(A cooling digestive drink made from fresh coconut milk, kokum, and some Indian spices.)

We experienced the hottest summer in the last 122 yrs, in Mumbai this year! Heat waves cast their spell over almost all parts of India. In such harsh conditions, a coolant drink is a must. The recipe I am sharing today is one of my favorite drinks! I can gulp down multiple bowls of this drink at one time - this is not recommended though! This drink is called the solkadi/sol kadhi/ Kokum kadhi/kokum curry. ‘Sol’ means kokum in the Marathi language.

Solkadhi has its origins in the coastal regions of Maharashtra(Konkan region) and Goa. There are ample coconut trees in this region and so most of the coastal cuisine uses coconut in its recipes. This region also produces the kokum fruit and so, Solkadhi uses coconut milk and dried kokum with some Indian spices.

This drink is a digestive beverage but should be consumed in moderation. It can cause discomfort to some people if consumed in a high amount(thankfully I am not one of those!!).

Ingredients

• 1 coconut

• 8-10 dried kokum / Kokum syrup

• 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1 green chili

• 1-inch ginger (adrak)

• 1 garlic (lasun)

• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

• 1/2 tsp black salt (kalanamak)

• 3/4cup hot water

• salt as per taste

• chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

  
  

Method

• Start by breaking and then scraping the coconut.

• Add kokum pieces to a little hot water and set aside. After 10 minutes, squeeze the juice out of the kokum by pressing the kokum properly. Strain this juice, and keep this kokum pulp aside. You can alternatively use ready-made kokum syrup, available in the local grocery store.

• Transfer the scraped coconut to a blender jar. Add cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, and warm water to it. Blend well. Set aside.

• Strain the above mixture through a muslin cloth. Extract the first milk of the coconut by squeezing the mixture in the cloth and collecting the liquid in a container. Extract as much milk as possible by pressing the paste. This is the first milk of the coconut, and has a thicker consistency.

• Transfer the residue from the muslin cloth back to the blender jar. Add a little warm water and blend again.

• Extract the second milk of coconut by straining this mixture again, in the same container. The second milk has a slightly thinner consistency compared to the first milk.

• Mix the first and second milk well. Add salt, black salt, kokum pulp/syrup, and sugar to the mixture. Mix well.

• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and then refrigerate.

  
  SOLKADHI IS READY TO BE SERVED!!

  SERVE COLD.

Notes -

• Use only freshly made coconut milk. Do not use coconut powder to make this drink as it can curdle after you add kokum to it.

• You can add some tempering to this sol kadhi if you like. Make the tempering by heating ghee in a small tadka pan. Add cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Add 8-10 curry leaves and fry them nicely. Cool this tempering and add to the sol kadhi.

DID YOU KNOW?

The coconut 🥥 tree has a very deep spiritual meaning... Ever wondered why Hindus offer coconut in their religious rituals?

According to Hindu mythology, coconut was created by Sage Vishwamitra. The spiritual guru Adi Shankaracharya chose coconut to be offered to the gods to stop the cruel practice of 'narabali' i.e killing humans. But why coconut?

It is because coconut resembles the human head. The coir represents the hair, the hard shell is the skull, the water inside the blood, and the white kernel is the subtle body. Thus, breaking a coconut represented narabali - breaking a human head!

Stripping of the fiber before offering it to the gods symbolizes stripping off ego, desires, greed, and jealousy. When the coconut is broken only the inner kernel remains.When the head(logical part or thinking) breaks, the only subtle body remains!