Stepping out in summer is always a sweat-work! Especially when you are in a humid place, you will feel extra fatigue and thirst. These times the juice shops in Kerala would be crowded for the sarbats and juices. I am sure that you might have heard about the famous ‘Kulukki sarbath’ too :P. Here I am listing a few Summer drinks which is free of aerated sodas, artificial chemicals like colors, flavors and preservatives. Also can be made at home with very few easily available ingredients. Instead of adding white sugar, I would suggest to add jaggery or palm jaggery(both unbleached and unfiltered) to make it even more healthier. Also most of these doesn’t need a mixer/juicer to make as I don’t prefer having juices when we have nice teeth to chew. Also, the fibers in the fruits gets destroyed and removed after sieving which makes the juice just the sweetish water. So if you are really not able to chew fruits, then only juice it.
This list is not restricted to Kerala, I have included traditional natural drinks of many places.
- Naranga Vellam(Lemon juice/lemonade) & other variants(Cucumber-mint-lemon, lemon-mint etc.) – I don’t think you require a recipe for this.
P.S- It reminds me the movie dialogue ‘Namuk oro naranga vellam angu kachiyalo’ (Strictly for Malayalees ;) ) - Pottu Vellari shake –
Made from the fruit snap melon which I have written in a detailed post here - Panakam –
A jaggery based drink which is usually made as an offering to Lord Rama on Ram Navami (a festival to celebrate Lord Rama’s birthday and also indicates the beginning of Summer – see the connection). It’s a perfect drink which will helps you from dehydration. While there are many recipes for making panakam, as the ingredients added varies in different parts of India.
Recipe to make one cup –
Powdered Jaggery -1/4 cup
Water – 1 1/4 cup
Juice of a halved lemon
Dry ginger powder – 1/2 tsp
Cardamon powder – a pinch
Tulsi leaves – 2 or 3 – crushed
Method – Soak the jaggery in 1/4 cup of water for couple of minutes and sieve it for removing any impurities in jaggery. Add all the remaining ingredients, mix well and serve. - Spiced Sambhaaram(Masala Chaas/Buttermilk) –
One more drink which has multiple flavors across the parts of India or even in Kerala. Sambhaaram or Morum Vellam is a must drink at the end of the Kerala sadhya(feast). It aids the digestion after a nice meal as well as quenches the thirst during hot days! Whenever I complain about stomach pains or stomach upsets, my father -in-law is used to making this spicy buttermilk which will ease my problems in a couple of hours. Sambharam is usually made with curd(yogurt) adding more water to dilute it, chopped fresh ginger pieces, green chillies, crushed curry leaves and salt. Some people add onions and garlic too. Plus have seen few recipe sites which uses Banana stem(vazhathand), mint sambharam also. There is another version(not made in Kerala) in which chat masala is also added. Please read one of my previous post on Buttermilk here
In few traditional homes in Kerala, Morum Vellam used to be the welcome drink for the guests to visits their homes. I could recollect reading/hearing from some one/some where(not able to recollect the source) that Morum vellam has to be made from the leftover water from which the butter is extracted from the curd. - Tender coconut juice –
I don’t think you need more details on this ;) Just one request, while drinking tender coconut juice, please avoid the single use plastic straw. Alternatives mentioned here - Nannari/Naruneendi sarbath –
Nannari/Sarsaparilla juice is made from the dried roots of Sarsaparilla. Please read my post here for the detailed benefits and method. - Kokum juice –
Even though kokum(Garcinia indica, twin sister of Garcinia cambogia) is used for culinary purposes, the drink is not so popular in Kerala. Kokum/Malabar tamarind is used in Konkan region and also in Maharashtra, Gujarat, parts of Kerala and the Kannada region. It is a native of the Western ghats, hence it is known as Malabar tamarind. This type of tamarind has many therapeutic values and is used for weight loss ans acts as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacteria and anti-carcinogenic agent. Read more about this on The Hindu article here.
You can make the juice either with fresh kokum fruits or with dried ones. Check out the recipe here - Bel sharbat –
During the visit to last time’s OFYT (Oota from your Thota) event, one of the stall was selling Bel juice stored in a big mud pot. Out of curiosity, I also bought a glass to experience the taste. I was expecting it to be sweet one, but it was slight sweetish sour. Bel is the fruit of Wood/ Stone/Elephant apple(Vilvam), of which the leaves are considered as sacred and are used for worshiping Lord Shiva. The consumption of the fruit aids relief from indigestion, constipation, ulcers, piles and diarrhea. Also helps to remove the impurities in blood.
Recipe for 1 cup –
1 medium ripe bel fruit
1 cup of water
2-3 tbsps of jaggery(Adjust according to your taste buds)
A small pinch of salt(black salt preferred).
