Gurhamba: A refreshing drink for the summer

Gurhamba has cooling properties and protects one from the intense heat of the sun in the summers. Mangoes rock!

Cold juices and fresh fruits are what we await when the summer is around the corner with mangoes being the most wanted fruit.

Ripened or un-ripened, mangoes are love! With raw mangoes, we make pickles and chutneys, and what I discovered lately, Gurhamba too – in other words, keiri ka sherbat.

‘Gurh’ means ‘sugar’ and ‘amba’ means ‘ambi,’ (raw mango). Gurh-amba is a delicious sweet and sour drink which is very good for the summers - raw mango pulp blended with ice and sugar – absolutely delicious.

I searched for its authentic recipe, but my efforts were in vain. Then, my sister-in-law, who is Gujrati, got the recipe for me. It’s really easy. And the good part is that you can prepare the pulp and freeze it.

Gurhamba is basically a north Indian drink, which is said to have cooling properties and protects one from the intense heat of the sun in the summers - the salt and sugar keep you hydrated.  Also, eating un-ripened mangoes with salt quenches thirst and prevents the excessive loss of sodium chloride and iron during summer, due to excessive sweating.

This recipe makes about 5-6 glasses of the sherbet.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized un-ripened mangoes


• 2 cups sugar


• 1 litre water


• Salt


• Black pepper


• Black salt


• Mint leaves

 

Method:

Wash and wipe the mangoes and roast them over a gas stove - the skin of mangoes should almost get charred, and its inside, soft and pulpy. Let them cool, and then peel off the skin. Now, scrape all the pulp from the seed. Add water, sugar, salt, black salt, black pepper in the blender and blend with lots of ice, adding more water if you find it too thick. Garnish with mint leaves and serve!

Additional tips:

You can also scrape the pulp and freeze it and use it again when needed, (blending) diluting it with water.

You can also add a pinch or roasted Aniseed/fennel seeds and chili powder for flavor.

Instead of roasting them over a gas stove, you can also boil the mangoes till they become soft, and then use the pulp.

You can make the drink in any way you want, either thicker in consistency or thinner. You can always add/subtract the water from the recipe.

This post was originally published here.