Fiery lime margaritas

Name: Fiery lime margaritas
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 250 g caster sugar; 2 red chillies; 5 cardamom pods; 80 ml tequila; 3 unwaxed limes, juice of 2½, twists of zest; Handful of ice

Nick Grimshaw prepares this cocktail using CleanCo Clean T Alcohol Free Spirit for Angela Hartnett and guest Romesh Ranganathan on episode 2, 2026 of Dish, the Waitrose podcast. They enjoy a cauliflower & spinach curry served with vegan raita, poppadoms, chapatis and chutneys. The meal is paired with No.1 Grüner Veltliner.

3 out of 5 stars(4) Rate this recipe

Serves2
CourseDrink
Prepare10 mins
Cook10 mins
Total time20 mins

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250g caster sugar
2 red chillies
5 cardamom pods
80ml tequila
3 unwaxed limes, juice of 2½, twists of zest
Handful of ice

Put the sugar in a pan with 250ml water. Pierce the chillies with a sharp knife several times and add to the pan. Crush the cardamom pods, add to the pan, then slowly bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
Once it boils, reduce the heat and leave to gently bubble away for 5 minutes. Leave to cool completely, then transfer to a jar and chill until needed (for up to 2 weeks). You can strain out the chillies and cardamom if you like or leave them in to carry on infusing
To make your margaritas, put 80ml of the chilli syrup into a cocktail shaker with the tequila, lime juice and a handful of ice. Put on the lid and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Wipe the rim of two margarita glasses with the remaining lime half, dip in a little fine sea salt, then strain in the shaken margarita, dividing evenly between the glasses. Decorate with twists of lime zest to serve.