50 Great Recipes- Sharbats

by Salma Hussain

Sharbat is a popular Indian "juice" that is prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is sweet and served chilled. It can be in concentrate form and eaten with a spoon or mixed with water to create the drink. It was popularised by the Mughal rulers, one of whom sent for frequent loads of ice from the Himalayas to get a cool refreshing drink.

Sharbats enrich our blood with enzymes, minerals and vitamins. Today, when we put great stress on being fit, the old traditional sharbat is well suited to cater to the fast lifestyle. Devoid of any synthetic flavour, sharbats make a perfect health drink for all ages.

About the Author:

A Persian scholar and food historian, Salma Hussain works for ITC as a consultant on Indian food. She has translated many original Persian manuscripts of the Mughal period into English. She is currently researching her next book on cuisine during the reign of the Mughal emperors.

The book contains photographs by Dheeraj Paul.