Kokum Sherbet

Kokum sherbet belongs to the western coast, where the kokum tree, Garcinia indica, grows wild and in village groves along the Konkan, Goa and the Karnataka littoral. The fruit is dried or steeped in sugar by households there as a store for the hot months, and the drink is made in the home kitchen, handed on from one generation of women to the next. It sits within the wider family of Indian sherbets and summer drinks, alongside aam panna and nimbu pani, and beside sol kadhi, the kokum and coconut milk drink of the same coast.

The drink is made from the rind of kokum, Garcinia indica, a deep purple-black fruit whose dried petals are sour, faintly sweet and stain the water a ruby-magenta. The rind is soaked or simmered in water, strained, and sweetened with sugar or jaggery to make a syrup or a ready drink, then lengthened with cold water. Roasted ground cumin and a pinch of salt are the usual additions, and some households add a little ginger or crushed mint. It is served chilled, in a tall glass, thin in body and clear in colour, with a sourness that is round rather than sharp.

Kokum sherbet is drunk through the hot months and alongside the coastal table, with fried fish, rice and fish curry, and with the heavier meals of the Konkan. The sourness cuts through oil and coconut, and the chill clears the palate between mouthfuls of chilli. Its cousin sol kadhi, made with coconut milk, is taken at the end of the meal on the same coast.