especially milk are some of the WORST things we can be eating. DO MORE RESEARCH… check out Dr. Walter Willett Harvard School of Public Health.
I predict she’s referring to raw milk, which is far more beneficial than regular, pasteurized milk. Raw milk is a live, nutrient- and probiotic-dense ‘food’ and is often well-tolerated, even by those who are dairy-sensitive.
Is my 3-quart jar big enough for this Hindu lemonade recipe?
I am learning so much from you, Sarah! Thank you for all you’re doing. Is liquid whey considered ‘dairy free’?
No, they whey still has milk proteins in it so it is not like ghee which many with dairy allergies can tolerate.
I made this last night with maple syrup b/c we’re out of sucanat. I hope it still works.
Can I substitute honey for the sugar? I know honey doesn’t work best for kombucha…
When I make this…I drop the nutmeg and add cinnamon and cloves. If I run low on whey, I use kefir grains….works great!!! To us, the nutmeg didn’t seem to go with the lemon.
I’ve been fermenting veges and drinks for a few years but never tried this one can’t wait to try it. I have the nourishing traditions cook book and under their guide of natural sweeteners it says to avoid sucanat sugars, so why do you use them if they say to avoid it.
I have made several beverage from Nourishing Traditions and many of them call for rapadura, which is essentially the same thing as sucanat. I have ginger ale sitting on the counter right now that called for 1/4-1/2 cup rapadura. It is ok to use minimally refined sugars like that in limited amounts.
I think that is a misprint in the book because they do recommend sucanat along with rapadura.
Sarah,
Like many of the other commenters, I made this recipe exactly as written, but my lemonade is not fizzy and there were no bubbles on top. How do we know if it fermented. After 3 days, I put it in the refrigerator. If you don’t think it fermented, can I put it back on the counter?