Phalse ka shorba : a fruity sweet and sour soup with chilli kick

Phlasa (Grewia asiatica) is a small berry that comes for a short season in summers and we feel lucky if a cart full of phalsa passes by. It is very uncommon to see cartloads of fruits in Delhi now but I go for walks and there are a few areas where fruits are still sold the old fashioned way. Phalsa is not a regular fruit that every corner fruit vendor will stock and sell like the season's best peaches or plums unfortunately. Phalsa has a few takers and very few sellers too. 

Phalsa berries are not too juicy but once ripe the berries do not last very long. Also this is one of those berries that people like sucking into one by one, sprinkled with some herbed salt so a little phalsa goes a long way. The seed has to spit out and the flavourful but meager amount of pulp makes a nice chatpata snack. One can't eat too much of it like a fruit. But once made into sharbat, you can consume fairly good amount of phalsa in one go. With its wonderful antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties phalsa must be used frequently till the season lasts.

Phalse ka sharbat can be made savoury like a jaljeera or a regular sweet version.

This season though I experimented with a new recipe of Phalse ka shorba because both of us were down with flu last week and we wanted something comforting for our throats. I made a few more regular shorbas but phalse ka shorba was one of the favourites owing to its novelty and tangy sweet taste. One actually cannot imagine the taste of this shorba as the ingredients used are so opposite to each other that it leaves one wondering about the final bouquet of flavours.

ingredients 
(for 2 servings)

200 gm phalsa
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
2 whole dry red chillies (I used a pinch of red chilli powder too)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of heeng (asafoetida)
1 tsp mustard oil
salt to taste (preferably pink salt)

preparation 

Add sugar and salt to the cleaned and rinsed phalsa and leave it for a while. Then mash well and add a cup of water. Strain and reserve the liquid. You can blend the phalsa in mixie and strain to get the juices.

Now heat mustard oil and tip in the heeng and cumin seeds. followed by broken dry red chillies. Let them all get aromatic and then pour the phalsa juice along with ginger powder and pepper. Add more water to make the shorba about 600 ml or enough for 2 servings and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour into teacups as this shorba is better sipped slowly like tea.  

Please don't replace mustard oil if you can. If you don't have mustard oil you can use butter. The flavours of heeng, cumin and ginger together gives this soup a real kick that staves off all the discomforts of flu. The shorba is great even if you don't have flu as we repeated it many times this summer. This became a way to drink more liquids and we loved it served warm.

With all the ingredients that help healing this soup becomes a wonderful anti inflammatory soup that works in summers too as one is always dehydrated, always exhausted for no apparent reason. Try this if you are getting phalsa in your part of the world or use any sweet and tart berry to make this soup and let me know how you like it.

The flavours are very typical of Banaras let me assure you.

I will share a few more shorbas we tried this summer. Stay tuned.

panchamrit recipe | a holy tonic drink, a temple food

Panchamrit is a popular temple food that is offered to devotees as a blessing of God. This refreshing drink is also made in Hindu homes during poojas (Hindu worship rituals) to make a pure offering to God and then is distributed as divine blessing for all those who were part of the ritual. The literal meaning of panchamrit is 'five types of elixirs mingled in one', milk, yogurt, honey, ghee and gangajal, all considered amrits, being used in the recipe...

Milk and milk products, honey, nuts and dry fruits are considered pure for the purpose and the panchamrit is made using all such ingredients, including Tulsi leaves h(Holy Basil). Tulsi is considered God's presence on the Earth as my grandmother used to tell, with so many medicinal properties we better see such plants as God I believe.

Panchamrit has a pleasant whiff of tulsi leaves, sweetness from milk and honey and a few nutty tidbits that make it an interesting drink to be had in sips and spoonfuls. It is served in small bowls or shallow glasses often made of terracotta or silver both considered pure for Godly purposes. But the most preferred way to serve Panchamrit for large crowds is to pour a big spoonful of this elixir into the cupped hands of devotees. In temples this panchamrit is often a simpler recipe with just milk and honey (or sugar) and a handful of torn tulsi leaves, tulsi being the principle flavor lingering around that meagre sip.

We have been making panchamrit as a drink any time even if we don't perform any religious rituals, just because we have loved the way it tastes and makes one refreshed within a few sips. The recipe is simple like most temple foods, all the ingredients are always found at home and stirring up sweetness is easy. Note that most families have their own versions of panchamrit with minor variations in this recipe.

ingredients :
(4-5 small servings)

a cup of fresh homemade yogurt or cultured yogurt
a cup of fresh milk (preferably raw milk)
a cup of filtered water ( few drops of Gangajal was added traditionally, no more a possibility)
1/4 cup of pure honey
12 chopped almonds (and a few more nuts if you wish)
20 chopped makhanas (Fox nuts)
a handful of golden raisins chopped in bits
shaved or grated dry coconut (khopra) 1 tbsp or to taste
a dozen torn leaves of tulsi (holy basil)

 .
procedure:

Mix everything together and let the mixture stand in a pitcher for about 30 minutes. This time allows the aroma of tulsi leaves infuse into the panchamrit and for the honey to dissolve well into it.

Serve in small cups or glasses and feel the blessing of the Gods. The plant Gods I mean.

Herbs and aromatic plants are actually capable to make one feel grateful for the bounty of nature. Tulsi is one such herb I love since my childhood, the aroma clung to me more than the rituals woven around the tulsi and anything that had that whiff of tulsi was a soul food..

Panchamrit is one such soul food that I crave sometimes. Try it and tell me if panchamrit touches your soul as well. Cheers!!!