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How To Prepare Refreshing Sambharam: Kerala’s Cooling Digestive Drink

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The classic Kerala-style sambharam is a cooling drink immersed richly in this coastal region’s culinary cultures. Known for its calming properties that can tone down the warmth of spicy culinary preparations in a traditional Sadya meal or any other Kerala-style feast, the sambharam is easy-to-prepare and delicious to taste. It requires just a few basic ingredients to make the sambharam, but get it right and one can experience a sheer feeling of relaxation as this beverage calms the stomach after a particularly rich meal.

prep time 00 Hour 10 Mins
cook time 00 Hour 00 Mins
chef Team Kitchen Diaries

Across Kerala-style culinary and beverage cultures lies a rich repository of food and drinks which are packed with great taste and a lot of complexity. In fact, many Kerala-style spreads are known for their dense flavours and spice-packed masalas which build quite a bit of intensity into traditional culinary preparations.

And following such rich feasts and indulgent repasts, when the stomach craves something warm, fret not, for Kerala cuisine has this part covered too! The traditional sambharam, made by mixing curd, water, chilli, ginger and salt is a cooling drink which is used to calm the rising heat in the stomach, after a particularly spicy meal. This drink is soothing and nourishing and tones down much of the robustness of a particularly heavy meal.

Easy-to-make and quick to whisk, sambharam is served traditionally after a big Sadya feast or any other celebratory meal made up of a lot of different dishes cooked in an array of spicy, savoury and umami masalas. Also known as morum v

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Step 1

To prepare the sambharam, first, whisk curd in a large bowl or vessel until it is perfectly smooth and lump-free.

Step 2

Now, add the flavourings to it including green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and coriander. Stir gently and then add roasted fenugreek powder and hing.

Step 3

Mix well and add cold water. Now, whisk slightly to aerate the drink and let it rest for 5-10 minutes in the fridge so the condiments integrate well with the curd.

Step 4

Serve chilled in a tall glass filled with ice. Strain the sambharam for a smooth, clean finish (optional).

Tips and Tricks

1 The best way to whisk curd to make it lump-free is to use a hand blender. Opt for the TTK Prestige Hand Blender which will aerate the curd well, integrating any residual water into the creamy dahi while making it thoroughly lump free.

2 Another way to make the sambharam light and airy is to whisk the water and curd mixture in a mixer grinder. With the juice jar of the TTK Prestige Mixer Grinder, it will be possible to introduce a bubbly and foamy texture into the sambharam in a hassle-free manner.

3 Flavours of spices and herbs such as chillies and ginger play a big role in imbuing the sambharam with its signature lip-smacking taste. One way to introduce these flavours is to grind the chillies and ginger into a fine paste that mixes well with water and curd. Use the chutney jar of the TTK Prestige Mixer Grinder to make a fine ginger-chilli paste which will blend seamlessly into the curd.

4 For the expert homecook, making the fenugreek powder at home is quite a straightforward process. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds slightly in a pan, and once they are cooled, grind them in the chutney jar of the TTK Prestige Stylo Mixer Grinder to make a fine powder.

5 An interesting hack is to add just a little bit of ice to the curd and cold water mixture while blending, in order to make the drink frothier. Use the juicing jar of the TTK Prestige Ultimate Plus Mixer Grinder which will crush the ice, and aerate the drink. Ice is crushed quickly in the blender, with fewer risks of sharp ice shards being present in the finished sambharam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely. In fact, it is recommended that homemade curd be used for preparing the sambharam because it is thick yet light. The easiest way to make the curd for the sambharam at home is to add half a teaspoon of dahi to a bowlful of lukewarm milk, before leaving it to ferment overnight. The fresh dahi can be chilled in the morning before being used to make the sambharam.

One of the reasons for adding cold water to the sambharam recipe is to elevate its relaxing and cooling properties. The other is that cold water better retains the textural smoothness of the curd, making the sambharam appear silky and velvety.

Ice has the tendency to dilute the sambharam, making the mixture too watery. So, ice should be added only when sambharam is being served, to retain its cool temperature.