Distillation Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

Arq For AlifBe of Sindhi Food~31

Alka Keswani — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 04:37:11 +0000

Ideally we should be talking about ظ ( ज़/Z) as the 31st Consonant in AlifBe series but I couldn’t think of any Sindhi dish starting with this particular ‘Z’. For the uninitiated, there are 4 variants of ‘Z’ in Arabic Sindhi script; ذ as in Zaro (Little ), (ज़/Z) or as in Kagzi lemon Pickle ز as in Zanzeer (Chain/shackles) (ज़/Z) or as in Zaefrani Kulfi ض as in Zaeef (Feeble) (ज़/Z) or as in Zaroori Masalha and ظ as in Zalim (cruel/merciless) (ज़/Z). Kindly note that all the above mentioned consonants are represented by ‘ ज़ ‘in Devanagari and by ‘Z‘ in Roman Sindhi (due to lack of corresponding letters ) but will vary in Arabic Sindhi. So I am skipping this one and moving on to the next consonant and it is ع in Arabic Sindhi, अ in Devanagari while in Roman Sindhi it is ‘A‘ as in Aks (Image or Reflection). In Arabic Sindhi script there are 3 variants of ‘A’ (oh yes! deal with it!); ع named Ayn (Ainu) and it is used in words that are of non Sindhi origin (eg. Ainak) ا Remember Alif? the first letter of Sindhi AlifBe? It is used in words of Sindhi origin but only when the word begins with ‘A’. eg. Atte Ja ladoo ء this too is used in the words of Sindhi origin but it occurs in the middle or at the end of the word and not in the beginning. Since ع is used in words of non Sindhi origin, there is no Sindhi dish with a name starting with ع . But instead of skipping I chose to talk about Arq (Arqu), a Unani as well as Ayurveda style herbal distillate. Growing up as a kid in late seventies or early eighties in a small town, I barely remember people visiting a Doctor for general health issues. Cold and cough was treated at home with a Kaadha (strained water of boiled herbs) or maybe with a spoonful of honey and brandy. The colicky infants were given an extra pinch of regular ‘Chaato‘, the kids in school would play or do exercise (Remember those P.T schedules?) in the open ground in sunlight, the elderly would read newspapers or clean the vegetables or pick the grains in the veranda soaking up the blessings of the Sun. Every family would have a favorite Vaid who would be well versed with the family history of ailments and who would check the ‘Naadi’ (pulse) and hand over the herbal concoctions without depending on the battery of blood tests or scans. Of course the modern medicine and pathology labs are life saviours in many cases but here I am talking about the old times. I remember that for the seasonal skin allergies, we used to visit a person named ‘Kotu’ who would look at the rashes and then would scoop out a mix of ‘Malham‘ or Balm/ointments of shades varying from pink to orange and would pack it in an empty matchbox (Gosh!) and it would always work like a charm. And then there were no pink colored gels/syrups consumed for digestive issues in those days. The young and old Sindhis would rely on typical Sindhi stuff i.e pippirmint (a medicated confectionary, the sweet, dark green peppermint syrup) or on the colorless Arq or Chowarki/chauarqi, to be precise! Arq is a popular Unani preparation and is obtained from the distillation of mixed herbs. It could also mean a mix of few different types of Arq, combined in varying proportions to treat a particular health issue. The Chowarki, an Ayurvedic preparation that I am talking about, was meant for digestive issues and it was very common for people in those days to mix a few drops of Arq in a cup of water to treat indigestion, stomach ache, nausea or was even had after an indulgent meal. As the name suggest, chowarki, popular for its carminative properties, is a potent distillate of four herbs namely; Mentha arvensis or peppermint, mostly in dried leaves form Anethum graveolens (Dill seeds) Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel seeds) Trachyspermum ammi (Ajwain/Bishop’s weed) The proportion of each ingredient varies from brand to brand and in some types of Arq, Kasni i.e Chicory, dried rose petals and some other ingredients are also used. The above mentioned ingredients are mixed and a distillate is made either by Hydro distillation (boiled with water) or steam distillation (steam is passed through herbs) method . When the herbs are boiled or steamed the steam carries with it the essential oils of the herbs and that steam is collected via cooler pipes, where the steam condenses and forms a clear liquid with the essential oils floating on top. The Arq, generally, is the hydrosol (condensed steam) but could be the one with copious amounts of volatile compounds/essential oils or water soluble vitamins depending on the types of ingredients used. You can read about similar process in my Peppermint candy post (Jwar Ji Tikki), or in the Sharbat post! I am unable to recollect the brand that was very commonly used till few decades ago (Was it 4bottle?) but thanks to my younger sister I was able to find one local brand that my father used to consume while he was around. I could buy it online thanks to this amazing website called SindhiPapad.online (sadly the website link couldn’t be shared on any social media handle and the site owners are looking into the matter). This particular brand is not Chowarki I guess, as the content list mentions only 3 herbs but it is still very effective and comparatively safer than non herbal options. Check this small video or do connect with me on Instagram, to know about all the stuff that I purchased from SindhiPapad.online (Nostalgia alert!!!) And well, no recipe this time since one needs to have specific apparatus to make Arq. You can boil the ingredients in water and strain it to consume it but then it will be more like a concoction than Arq. And as always, I am winding up this post with a small video about how to write each Sindhi consonant! Do share the videos and subscribe to my channel if you find the videos helpful in learning Arabic Sindhi script!

