Konkan Sol Kadhi Pink Kokum Coconut Drink

Method

1. 1

   Soak the kokum: Soak dry kokum pieces in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the kokum pieces against the bowl sides to extract all colour. The water will turn a deep, vivid purple-magenta.

2. 2

   Strain the kokum water: Pour through a strainer. Discard the kokum pieces. Reserve the deep purple-magenta liquid.

3. 3

   Prepare the coconut milk: If using fresh coconut — grate one coconut, add 1 cup warm water, squeeze through cloth to extract thick coconut milk. If using canned — shake well and use as is.

4. 4

   Combine: Pour the coconut milk into a bowl. Add the strained kokum water. As the two combine, watch the mixture turn vivid pink — the acid of the kokum reacts with the coconut milk.

5. 5

   Add garlic paste: Add the crushed garlic paste. Stir. The garlic adds a savoury, cooling note.

6. 6

   Add green chilli: Add finely minced green chilli. Stir.

7. 7

   Add sugar, cumin and salt: Add sugar, roasted cumin powder and salt. Mix well.

8. 8

   Taste: The sol kadhi should be: sour (kokum), creamy (coconut), mildly garlicky, slightly spiced and have a distinct vivid pink colour. Adjust with more kokum water if too mild or more coconut milk if too sour.

9. 9

   Add ice: Add ice cubes.

10. 10

    Serve chilled: Serve immediately in tall glasses, garnished with a sprig of coriander. Serve at the end of a meal as a digestive.

11. 11

    Note: Sol Kadhi (sol = kokum in Konkani, kadhi = a liquid preparation) is the signature after-meal drink of the entire Konkan belt from Mumbai to Goa. The vivid pink colour comes from the chemical reaction between the anthocyanin pigments of kokum and the fats in the coconut milk. Kokum (Garcinia indica) grows only on the Konkan coast and the Western Ghats — the dried fruit is used both as a souring agent in cooking and as the base of this drink. Its cooling, digestive properties are the reason it is specifically served after the heavily spiced Malvani meals.