Berry Kokum Serbet

Perfect for parties or for just yourself, this gorgeous and healthy Berry Kokum Serbet is super easy to make!

A non-alcoholic digestif with loads of health benefits!

Perfect for parties or for just yourself, this gorgeous and healthy Berry Kokum Serbet is super easy to make!
Berry Kokum Serbet- A uniquely delectable non-alcoholic digestif that is super easy to make!

This Berry Kokum Serbet loaded with health benefits is perfect for parties too!
Berry Kokum Serbet- looks so inviting, doesn’t it?

Have I already told you that I love summer? I enjoy sitting out on the patio….needless to say…with food and drinks ! And this delish Berry Kokum Serbet  gives me another excuse to linger longer on the patio watching the sunset, enjoying my digestif……….until my reverie is broken by the sudden realization that the dishes and after dinner clean up  are waiting for me 🙂

You know what I am talking about, right? But I am happy I got to relish the digestif and the moment and feel good that the delectable Berry Kokum Serbet has so many health benefits too.

Kokum (Gracinia indica ) is the sun dried rind of a fruit belonging to the mangosteen family. The fruit, called Ratamba in Marathi, is indigenous to the Konkan area, where my ancestors come from. I remember the brightly colored glass jars of serbet concentrate my mother used to make in the summers from the whole fruit. Kokum was used in our home throughout the year in sol kadhi and as a souring agent in many scrumptious vegetarian dishes like the Khatkhate and in fish curries.

The kokum has a unique sour taste and when soaked in water, lends a gorgeous fuscia color to the drink. Kokum, according to Ayurveda, has cooling as well as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is also used topically to treat some skin rashes.

In this recipe for Berry Kokum Serbet, I thought of kokum mainly for its cooling and digestive properties this summer. Adding just the right amount of strawberries and blueberries gave a new twist to the kokum serbet and helped me reduce the amount of sugar. The natural sweetness of the berries balances well with sourness of the kokum, giving it a delectable taste. Toasted cumin seed powder aids in the digestion and gives it a unique smoky aroma and taste.

You may vary the amount of berries but I found that the recipe below gave me a perfect balance of sweet and sour and that the unique flavor of the kokum came through. And doesn’t that color just take your breath away? So here is the recipe for the easy to make Berry Kokum Serbet.

Berry Kokum Serbet

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 8 kokum
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 20 fresh or frozen blueberries (non- sweetened)
  • 5 medium sized fresh or frozen strawberries (non- sweetened)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon toasted cumin seed powder
  • Himalayan pink salt to taste
  • Crushed ice to serve

To make the Berry Kokum Serbet-

  1. Wash the kokum and soak them in the warm water for about half an hour. Strain the liquid and discard the kokum.
  1. In a blender, combine the blueberries, strawberries, sugar, cumin seed powder and salt. Add the strained kokum liquid and blend together well.
  2. Serve over crushed ice.

Note-

  • This a sweet and sour drink. But the amount of sugar will depend on how sweet the berries are.
  • For the optional rim on the glasses, I dipped the glasses in water and a mixture of  1 teaspoon sugar+ 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt+ 1/4 teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder and a touch of red chili powder.

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This Berry Kokum Serbet loaded with health benefits is perfect for parties too!
Berry Kokum Serbet- A delectable non-alcoholic digestif.

Cheers! Enjoy the weekend! Relax and enjoy the sunset with the Berry Kokum Serbet!

Love,

❤

Sandhya

44 thoughts on “Berry Kokum Serbet”

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  1. One of my favourite things about India was just how many really amazing non-alcoholic options there are. Drinks like salty lime soda, jal jeera, chaas, and of course lassi are everywhere. As a teetotaler, it’s really amazing to see so many interesting options beyond just juice, water, and tea.

    I haven’t had this one before but it looks delicious!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thanks so much Todd! The kokum drink concentarte is available commercially in India but it is loaded with sugar to balance the sour kokum. Using berries was my idea, so I needed much less added sugar. It also gave the drink body.
      Thanks so much for your lovely comment!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. What a gorgeous drink Sandhya, I love sweet and sour, balanced so you taste both and this sounds like the perfect balance of both. I have only had mangosteen once, couldn’t figure out how to get it open and when I finally did I had butchered it. I managed to taste it though and really liked it. Mixing with the berries is a great idea and this is a perfect cooling summer beverage.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thanks so much Suzanne. The mangosteen concentrate available commercially in India is loaded with sugar to balance the sour, so I thought of using the fresh berries instead.
      I have not found a fresh mangosteen here. Did you get it at a farmer’s market? I recently had a Hibiscus drink at a Mexican restaurant that tasted just like mangosteen….not sure what the ingredients of the drink were.
      Hope Percy is all better now.

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    1. I do get the kokum here in the Boston area Indian stores but I had got some from Goa , India which are simply amazing.

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    1. Thanks so much Anuradha. I had got a pack of kokum from Goa which are amazing in color , freshness and taste.

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    1. Thanks so much Loretta. Kokum is available in Indian stores but I got them from Goa last November and the kokum I got there is amazingly fresh and colorful.
      With the weather so nice, we try to eat every meal on the patio now 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much Sumith! We finally have to good weather to enjoy the garden…so we try to have all meals on the patio 🙂

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    2. Ana, I loved your post on the honey tindora. It is such a unique dish. I cannot like or comment on it on your blog. I wonder why. I will try again but wanted to let you know.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you so much Sandhya! Of late WordPress is having these issues. A couple of times I had to restart my phone and just 2 days back I had to uninstall and reinstall the WordPress App when I couldn’t access the reader and notifications. It is working fine now 😊Thank you for letting me know. Have a wonderful weekend.
        Regards
        Ana💖

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  17. Definitely gorgeous bursting with bright color from that rind, Sandhya. The addition of berries and less sweet but more sweet and sour is perfect so it will add a tangy flavor to savor. 🙂 🍷🍷

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  20. Sandhya .. from past couple of week I have been asking my parents to send me Kokum serbet if anyone is coming to Australia.. I am in love with this drink and we buy the concerned one and dilute accordingly.. this recipe is a lifesaver I am gonna try this, gotta satisfy my craving .. thank u

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. So happy that I posted this Anjali. This is better than the concentrated kokum sherbet as we can control the amount of sugar in it. We do get kokum in the Indian stores here in US but I had got these from Goa this past November, which definitely are better quality and fresher than the Indian store ones.
      Do let me know how you like the sherbet.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
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