The post Arq For AlifBe of Sindhi Food~31 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.

Sharbat~ AlifBe~27

Alka Keswani — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 20:22:03 +0000

There are only two consonants in the sixth shape group of Sindhi AlifBe; س (s/स) and ش (Sh/श)! Actually the 27th consonant in Sindhi AlifBe is س but it is already covered in the 10th Post in AlifBe series. And hence we will consider the next consonant as the 27th one which is ش in Arabic Sindhi, श in Devanagari and in Roman Sindhi it is ‘Sh‘ as in Shimla! And the corresponding dish is Sharbat! In Sindhi language, Sharbat could mean both; the syrup as well as the Cordial (non alcoholic beverage)! Sharbat The word Sharbat comes from the Arabic word ‘Shariba’ which is a verb for ‘Drink’ Believed to be originated in Iran in 11th century, Sharbat became a favorite beverage of Turks and later the Italian adapted it as ‘Sorbetto’! The Turk style sharbat, to be precise, the Rose Sherbet is generally made by crumbling (or massaging) rose petals along with sugar and letting it sit for few hours, after which it is mixed with sugar syrup, water and ice to make Sharbat. The process of mixing rose petals with sugar was used by ancient people and the sweetened crumbled rose petals (conserve) were used as a base for mixing medicines or healing herbs for treating various health disorders. Cuneiform texts written in Mesopotamia (Modern day-Iraq) in the second millennium BC suggest that roses were boiled in water to produce aromatic water as distillation process was unknown to ancient people. And though the Alchemists of Alexendria (50 BCE) are credited for introducing Distillation process, remnants of distillation apparatus (pots) made from terra-cota were found in Harrapa excavations. ((Source: here!). Those were similar to the traditional Deg Bhapka ‘apparatus’ being used for hydro distillation of flowers to produce Attar (Ittr or Perfume) in Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), consisting of Deg (cauldron), Bhapka (copper receiver),the Chonga (condenser made from bamboo), a bhatti (furnace), a Gachchi (cooling water tank) and a Kuppi (bottle). So maybe making attar was a common phenomenon in the Harrapan era. Sharbat is believed to reach India through Moghuls in around 16th century! Though Sharbat could be made from various flowers and fruits too, the one we are talking about is ‘Gulab jo Sharbat’ or Rose Sharbat. Interestingly the term Gulab in Urdu (and in Hindi) means Rose flower but in Persian Gulab or Golab word is actually a combination of two nouns; Gol/Gul meaning flower and ‘aab’ meaning ‘water’. So Golab in Persian means ‘water of a flower’ or a distillate of a flower, not necessarily ‘of the Rose flower’. Coming to the Sharbat, one can make it in various ways. Most of the commercially available sherbet (syrups) are made by flavoring concentrated sugar syrup or it could be a blend sugar, dextrose or liquid glucose, with artificial flavors /essence and artificial colors to make the syrup an eye appealing one. Sharing here, some different ways to make Rose Sherbet including the traditional methods! Regular Syrup: Mix 5 cups water with 6 and half cups of granulated sugar and bring it to a boil. Add a tbsp of lemon juice and let the syrup boil further till thick syrup is obtained (anywhere from 15 -20 minutes on medium flame). Switch off the gas and add few drops of food color and appropriate essence, for example, red color and Rose essence, Yellow color and Pineapple essence, Green color and Khus Essence etc. You can also use Emulsions instead of food color and essence. Syrup using Rose Petals: Boil ½ kg rose petals with 2 cups of water and 1.5 kg of granulated sugar till 1 thread consistency is achieved. Strain and discard the pulp. Store the syrup in glass bottles or jars. Sharbat using Petal extract Add 1 and half cup of granulated sugar to half cup of rose petals in a bowl and rub well. Can add a tbsp of citric acid or lemon juice too. Add around 4-5 cups of water. Cover and allow it to stand for minimum 2-3 days. For making