Nimbu Pani

Nimbu pani is the lemonade of the subcontinent, pressed in houses and at roadside carts wherever the lemon or lime grows, and it belongs to the Indian custom of offering a cold drink to a guest on arrival. Monisha Bharadwaj writes it as shikanjvi, giving nimbu pani and shikanji as its other names, and makes it with plain water or with sparkling soda.

The drink is the juice of the lemon or lime blended with salt and sugar, with the juice squeezed from freshly grated ginger and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper Piper nigrum, then lengthened with chilled water or soda. Bharadwaj suggests the juice of extra lemons for a sharper glass, and rose water or saffron as optional flavourings. She also gives a sugar syrup, boiled briefly over strong heat until every grain has melted, then cooled and kept in the fridge; three to four tablespoons are topped with chilled water to make one glass.

Nimbu pani is drunk on its own in the heat, and with a meal it suits fried and spiced food, where its acid and salt cleanse the palate between mouthfuls. The structural reason is the balance of sour, sweet and salt: the salt rounds the acid, the sugar softens it, and the ginger and pepper give a faint warmth beneath the cold.