Hi!!

In this burning heat and scorching sun of summer, I want to introduce you to this astonishing, authentic Bengali coolant which can be had either in the form of a refreshing drink or as a meal accompaniment. This traditional coolant is named Kaancha Tok meaning raw sweet & sour chutney in Bengali. While having chitchat with my mom once, I came to know about this interesting recipe that my granny used to prepare during my mother’s childhood days. The recipe for this astounding drink is so simple that I just fell in love with it and felt the irresistible urge to share it with you all. All the ingredients used were in their raw form which makes it even simpler and easy to prepare. You have to just mix all the ingredients together and your drink is ready to be gulped in. More remarkably, all the ingredients are readily available in Indian households and hence no extra effort is required for searching or gathering them from outside, at least if you are in India. Additionally, it is having loads of health benefits with all the goodness of coconut (nariyal in Hindi), poppy seeds (khus khus in Hindi) and jaggery (gur in Hindi). Poppy seed is a natural coolant rich in minerals and have antioxidant properties.

I beg your pardon if you did not like this drink…… However, for the people who are up with me for this food adventure please jot down the recipe below & give it a try. Also if you like, you can make subtle alterations to the recipe to make it in your own way.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• Poppy seeds ( khus khus ; posto)

• Fresh grated Coconut ( nariyal; narkel)

• Jaggery ( gur)

• Tamarind pulp ( imli; tetul)

• 2 to 3 Lemon leaves preferably (Gondhoraj or any other aromatic lemon ) or lemon zest

• Salt to taste or a pinch

Preparation:

1. Grind soaked poppy seeds, grated coconut, tamarind pulp and jaggery together with little water to a fine paste in a grinder.
2. Add required amount of water to dilute it to a thin consistency and then add lemon leaf or zest to make it aromatic.
3. Now add a pinch of salt or salt to taste to enhance the taste & your drink is ready.
4. Add some more freshly scraped coconut and serve chilled.

   You can add more tamarind pulp later if you want it tangier. Note that the amount of grated coconut should be more than the poppy seeds to make it tastier.