Homemade Kokum Sarbat

Though there have been showers in Delhi, bringing the temperature from 41 degrees to 30 degrees, that sigh of relief was only for a day! Temperatures rose again, with power cuts and sweat dripping down the bodies being a regular feature. And to beat all that, the desi stuff comes to the rescue. Chaas, Lassi, aam panna ( http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/05/kairiche-panhe-aam-panna.html ) and of course the fruit juices. Another favourite drink of mine is the Kokum sarbat. I couldn't find a good kokum sarbat here in Delhi, except the commerical concentrates packed in bottles. In pune, we get kokum sarbat in every nook and corner and it tastes super awesome ( Chitale Bandhu being the most famous ). Whenever we made a visit to Mumbai-Pune, i would bring some. 

The outer cover of this fruit is dried in the sun and we get what is called Aamsul or Aamsool ( in Marathi ), commonly known as Kokum. We use aamsul especially in aamti ( the daal that we make ). It adds a nice sour-tangy flavour. It is blackish-red in colour and is a good substitue for tamarind to add that tanginess to a dish. Apart from it's use in cooking in konkan region of Maharashtra, Gujrat and also south of India, the oil extracted from this fruit is also used for foot massage.

I decided to try making Kokum Sarbat at home, as i had a lot of kokum at hand given by my mother. It is so easy to make, and yessss... tastes much better than the extra-sugar sweet concentrate available in market. The recipe was given to me by my friend Ayushi who also writes a blog (http://ayusuppercrust.blogspot.in/ ). She is one enthusiast in cooking and also makes some amazing artistic gift envelopes and accessories. This concentrate makes for about 6 cups depending on how much concentrate you add. I normally add 1/4th concentrate and 3/4th water.

Ingredients :

Kokum - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Black salt - to taste

Recipe:

Boil about 1 cup of water and soak the kokum in hot water for 30 minutes.

Add sugar to this and put in mixer and grind to a smooth paste.

Strain this concentrate.

( After straining, what left behind was also a smooth paste. So what i did is added some powdered sugar and water to it. And it tasted great for me. But if u want, you can use this in any sabzi/curry instead of throwing it. )

You can also grind the kokum to a smooth paste and then add powdered sugar to it and mix well, but i guess the earlier method, it blends well.

Now add the roasted cumin powder, black pepper powder and black salt. Mix it all well.

Now take some concentrate in a glass, and add ice cold water. You can also add crushed ice or ice cubes. 

Kokum sarbat is ready :)) 

 

Note : You see a dark colour of sarbat here, because it depends on the quality of kokum, and also because i let it soak for a longer duration than 30 minutes. Also i don't believe in straining too fine ( i do that with juices too ), as i believe the fibre and nutrients are lost. So you will see the heavier particles of kokum settling at bottom in the glass. But believe me, they taste just as smooth and great.

Happy Cooking :)