A pinch of cardamom powder
Method – Break the fruit with a sharp object/with a rolling pin to remove the hard shell. Scoop out the brown colored soft pulp to a bowl and add water. After soaking for 10 mins, mash the pulp well and strain it(use a wide hole strainer) for getting a smooth mixture. Add the remaining ingredients to the strained juice, stir well and its ready to consume. You can also add a pinch of roasted & powdered cumin/jeera powder. - Nongu juice
Nongu/Ice Apple is the fruit of Toddy palm from which the Toddy is made from. When you travel to Kerala/Tamilnadu during Summer, you can see people selling this fruit in road-sides, push-carts, etc. Some might be selling the juice(padhaneer/palm nectar) in the palm leaves folded like a bowl. The juice which comes out while cutting the fruit is collected and served along with the chopped pieces of nongu in the palm leaf bowls. There are many ways to prepare this at home. Always use the softer ones to prepare these.
Recipe 1 – If you have got the fruits with the outer thick skin, remove it. And slowly remove soft yellowish skin to get the fleshy white fruit. Inside you will get the water/juice similar to tender coconut juice. Collect this juice from many fruits, and chop the fruit to smaller pieces. Add few tbsps of Nannari syrup, add water if required, squeeze a lemon and serve it.
Recipe 2 – Use the same process above replacing Nannari syrup with milk. Avoid lemon juice. When you use a softer fruit, you can smash it with hands/spoon. - Vazhathandu juice –
In Malayalam, banana tree/plantain is known as Vazha and stem is Thandu. Banana is one tree that is edible right from the stem to the flower. The Vazhathandu is rich in fibre, helps in digestion, weight loss, manages cholesterol and blood pressure. You can prepare the juice in many ways.
Recipe 1 – Cut the inner part of stem into circles and put it in buttermilk(diluted curd) till you prepare this. Take it out and put in a mixer and blend it well. Strain/skip straining add jaggery and serve it. Meanwhile you can also crush the chopped pieces in mortar and pestle and squeeze the juice/ add it as it is.
Recipe 2 – Add buttermilk & ginger instead of water in the above process and add salt, coriander leaves while drinking. This is another version of spiced buttermilk too. - Flavored/infused/Detox water –
My mother attended a workshop in naturopathy(heal with nature) in which the master suggested to avoid drinking plain water even if it is boiled. Some seeds/roots/leaves must be always used while boiling and also should not use same ingredient continuously for multiple days. Before she went for this session itself, we were following this at my home, but never know that we should not use same ingredient for a longer while.
Ingredients which can be used are –
Seeds – Jeera/Cumin, Methi/Fenugreek, Dhania/Coriander, Triphala powder
Roots/Heartwood – Chukku/Dry ginger, Karingali/ Cutch Tree/Black catechu, Pathimukham(Caesalpenia Sappan), Venga /Indian kino tree
Leaves – Holy basil/Tulsi leaves, Pudhina/Mint leaves.
Flowers/Petals -Rose, Lotus, Aavarampoo, Hibiscus, Butterfly pea/Shankupushpam
Fruits – Gooseberry/Amla
Spices – Cardamom,
The leaves and roots must be cleaned well before adding. Dry roasting the seeds(slightly) without any oil is preferred. Also add this once the water is in rolling boiled stage. Add the ingredient(one item per day) and switch off. Do not store it beyond a day. So prepare this in the morning, and consume it before the night. Read more options & benefits about the detox water here - Ramacham/Vettiver & Sandalwood –
These are generally used for purifying/cleansing the water. It can be used for drinking & also for bathing as it cools down the body and calms the mind due to it’s aroma. You need to add the roots in the mud pot overnight and next day morning it’s ready to consume. Before the RO/UV filters came into existence, Vettiver was widely used for purification. Vettiver roots are the best bought from here
- Thandai
Made with many ingredients like dry nuts and spices, refer the recipe here. This drink isn’t that famous in South India. - Jaljeera
Another lemonade kind made with Cumin, coriander, lemon juice etc. This also is not so famous in South India. Recipe can be checked out here - Buransh drink
Burans or Buransh drink is made from the flowers of Tree Rhododendron/Buransh tree. Read the details here. The recipe can seen here - Raw Mango juice/Aam ka panna
A drink made with raw mango, mint and roasted cumin seeds etc. Recipe over here - Sattu drink
Roasted chickpea powder along with some other ingredients is made into a sweet drink. The recipe can be found here - Paan-gulkand
Paan is betel leaves and Gulkand is the traditional rose petal jam made without heating any of the ingredients(its cooked under sun ;) ). Gulkand acts as an coolant. Recipe here. An amazing gulkand made with rose petals and honey can be bought from here - Gond Katira sharbat
Gond Katira/Badam pisin is an edible gum which helps you to cool down our body. There are many different ways to make the drink. One is over here and another I could find here - Phalse ka sharbat
Phalsa/Grewia Asiatica is kind of a berry from which the drink is made. Get the recipe from here - Palash sharbat
While Buransh is up there in Himalayas, we have Palash/The flame of forest in this part of India ;). The process of making the sharbat is explained in my previous post here.
I will add pictures soon to make this more informational. Hope you enjoyed this post.
Please let me know your suggestions/feedback in comments. Stay safe & healthy.
A.
MY LITTLE THOUGHTS LANE 
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