If summer comes, can cooling summer drinks be far behind? Moreover, it is the season of fruits, when the King of fruits, the mango itself, makes its golden presence felt in markets. And also fruits such as gooseberry, wood apple, guavas, passion fruit and more, making it a season for fruit squash with ice cubes and perhaps a sprig of mint or chewy khus khus to lend it that pick-me-up flavour.
Although water is deemed a universal life-saver, adding a fruity twist to quenching thirst lends an extra impetus for many to take a break and go for that favourite flavour. But the health-conscious who baulk at reaching for “processed” juices can take heart in ‘natural’ alternatives in the market. Catering to the demand are enterprising home chefs who make home-made squashes and concentrates that prove refreshing elixirs in beating the heat.
Diluted with water or soda, and made from fruit, vegetables or aromatic herbs, squashes or cordials make perfect summer thirst quenchers.
Most women have their own hand-me-down recipe to make the fruit concentrates that happen to be family favourites. Both Tessy Thomas and Manju have their own brands under which they market their fruit concentrates, pickles and preserves. But the recipes for their carrot-lime and lime-ginger concentrates are the same, as they learnt it from their mother-in-law. “She has been making it for years and we learnt it from her. There are no chemical preservatives and the carrot-lime is good for children too,” says Tessy.
Like Tessy, Asha Sankar has been bottling fruit for several years now. The former IT professional, who is assisted by her sister, Bindhu, serve a variety of seasonal fruit cordials, right from the ubiquitous lime to passion fruit. They also have mint syrups, beetroot squash and carrot squash on their shelves. “As it is summer, most of my customers are picking up bottles of lime and ginger and the mint squash,” says Asha, who adds that it was their mother, Saviti Sankar, who taught them how to mix fruit pulp with sugar and water for the cordials.
As she rarely adds preservatives, Asha prefers making the cordials based on orders. “Most of the fruit syrups can last up to four months if refrigerated. Orange squash does not last that long, however.”
Vidhyalakshmi Shankar from Neeramankara specialises in squash made of different fruits. Encouraged by her friends who gave “a big thumbs-up” after being treated to some of her fruit drinks, Vidhyalakshmi says she scaled up her “vocation” to reach out to more people looking for natural, fruit-based coolers. “As more people approached me for squash, I began trying out more flavours,” she says. Vidhyalakshmi now offers ginger-lemon, ginger-lemon-mint, lemon-jeera, amla, pineapple and rose milk flavours.
Fruits are blended in a mixer and strained for extraction of juice, which is then proportionately mixed with sugar syrup. Vidhyalakshmi employs slightly different methods for each variety, depending on the fruit. For instance, for amla squash, gooseberry is first pressure-cooked before blending. “Juice extracts are heated a bit to lend it a longer shelf life. Also, sugar syrup acts as a natural preservative,” says the 39-year-old, adding that she steers clear of preservatives. The only exception would be rose milk squash wherein she resorts to artificial flavouring as the ingredient is not easy to be made at home. Her products come in bottles of 200 ml and 500 ml.
Meanwhile, at Aryanad, some 25 km from the city, is the Aiswarya Chakka Samskarana Sambharana Kendram, where seven women, all of them homemakers, make and sell squash and juice. They run the four-month-old unit from a rented building and sell products through their own shop located nearby. “We sell juice and squash made of jackfruit, mango, naruneendi (sarsaparilla) and bilimbi. We also make a drink with coconut water and sugar syrup. We get coconut water from an oil mill closeby,” says Minimol K, one of the women working at the unit.
The women, all daily wage labourers under the NREGS scheme, have been trained by Mitraniketan at Vellanad, which also lends them technical support. They work for two days a week at this unit. “Now that summer is at its peak, we are selling sip-ups in pineapple and milk flavours. We make the juice and squash as per order. Unsold bottles at our shop, if any, are handed over to Mitraniketan,” she adds.
Moving away from the sugary drinks is Sheela Sunny who markets her brand of concentrates under the brand Evergreen Spices. She has cucumber, gooseberry and ginger-lime squash. “Even those with diabetes can have this as the flavours I have used are ginger, chilli and salt. All you have to do is add the required amount of water, chilled or at room temperature, and you have a refreshing health drink,” she says. At her outlet in Attukal Shopping Complex, Sheela makes and markets her squash with a small team of women. “There is nothing complicated about it. For instance, the gooseberry squash involves cooking the gooseberry, grinding it, taking the juice and then mixing it with green chilli and ginger for taste. In summer, the demand is for my cucumber squash,” she adds.
(With inputs from Athira M, Harikumar JS, Liza George, Saraswathy Nagarajan)