sharbat, add few tsp of this extract to few tsp of sugar syrup (unflavored) and iced water. Till two decades back, making Rose Sharbat (Syrup) was an annual affair at our home. My parents would make plenty of Syrup bottles to send in as food gifts for summer festivals to married aunts/sisters. I have distinct memories of my father measuring out sugar and water portions, pounding green cardamoms, cleaning flowers, rinsing well and cleaning up tall glass bottles etc while my mom would cook the syrup in batches. Each batch was then strained by my father and the sweetened pulp was given to us to relish. That would be our instant ‘Gulkand’. The syrup would be poured in the bottle, few drops of red food color and rose essence were added along with silver varq and each bottle was given a good shake. The bottles were loosely capped and kept in a large parat filled with water, for cooling. That would not only facilitate cooling of the syrup but would also ensure that no ants contaminate the syrup. Once cooled, the bottles were capped tightly and stored in cool and dry places (The Cupboard with the net in olden days while later, in the refrigerator). We used to buy ice from the local juice corners or the ice vendors on the cycle to make Sharbat , before the refrigerator became a part of our lives. While I distinctly remember the whole Sharbat making process and those Gulkand treats, I was not sure of the variety of roses used for the same. Many moons ago, in an ongoing discussion about Gulkand, Sangeeta Khanna, a food and nutrition consultant and one of my favorite food bloggers, pointed out that Damascus rose (Rosa damascena) is one the preferred rose varieties for the concoction or for making Gulkand. Many home makers who make Sharbat at home suggest to use Indian desi Gulab or musk rose (Rosa moschata), a variety closely related to the Persian Hybrid; Damascus for the syrup. Print Sharbat~ AlifBe~27 A flavored syrup made from dried rose petals. Ingredients 1 Cup dried rose petals (or 125 gm of fresh petals) 2 +2 cups Sugar 2+1 cup of water 5-6 Green Cardamoms Juice of 1 lemon/lime ¼ -1/2 tsp of Red color (Optional) Few drops of Rose Essence Method Check and discard any twigs or wilted petals from dried/fresh petals. Wash with water for 1-2 times and spread on a kitchen towel to remove excess water. In a large bowl, mix petals and three cups of sugar and rub the mix well. Allow the mix to stand (covered) for 3-4 hours. This process (mixing sugar and petals and allowing it to stand) is optional. You can directly jump to the next step. Boil 2 cups of water add it to petals and sugar mixture. Leave covered for another 4-5 hours. Now pour the mix in a pan/vessel and bring it to a boil. Add juice of a lemon/lime and crushed cardamoms. Once the mix starts boiling, lower the flame and allow it to simmer for 30-35 minutes. In another vessel, heat 1 cup of water and pour it in the simmering syrup. Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to thicken the syrup till one thread consistency is reached. Switch off the flame and strain the syrup. Add food color (optional) and rose essence and once cool, transfer the syrup in a glass jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator. Note: Once you boil the mix for 30-40 minutes, you can switch off the gas and add 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of hot water and sugar granules and mix till no lumps remain in the syrup. I don't prefer this method but the method is commonly used by many. I got around 405 ml of syrup from the above mentioned quantities. 3.5.3251 Please note: Though the Sharbat in the bottle looks deep red without added color, when you mix the syrup with iced water the color of the drink fades and may appear orange to brownish (as seen in one of the images) and hence I added 1/4th tsp of red color to the syrup. You may need more color for deeper shades or if the flower petals yield paler syrup. And finally, a small video about writing the alphabets in Sindhi!

The post Sharbat~ AlifBe~27 appeared first on Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes.