“Amma! The society is planning a Summer Mela. Sheeba aunty said we can keep food stalls. I want to keep one for nimbu paani,” said Dhriti, excitedly.
“Okay!” Said Amma. “I will register your name.”
“How much should I price it at? Rs.10 per cup?” she said thinking aloud.
Amma smiled at her enthusiasm. “You will have to manage on your own. Make a small signboard and keep a box for the money.”
“Okay, I will plan everything. Now I’m off to play,” replied Dhriti.
But she was back in five minutes. “Amma, it’s a disaster. Sheeba aunty has already got three nimbu paani registrations. All my friends have the same plan. She said I can come up with another idea for a stall.”
“Oh, don’t be sad. Let’s think of other coolers.”
“But Sheeba aunty said no packaged drinks.” Dhriti was crestfallen.
Plenty of options
“That’s okay, we have so many Indian coolers such as khus sharbat, kokum juice, ragi ambli and aam panna. They all have natural ingredients to reduce the body temperature.”
“Really? Are they easy to make? Are they yummy to drink?”
Amma got up from the computer she was working on and said, “Let’s look up the recipes. Why don’t we share it with your friends and each of you can have your own stall?”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Soon there were five little heads looking over a computer and trying to find recipes.
“Where to find kokum fruits?” asked Riddhan.
“Raw mangoes? Is that what we use in pickles?” asked Kayra.
“What is khus?” Is it a root or a grass?” wondered Sakshi.
“Who has ragi flour?” enquired Dhriti.
There was a buzz all evening. The children all went home to source the ingredients. They learnt that the kokum sharbat needed kokum fruit, sugar, jeera and cardamom. Khus required the khus root and sugar. Ragi ambli needed ragi flour and buttermilk and finally aam panna needed raw mangoes, sugar, jeera and black salt.
Discoveries
They discovered that all the households had sugar, salt, jeera, cardomom and ragi flour. Raw mangoes had made their seasonal debut in the market and off they went to buy some.
“But where do we find kokum fruits and khus roots?”
The children soon realised that not all fruits grow in every region and every season.
“Kokum is grown in Goa and some parts of Maharashtra,” said Amma. “I have seen handicrafts made from the khus root. It grows in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and some parts of North India. It’s a fragrant grass like lemongrass. To make the sharbat, we use the root, which is also fragrant.”
“At the supermarket I saw khus sharbat that looks green. I thought that’s because the grass is used,” asked Kayra.
“Unfortunately, that is misleading. That is just artificial colouring. Homemade khus sharbat is light brown in colour.”
Amma had been appointed the ‘leader of sharbat makers’. Basically, it meant she had to source all the ingredients. It was a tough job. But the children were determined not to use any store-bought squashes.
“Okay, so we use the root. But where do we get it from?”
Amma looked up the Internet, made a few calls and finally found an Ayurvedic store that stocked khus roots. The shopkeeper said he could deliver it by that evening.
“You will still have to clean it, cut it into little pieces and soak it in water. Then, after eight hours, you will have to strain it and boil the light brown filtered water with sugar.”
The kids nodded.
“Sheeba aunty said she can send fresh and dried kokum from Goa. It will reach us by tomorrow. Raw mangoes you have bought and ragi flour and buttermilk is already there in the fridge,” said Amma, her brows in a knot.
“Amma! Don’t you worry. It will be great! Have a cooler!”
“Haha! Okay ... I will wait for your stalls. I will just have some water for now,” smiled Amma.
Making the drinks
Soon all the ingredients arrived. Fruits were washed, pulps were removed and deseeded, roots were cleaned and soaked, sugar was added… The ragi flour was cooked with water to get a thin gruel-like consistency and the buttermilk was churned.
All the parents made arrangements for big vessels, strainers and glass bottles. Everyone was happy the kids were busy with the ‘sharbat project’ but horrified about how messy the kitchens looked.
“Messy kids, happy kids,” shrugged Amma.
Finally, it was the big day. The children were ready with their summer coolers, paper cups and money boxes.
“I am so excited,” said Dhriti, holding two bottles of khus sharbat in her hand while racing down the steps. Her friends were in front of her, jostling bags and bottles. Suddenly, Dhriti missed a step and came crashing down.
“OH NO! THE KHUS BOTTLES!” moaned Riddhan, Kayra and Sakshi in unison. But, when they turned around, they saw Dhriti flat on the ground. Her hands were in the air holding on to the bottles tightly.
“They are safe! They are safe!” giggled Dhriti. “Interesting that all of you were more worried about the bottles than about me.”
Everyone laughed and helped her up. “That’s an unusual way to inaugurate the mela,” joked Sheeba aunty.
The Society Summer Mela was a big hit. The games and food stalls saw huge crowds. But everyone was heard saying that the homemade coolers were the best.
The kids ended the mela by mixing all the sharbats and making a new summer fruit punch. Did it taste good? Now that’s a story for another day!
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