In my home town Thiruvnanthapuram in India, summer is very hot and people try to cool down their body heat by drinking Sweetened lime or lemon water. We call it Bonji or Narnaga vellam. Usually it is served sweetened or with little salt and pepper like my hubby like to drink. Nowadays in Kerala, this kulukki sarbath/ Iced Lime/Lemon water is the new trend. Local TV channels are doing shows every day about this kulukki sarbath. Now my connection with hometown street food is only through these shows, and it’s been a very long time since I have visited .
Even though this kulukki sarbath has its origin from Kozhikode, North Kerala, it was made famous by a street vendor called Shaji ( shajikka as the locals call him passionately) . It is really a simple drink recipe, if you have some crushed ice or ice cubes, simple syrup and lemon or lime in your hand you can make it. Everything is combined in the tall glass and is shaken in a cocktail style and served. It got it name “kulukki” means shaken in Malayalam. He sells one glass of lemonade for 5 Rs (~10 cent), and majority of his customers are school going kids. I found out through this blog that even there is Facebook page dedicated to Kuluki sarbath.
Nowadays not only Shaji , but lot of street vendors in Kerala are experimenting and serving the kulukki sarbath in many forms. There are several You Tube videos of these vendors, and I was exploring them yesterday. I don’t think in near future I will be visiting Kerala, so I decided to try it at home. I want to photograph the limeade so used ice cubes instead of crush ices. I felt that crush ice will melt while I am photographing. I have only lime in hand, so made this kuluki sarbath with my lone lime. It is delicious; if you are fan of limeade or lemonade you are going to love this. I don’t know whether I duplicated the taste but it delicious.
Here comes the recipe.
Ingredients Instructions Notes This recipe is inspired from this Youtube video
Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi( Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Zoe says
Hi Swathi,
I can see the ices melting around your drink. Must be pretty hot now at your place. This limeade is perfect for summer 😀
Zoe
Meena Kumar says
Ha haa what all things come up for bonji. I am pretty sure they are inspired by cocktail making in the bars 🙂
Looks awesome 🙂
sripriya says
My fav drink..Never heard this name.. Interesting..
sailaja says
interesting name!
Sangeetha Nambi says
Slurp !
mjskit says
Interesting to know that this is a common street vender beverage. I would definitely buy a glass or two. I love a sweet freshly made lemonade.
easyfoodsmith says
I find this to be the most ideal cooler during summers...simple, easy and hassle free to make.
veenashankar says
so refreshing.. reminds me of my MIL juice.. This is something they always have it in the fridge during summer
techie2mom says
Very refreshing sharabat
Suja Manoj says
Simple and refreshing, love it
Choc Chip Uru says
A deliciously refreshing drink for the humidity we are currently facing 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Anupa says
I love lemonades....it is so perfect for upcoming summer....miss the days in India, where lemonade was easily available at most of the tea stalls or any other restaurant...that we could just walk in order a lime juice when tired.
themadscientistskitchen says
Looks so yum. This is my favorite drink.
Reeni says
This is a very refreshing drink Swathi! I never heard of drinking it with salt and pepper! I'm trying to imagine the flavor. 🙂
Sangeetha says
wonderful drink for the hot summer!!!
deepti says
Great to know about the story behind this sarbath! and we all love to have it in sunny days for sure….