Sunday Bhoj
Cooling drink and appetizer: Shikanji concentrate for your fridge!
Those addicted to fizzy drinks may not see the difference. But there is indeed a world of difference between bottled cold drinks chilled up in the fridge and traditional cooling drinks that keep you energetic without injecting unwanted chemicals into your body. Shikanji is one such item, which Modinagar in western Uttar Pradesh is famous for. The nice thing is you can experiment with it to create interesting variations and there is no Modinagar orthodoxy to stop you from doing that. Also, you could prepare a good amount of concentrate to store in the fridge to which you just need to add ice and water before glugging it down, or gently sipping!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup: Freshly squeezed juice of limes
- 1 tablespoon: Juice extracted from fresh ginger root
- 1 cup: sugar
- 2 cups: Water
- Ground semi-roasted zeera [cumin]
- paste made of mint leaves
Method
- Combine lime and ginger juice in a bowl.
- Heat water and sugar in a pan, bring to boil for 30 seconds.
- When syrup is cool, stir in lime and ginger juice and chill.
- Mix the roasted cumin powder and mint paste
- To serve, add 2 tablespoons of syrup to a glass of chilled water, and add some crushed ice.
- For extra special friends add a few spoons of rooh afza or lychee juice
Warning: before serving experimental variations such as Shikanji with melon juice or neera, make sure to taste it to avoid giving yourself and your guest a nasty yucky surprise!