Sharbat for the Shahzada

(One of the recipes from Chai and Cat-tales)

This is based on several historic recipes, most particularly sharbat e badam. Sharbat and sekanjabin and ‘aqsima / oxymel are very old beverages. Similar syrups were recorded by the 11th century’s Canon of Medicine by ibn Sina (known in much of Europe as Avicenna), with further details mentioned in the Persian Zakhira-i Khwarazmshahi, written for the shah of what is now Khorasan.

You’ll also find ‘aqsima variations in the thirteenth century Syrian Kitab al-Wusla, translated as Scents and Flavors by Charles Perry, and the fifteenth century Egyptian Zahr al-hadiqa fi ’l-atcima al-aniqa by ibn Mubarak Shah, translated as The Sultan’s Feast by Daniel L. Newman. I owe both of them a considerable debt of knowledge, both for their research and for their choice to make their books available in digital form.

(At the time of the original book, I’d been on a failed multi-year quest to achieve legible-to-me ebook access to Nawal Nasrallah’s works. I have partly-legible access now, though I’m struggling with how the ebook edition has both mangled the diacriticals in the Roman alphabet and decided to write every bit of the Arabic backwards. The quest for truly legible access continues…)

Most of the sharbat and ‘aqsima variants involve making sweet flavored syrup concentrate, sometimes with vinegar or acid, and later diluting to taste to serve. (Yes, in essence we’re talking about medieval Kool-aid or Ribena here.)

This particular variant is a little fancier, as befits the table of the shahzada. In my world-building, food and drink in the God-Emperor’s court takes many of its taste and scent cues from the Ayubbid and Abbasid empires, occasionally ranging into Mughal tastes as well. The boundary between what you call perfume, what you call incense, and what you call spice for food was more flexible in the medieval Middle East than it is in most places today.

So I’m putting together sandalwood and vetiver and other incense notes with the more familiar cardamom and almond, and of course a shahzada’s table would be graced with saffron.

But as a disabled person who can’t stand over a stove for an hour anymore, and with friends who are vegan, I’ve also got an easy-mode variation and a no-animal-products variation.

(Many variations use kewra or screwpine essence where I’m using sandalwood. If you have access to it and you like it, enjoy! I don’t have access outside Rooh Afza, which brings a lot of red food coloring that knocks out the saffron gold.)

The formal version

The formal version makes about 4-6 servings:

Optional, to brew overnight and strain ahead:

A couple pieces of food grade (not blended or preservative treated) sandalwood, or about ½ tsp powder, or alternatively a few drops of kewra concentrate if you have it and like it
A good sized pinch of vetiver roots, or khus concentrate (ideally undyed)
1 cup hot water in a container with a lid

Cautionary note: If you have any questions at all about whether your sandalwood is food grade, don’t make tisane of it. Instead, just burn it in an incense burner while you’re sipping your wood-free sharbat e badam, because scent is its entire purpose here.

So, once you have guaranteed food safe ingredients here:

Make a cup of very hot water. Let the woody parts steep overnight in a covered container on your countertop. Pyrex or a mug is often good for this.

In the morning, strain the pieces from your sandalwood and/or vetiver tisane. If you used sandalwood powder, a coffee filter or cheesecloth may help with grit removal.

Keep the liquid.

(Decide whether the solids will dry nicely for a second brewing or if they’ve given their all. You could also set them out in a cup to scent your room.)

Possibly also overnight, almond milk:

If you have storebought almond milk, you can use that. Skip ahead to “Making the sharbat” below.
If you don’t have almond milk, choose whether you’re going to use almond extract or make almond milk. If you’re going to use extract, skip ahead to “Making the sharbat” below.
If you want to make your own almond milk: Soak about ¾ cup almonds in water overnight. (This can be scaled up if desired.) Blanched peeled almonds will be faster; if you start with regular almonds you’ll want to rub the skins off in the morning. In the morning, after draining and/or peeling the soaked almonds, blend them in a blender, adding somewhere between ¼ and 1 cup of water, to make a smooth paste. (You can make a larger batch if you want to make the finished sharbat entirely vegan.) Pour the almond milk through cheesecloth or a flour sack towel and squeeze the almonds to separate the milk from the grit. (If you like oatmeal or cereal, you can scatter the leftover almond paste into that.)

Making the sharbat:

Either 1 cup of your prepared woody tisane, OR 1 cup of liquid and a nearby incense burner
1/2 to 1 cup of your almond milk (or another liquid with a drop or two of almond extract)
6 green cardamom pods, cracked open and black seeds extracted, OR about ¾ tsp cardamom powder
A pinch of saffron threads
About ½ cup jaggery, brown sugar, or white sugar, with about 1 tsp reserved for grinding the saffron

In a pot, add most of your jaggery or sugar to your tisane or water and bring it up to a simmer. Save 1 tsp for grinding.

Put the remaining 1 tsp of your jaggery or sugar in a mortar with most of the pinch of saffron, reserving a few threads to top the glasses with.

Use the sugar to grind the saffron into fine bits and add it to the pot.

If you have cardamom seeds extracted from the green cardamom pods, grind those well in the mortar and pestle. Then add them to the pot of sugar water too.

Add as much of the almond milk as you like to the pot and simmer until it’s reduced by about half and is a bit thicker, likely 15-20 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent scorching.

Remove from heat and cool.

For each glass:

2-3 Tbsp of your chilled sharbat e badam concentrate, or to taste
1 cup cold milk of your choice (cow, almond, coconut)
A couple of saffron threads on top
(Optional) Light an incense burner with some sandalwood if you have it

And, as promised, there are simpler versions.

Simpler Sharbat e Badam (vegan friendly)

For 4-6 servings:

4-6 cups almond milk OR cow milk/coconut milk with a few drops almond extract added
¾ tsp cardamom powder (or ground from pods if you have ambitions)
About ½ cup simple syrup, to taste (can be store-bought or can be made by melting together equal parts sugar and water and stirring until clear)
Optional: kewra and/or khus concentrate, to taste
Optional but nice: pinch of saffron and 1 tsp sugar

The night before, or whenever you can, grind your saffron with the sugar, add a few drops warm water, and stir until the sugar dissolves and the water turns golden.

Add the saffron sugar water, the cardamom, and any flavoring extracts to your chosen milk.

Sweeten to taste with the simple syrup.

Refrigerate for a while.

When ready to serve, stir and pour as is. (No dilution needed since we didn’t make the concentrate.)

Add a couple threads of saffron to the glass if you have them.

Light some sandalwood if you feel like it.

Lynn Strong