Have you ever had something to drink and, for a moment, gotten lost? You may just have been having something very mundane, but all of a sudden, you find yourself in another place altogether, either sitting down at your grandparents’ dinner table or waiting for somebody to bring you a refreshing treat from the fridge. Strange how those everyday flavours can open up doors to memories we didn’t know we had.
The Flavours We Grew Up With
Paper boat juice can bring some of those familiar Indian flavours to mind. Think of drinks made with raw mango, kokum, jamun or other fruits that were turned into sharbat and coolers at home. These weren’t usually complicated recipes. Someone would mix fruit, water, sugar or jaggery and a few spices, taste it, make a small adjustment and call it done.
Summer Meant A Jug In The Fridge
For many households, the summertime drinks were an unwavering presence in their daily lives. There would be a large steel pot or a glass container that had been kept in the refrigerator, waiting to be taken out for someone feeling hot and thirsty. Maybe it was jaljeera one day and aam panna the next. You didn’t think much about it at the time. You just poured yourself a glass and got on with your day.
Every Place Has Its Own Version
India’s regional drinks make this even more interesting. The kokum drinks are loved in the west, while the nannari sharbat is equally loved by people in the south. In the north, jaljeera and aam panna have been traditional drinks for most of the families. There are also various traditional family drinks that probably have not even made it to any recipe book. One person adds more cumin, another prefers extra jaggery, and someone else insists that the drink needs more mint.
Why The Memories Feel So Specific
It isn’t always the drink itself that you remember. Sometimes it’s just the glass in which it came, the person who made it or what you were doing when you drank it. Perhaps you had it after playing outside, before a nap in the afternoon or during school holidays. Even the aroma of one particular fruit can make you nostalgic about a season or a person in the blink of an eye.
Making Those Drinks Again
You can recreate some of those flavours at home without trying to make everything exactly as it was years ago. Add roasted cumin to a fruit cooler, muddle some mint into a citrus drink or use jaggery instead of sugar. The best grocery delivery app can help you order fruits, herbs and other ingredients without making a separate shopping trip.
Keep A Few Favourites Chilled
There’s also nothing wrong with keeping a ready-to-drink option in the fridge for busy days. Paper boat juice gives you an easy way to enjoy familiar fruit-based flavours when you don’t have the time or ingredients to make a traditional drink yourself.
Old Flavours, New Moments
The nice part is that nostalgia doesn’t have to stay in the past. Serve a regional drink with lunch, take one along for a family outing or let someone younger in the family try a flavour you grew up with. When choosing the best grocery delivery app, having convenient delivery and a good range of everyday ingredients can make keeping your favourites around easier.
Sometimes, you don’t need a big occasion to make a memory. A cold glass on an ordinary summer afternoon can be enough.
