By Jessie Lehail,
Special to The Post

We’re heading into the holiday season, which means happy hours with friends, cocktail parties, and family dinners. 
It’s the perfect time to try out new recipes for drinks and desserts. This homemade spicy ginger syrup is versatile for both cocktails and non-alcoholic mocktails, and even desserts. The best part is it’s simple to make.
The inspiration for this ginger syrup comes from chai tea. This syrup reinvents this delicious tea by focusing on ginger, cinnamon and black pepper, with hints of clove and cardamom. It has incredible flavor with no additives or preservatives.
The spices in this recipe have many health benefits. Ginger aids digestion and circulation, decreases arthritic swelling, and lowers blood pressure. Cinnamon aids digestion, relieves nausea and vomiting, is beneficial for the heart, lungs, and kidneys, and helps insulin’s ability to metabolize blood sugar. Cardamom is known to stimulate appetites, and relieves asthma and bronchitis, while cloves relieve abdominal pain and have an anti-inflammatory effect on rheumatic diseases. 
This syrup can be used in a multitude of drinks and desserts. To make ginger ale, fill an ice-filled glass with about 1/3 of the ways up with syrup, top with soda water and a squeeze of lime, and enjoy.
As a dessert option, this syrup can be used to poach pears or on waffles or pancakes. 

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
• 2 inch piece of ginger (peeled and thinly sliced)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 4 cardamom pods (slightly opened)   

In a large pot, add sugar and water, and stir. Bring to a boil, add ginger, then reduce to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for 10 minutes. On medium heat, dry roast cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns, cloves, and cardamom for about two minutes, until spices become fragrant. Add spices to the syrup mixture. Allow to cool. Pour into a large mason jar. Refrigerate.

Jessie Lehail is the author of Indian Influence, a food blog that takes global eats and reinterprets them with a South Asian influence. Visit her blog at www.indianinfluence.ca.