When I read an article about "salt juice", I knew what this was referring to straight away: nimbu pani – the salty-sweet lime soda of one-thousand New-Delhi family visits.
It's gratifying when modern culture reaches back into tradition to solve current problems. Want hydration without the excessive sugar, plastic waste and fluoro colours? Try the 'Powerade of the East' known as nimbu pani.
Protectionist economic laws meant 1980s New Delhi was largely void of food-chain multinationals: we had fast-food restaurant Nirula's instead of McDonald's and Thums Up cola instead of Pepsi or Coke. But even now, with less protectionism, many Indians still prefer nimbu pani over mass-produced lemonade.
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Nimbu pani has personality and is deeply rooted in the collective psyche. We're all familiar with roadside stalls selling nimbu pani alongside sugar cane juice or after-school drinks served with fried besan flour snacks.
There's no set recipe for this subcontinental summertime staple. Like all Indian cuisine, it's a drink with vast regional representation and names, such as limbu sharbat, banta, shikanji and lebur shorbot. Ingredients might include a sprig of mint and maybe a splash of simple sugar syrup or chaat masala. Sometimes you'll find versions with black pepper, coriander powder or cumin powder.
But whatever variation, nimbu pani always contains lime and minerals with a distinct khatta meetha (tangy sweet) flavour.
It's the 'Powerade of the East.
According to Ayurvedic medicine, the spices in nimbu pani help replace minerals in the body. is the commonly used sodium element in nimbu pani, and is said to have cooling qualities. Black pepper is said to allow the body to absorb minerals more easily.
From a sensory perspective, nimbu pani is zesty. When we were kids, it was sweet and poured into stainless steel cups that were cold to the teeth. Dinner out meant the chance to make it for ourselves: we mixed soda water, sugar syrup, lime juice and mint, and mixed it with a stainless-steel stick.
Adulthood calls for a saltier, sourer version that can take a little bit of getting used to: like the salt used with vinegar in raita, and the salt with lime juice drenching a morning plate of fresh papaya and guava, that salt-acid combination is favoured across India and a natural way to cope with heat.
There are two forms of black salt. Source: Kylie Walker
The last nimbu pani I had in India was pre-pandemic on a roadside dhabba, somewhere between Gurgaon on the southern edge of New Delhi and Garhmukteshwar by the River Ganga.
We'd spent six hours in a minivan, with another three to go, and a return trip that same day in the wings. I don't remember the food. I've chosen not to remember the unending 18-hour roundtrip drive. But I do remember the cold fizz of nimbu pani with chaat masala in a tall glass at the dhabba crowded with road-exhausted families like ours.
Even now, a glass of nimbu pani takes me back to big family dinner tables, crowded with thalis and scraps of naan, and kulfi ice cream for dessert. So when the hot weather hits, try this recipe below. Indian black salt is an unfamiliar taste, so start with less and build up to a point of familiarity.
Photography, styling and food preparation by Sarina Kamini.
Salted lime water (nimbu pani)
Nimbu pani is an Indian summertime staple. Serve straight away since the spice aroma will fade with refrigeration. Use a fine pink salt if Indian black salt is too difficult to access, and experiment with touches of black pepper or cumin powder.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 L soda water
- 4 limes, juiced
- 1 ½ tsp Indian black salt
- 4 tsp caster sugar
- Fresh mint to garnish
Method
- In a jug, mix together the juice of 4 limes, plus the sugar and the Indian black salt, and stir vigorously until well combined.
- Pour in the soda water, while stirring. The sulphur in the black salt will cause the soda water to fizz, so leave a little room in the jug for this to occur.
- Pour into 4 chilled glasses and top with a sprig of mint.
Note
- Indian black salt, called kala namak, can be purchased at Indian grocers.
