JIL JIL JIGARTHANDA - A VERY FAMOUS SUMMER COOLER FROM MADURAI TOWN

Jigarthanda - Jigar+Thanda literally means cooling the heart. This is very very popular summer drink in South India especially in Madurai, a town in Tamil Nadu state.  It is said that this drink was introduced to Madurai by Mohemmedan rulers.  The Beverage is usually sold as 'Jil Jil Jigarthanda' which means 'Cool' for word Jil and  'Jigar' and 'Thanda' means 'Heart' and  ' cold' in Hindi.  As the name implies this cools your body and heart during summer.    This is a rich drink.  It has the following ingredients.

  
 

Cold Milk
Ice cream made of Malai - this is very very tasty which is prepared specially for this drink.
Syrup - Nannari(authentically) but you can always substitute with rose syrup too.
Cream - Reduced milk (with Malai- thickened milk/condensed)
Agar agar( china grass is used authentically), but these are substituted with Badam pisin in all shops.

You can see lots and lots of stalls and handcarts outside the temple which sell this beverage.  Before treating yourself with this drink look for clean and good stall. There are few places which are quite famous.  We will never miss this treat whenever we go to my  native. 

JIL JIL JIGARTHANDA

This quantity is for 2 glasses.  The malai icecream used for this drink is home made, you can always subsitute with store bought Vanilla ice cream or Kulfi .

Ingredients:

Cold Milk - 1 1/2cup
Nannari or Rose syrup - add them according to your taste.
Sugar - as needed for mixing the milk
Badam Pisin(edible gum) - 6 tbsp (see the note)
Ice cream - 1 scoop (Home made or store bought Vanilla icecream or Kulfi)
Milk - 4 cups
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Condensed milk - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1 pinch
Sugar - 1 tbsp for reducing the milk

 
Method :

The below  things has to be done ahead of time.

1. Boil 4 cups of milk by adding a tbsp of sugar.  Let it reduce to 1 cup.  You will get thick and light pinkish malai.
2. Reserve 1/4 cup for mixing with Milk.  For another 3/4 cup add the cardamom,Condensed milk and vanilla.  Now freeze them in the freezer.  Just remove them 10 minutes before serving , so it would be easy for scooping.

Mixing :

1. Take 2 glasses, add 3 tbsp of badam pisin in each glass.
2. Add the syrup and sugar if needed, add the 3/4 cup of cold milk give it a nice stir.
3. Now add 2 tbsp of Condensed milk(reduced milk) that is malai to each glass and now scoop the icecream in each glass give it a small stir.

Serve and Enjoy the treat :)

Note :

For Badam Pisin

1. Soak the Badam pisin a day before you are preparing the drink/dessert. At least for 8 hrs.  While soaking just put them in enough water.  You will see the magic next day.
2. The next day clean to see if there is any bark in it. You can just remove them using your fingers or spoon.  Drain and keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Then refrigerate until you use it.

All the mixing has to be done only before serving. 
If your using Nannari syrup , sugar is not needed.  But if you are using Rose syrup you will need it.  Again it depends how sweet the syrup is.  So use accordingly.

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PAAL SARBAT/MILK SARBAT - POPULAR REFRESHING DRINK FROM RAMNAD DISTRICT(RAMANATHAPURAM)

Paal sharbat which is not only cool drink it also cools your body.  Paal is the Tamil name for Milk. Sharbat/Sherbet/sarbath is a popular Middle Eastern and South Asian drink.  So the paal sharbat/Milk Sharbat which I am posting today is Milk + Flavoring.  The 2 important ingredients used in making this sharbat are

Badam Pisin/Edible Gum
Nannari

Milk+Badam pisin+Nannari altogether is great refreshing drink for the summer.  This is one of the famous drink that is sold in Ramanathapuram District/ Ramnad.  If you are around that place thenyou would have known this.

Let’s see a brief about those 2 ingredients before enjoying my refreshing quencher

Badam Pisin/Edible Gum 

(you can use any edible gum)

This is an edible gum which looks like Miniature ice rocks.  This is used as natural coolant and they are used for making desserts.  They should be soaked in water a day before making this. When they are soaked they form like a Gel/jelly substance, this is then used with other flavoring to make wonderful desserts.

Nannari/Sarsaparilla

Sarsaparilla which is popularly called as Nannari is a wonderful herb with natural cooling Property.  The concentrate is prepared using Nannari root.  The root has a pleasant odor with astringent taste. The syrup is prepared from its root by steam distillation method, then they are mixed with sugar, water and citric acid to give Nannari syrup.  This is used as flavoring for many drinks and desserts.

Other than this Paal/Milk sharbat, this Nannari can be made used in combination with water/Soda + lime Juice.

PAAL SARBAT/MILK SHARBAT

Ingredients :

Milk - as needed (Boiled and cooled)
Badam pisin/Edible Gum - just few crystals
Nannari syrup - to taste ( as this has sweet taste you need not add sugar to it)
Some Ice cubes

  

Method:

1. Soak the Badam pisin a day before you are preparing the drink/dessert. At least for 8 hrs.  While soaking just put them in enough water.  You will see the magic next day.
2. The next day clean to see if there is any bark in it. You can just remove them using your fingers or spoon.  Drain and keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Then refrigerate until you use it.
3. While serving take 2 to 3 tbsp of badam pisin in a glass, add the syrup and Milk, shake it using the shaker or give a nice stir.  Serve with few Ice cubes.

Note:

You can use any kind of edible gum which is available in market in place of Badam pisin.

Enjoy this summer cooler and stay tuned to enjoy another refreshing Post :)

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