Name: East Indian Expedition
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 30 ml vodka (see note); 10 ml tamarind water (see note); ½ small hot red chilli, finely sliced, plus extra to garnish; 15 ml lime juice; 5 ml sugar syrup (see note); Pinch of ground cumin seeds

“The original 20s sherry-based ‘East India’ cocktail was a very different affair but I still think the colonists would approve of my homage to Eastern cuisine.” – Matt Bax

Ingredients

30 ml vodka (see note)

10 ml tamarind water (see note)

½ small hot red chilli, finely sliced, plus extra to garnish

15 ml lime juice

5 ml sugar syrup (see note)

Pinch of ground cumin seeds

Method

Main

1.Add all ingredients to a shaker or bar glass half-filled with ice, shake hard and fast and strain into a teacup. Add a few ice cubes and sliced chilli to garnish if desired and serve.

Bax uses 42 Below vodka. For tamarind water, soak a piece of tamarind paste, available at supermarkets and Asian food stores, in hot water, then strain into a bowl, discarding solids. To make sugar syrup, combine an equal quantity of sugar and water in a saucepan and boil or simmer to dissolve. One cup each of sugar and water will make 1½ cups of syrup, and if sealed will keep indefinitely in the fridge.
Notes

Matthew Bax

Styling by Emma Knowles