Everyday cooking sense: 沥 means to let liquid drip away, as in 沥干 (to drain dry). It is also the second character of 沥青 (asphalt), and the literary phrase 呕心沥血 means to pour out one's heart's blood.
Right 历 supplies the sound — lì with no tone shift. It contributes no meaning here and is a simplified contraction of the fuller phonetic in traditional 瀝.
