Solkadhi (also known as solkadi, sol kadhi, kokum kadhi or kokum curry) is a simple, cooling drink made with dried kokum, coconut milk, spices and herbs. It has a sour taste with a light sweetness from the coconut milk. This version uses a tempered spice mixture for added flavor. It is best served chilled or at room temperature with meals or after food.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: Goan, Indian

Ingredients

  • 12 kokums (– dried)
  • 1 cup water (– for soaking)
  • 2 cups water (– to be added later)
  • 1 to 1½ cups Coconut Milk (Thick) (or half-half of thick coconut milk and thin coconut milk)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (– chopped, for garnish)
  • salt (– add as required)
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil (– any neutral oil)
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 sprig or 9 to 10 curry leaves
  • 1 generous pinch asafoetida
  • 2 to 3 small to medium garlic cloves (– slightly crushed)
  • 1 to 2 dry kashmiri chilies (– broken and seeds removed)

Method

Soaking kokum

  1. Rinse kokums lightly in water. Place them in a bowl and add 1 cup water.
  2. Soak the kokums in the water for 30 minutes.

Crushing kokum

  1. After 30 minutes, crush and squeeze kokum completely with your fingers in the water itself.
  2. Pour the kokum extract in a strainer. Keep a bowl beneath the strainer.
  3. The kokum shreds will collect in the strainer.
  4. Press the kokum shreds with a spoon so that the kokum flavors are extracted well.

Making sol kadhi

  1. Then add 2 cups water to the kokum extract.
  2. Next add 1 cup thick coconut milk – either make homemade coconut milk or use the canned or packaged one. You can also add 1.5 cups of coconut milk. Mix very well.
  3. Add salt as per taste. Mix again well. Keep aside so that we prepare the tempering.

Making tempering

  1. Heat oil in a tadka pan or a small frying pan. Keep heat to a low.
  2. Add mustard seeds. Let them crackle.
  3. Then add cumin seeds and let them crackle too.
  4. Lastly add the curry leaves, dry red chilies (broken and seeds removed), lightly crushed garlic cloves (with or without peels) and a generous pinch of asafoetida powder. You can crush the garlic cloves in a mortar-pestle and set them aside before you prepare the tempering
  5. Fry for some seconds stirring often till the garlic turns light golden. Quickly pour this tempering on the kokum and coconut milk mixture. Mix well.
  6. Then add the finely chopped coriander leaves to sol kadi and mix again.
  7. Serve sol kadhi straight way or refrigerate for a few hours and then serve cold. You can garnish solkadhi with coriander leaves before serving. Do not keep at room temperature as the coconut milk can turn rancid.Do not keep any leftovers in the fridge for the next day and try to consume the beverage on the same day. Coconut milk get rancid easily even after refrigeration for a day, so try to finish the drink the same day.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.