The Dispatch ~ Bael ka Sharbat ~ Summertime Wood Apple Drink

Some 15 years ago, on a walk around the Jamia Millia Islamia university campus in Delhi’s Okhla area, Kanika and I stumbled upon a huge tree near the community’s high school. From it were hanging large, pale green fruits, that got us curious and excited. Was it the Bael fruit/ Wood Apple, we wondered. We had seen yellow versions on carts for sure. It wasn’t uncommon to see vendors selling Bael ka Sharbat during summer on carts, on the streets of Delhi and neighbouring regions. The versions on the carts looked like a deep yellow coloured viscous drink, sometimes with white froth on top.

Even though the fruit was occasionally seen in bazaars and, it was one of those fruits that not everyone knew of. I remember being introduced to Bael ka Sharbat through my father, who loves shopping for fruits.

Besides designing buildings on the drawing board, his job as an architect meant that he was often out during the day for site visits. Which sometimes meant that he would stop at street food carts on the way, to keep himself fed and hydrated. Working in Noida, a satellite industrial town just off Delhi since the 1970s, my dad has always been exposed to seasonal traditional foods sold in rural and sub-urban areas of the state of Uttar Pradesh. I imagine it was one such time that my dad tried Bael ka sharbat during the summer. But that’s not true.

My mom corrects me that it was she who brought a big ball of Bael home, to prepare sharbat for my brother who would lose his appetite during their summer season as a child. That happened in the 90s and it was only much later that my family actually embraced the goodness of this summer fruit.

Finding Bael

I’ve only come across Bael in North India during the summer season, May to July mostly. You can find them in weekly sabzi bazaars being sold on their own or sometimes on juice stands and carts. Vendors usually have a hand-crank blender that they use to break down the fruit pulp to make the sharbat, causing the resultant drink to be sometimes frothy.

In March, before the sweltering heat begins, ‘Bael patra’ or leaves are offered to Lord Shiva on the occasion of Mahashivrati. The tree that the Bael fruit grows on, Aegle marmelos, is native to the Indian subcontinent. Other common names for the fruit are Bilva, Bael Patthar (translates to ‘stone’!), Japanese Bitter Orange and Bengal Quince. I’ve only once found Bael here in Dubai at a Sri Lankan store. The seasonality and the fact that not many people know about the fruit adds to the rarity outside the subcontinent.

Making Bael Ka Sharbat at home

My dad started making Bael ka Sharbat at home much later, only when I was grown up or in college. By the month of May, the harsh north Indian summer get even harsher and sweltering due to ‘loo‘ winds. These winds made us prone to common conditions like dehydration, lethargy and in severe cases, heat exhaustion. Once such summer, when I was working as a production assistant on a show in Delhi. I came home after a gruelling day of shooting in the sun and was showing symptoms of heat exhaustion. I tried several hydrating foods, medicine and nuskhas (traditional home remedies). The only thing that made me feel better was this Bael ka sharbat, made by my dad! In fact, the pictures in this post are from my parents’ kitchen where my dad and I made this sharbat last year in May.

Bael has cooling ‘taseer’ or disposition according to Ayurveda and has numerous health benefits for the digestive system. Next time you see Bael in the bazars, bring home a yellowish ball of Bael to make this delicious cooling wood apple sharbat. Crack open with a heavy object or just slam it on the counter. Open the fruit to reveal fragrant, almost floral, yellow fibrous flesh with seeds enveloped by a gel like substance. A ripe Bael tastes sweet, in part astringent and funky.

Scoop out the flesh using a big spoon and into a large vessel or pateela. After collecting the flesh, mash using your hands and gradually thin with splashes of cold water.

Once all the Bael’s flesh has broken down and only the fibre and seeds remain, strain, sweeten and chill the sharbat. The sharbat is thick and coats your mouth in its refreshing floral sweetness!

Here’s how you too can make Bael ka Sharbat

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Serves: 3-4

Equipment required:

• 1 large bowl/ vessel/ Pateela
• A large strainer
• 1 jug
• 1 large spoon

Ingredients:

• Ripe Bael fruit, 1 large
• Cold Water, 700-1000 ml
• Sugar, 3-4 tablespoons (adjust according to taste)
• Ice cubes, for serving (optional)
• Other optionals – lime juice, black salt, mint leaves

Method

Break open the Bael fruit by striking it down on a surface or use a heavy pestle. Once the fruit is open, pull apart on the skin carefully to reveal the fruit pulp.

Scoop the pulp of the fruit into a large vessel like a Pateela or mixing bowl. Add a splash of water and start mashing the pulp with your clean hands. The pulp will gradually separate from the fibres. Add more water in intervals and keep working on the pulp till it all breaks down.

You can use a potato masher to mash if you don’t want to use your hands. But your hands are really the best tools here!

Add all the water and mix well. Taste a little bit of the mix to see if the sharbat needs to be sweetened. Add sugar, usually a couple of tablespoons, and stir until dissolved.

Strain the mix into a jug using a large strainer. You can use a spoon to press against the sieve to extract more liquid from the pulp. Be careful though, to not squeeze the seeds as they can sometimes be bitter.

Add any optionals like mint leaves, black salt/ rock salt and/or lime juice. If using, add ice to a glass.

Pour the Bael ka sharbat in the glasses and enjoy!