Date: 27 April
Venue: Hotel Le Meridien, Delhi
Summer has its own advantages and no, we are not talking about mangoes. Le Meridien, Janpath recently organized an evening of sharbats at Allure. While the focus was sharbats as in traditional summer drinks of Delhi, the event had an interesting twist. They had roped in Asif Dehlvi and Rohit Manchandani from Delhi Karvan to tell the audience stories about sharbats and its connect with Delhi.
Asif mostly spoke in Hindi-Urdu and took us to the times of Wajid Ali Shah and the last days of Delhi Sultanate. His stories were about the food, culture and lifestyle in that era. Given his animated style, we could almost visualize his description as if it was on a screen before us. Rohit was more reserved in his approach. He spoke in English and focused on sharbats. Sharbats were drinks prepared from fruit or flower extracts. We also learnt that while sharbats are popular as soft drinks, they are a form of healing tonic in Unani medicine.
While the stories were on, a host of sharbats were served. We recall tasting Imly (tamarind) sharbat, Rose sharbat, Paan (betel leaves) sharbat, Khus sharbat, Mohabbat ka Sharbat – a milk and watermelon drink which is Ramzan special. Our favorites would be Imly and Mohabbat ka Sharbat. To add an authentic Delhi touch, Old Delhi Style street food from Chandni Chowk – gol gappe, cheela and aloo tikki were also laid for the attendees. Could we have asked for more?
We raise a sharbat to summer – Le Meridien – and whole lot of Delhi nostalgia!
Always participate in incredibly beautiful events!
This sounds like a lot of fun and a really great experience! I love learning about different cultures myself!
Ooh milk and watermelon sounds intriguing! It sounds like you were treated really well, I;d love to try some of those drinks and some street food! YUM!
I miss Delhi so much, amazing city. I never had Sharabat tho, would love to try it.
Wow, I am from Delhi. I wish I knew about this event. Totally would love sharbat in scorching heat. Never tried imli sharbat. Sounds tempting.
Such an interesting post! I’ve never had a sharbat before. I’m curious about it! It’s fantastic that its also used as a healing tonic. Thanks for sharing!
Candace Hampton
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How cool! This sounds like an interesting Summer tradition! I always love trying local food and drink when I am traveling!
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This looks like a fun event. Seems as if everyone really enjoyed themselves as well.
They do look very delicious. I would love it if I could find a recipe to one there. Sounds like it was such a fun event.