Foods of South India: Nannari Sharbath

Nannari sharbath is a very sweet and fruity tasting drink made with sarsaparilla root syrup. Nannari is just another name for sarsaparilla. Whenever I look up individual ingredients used in Indian cooking, I almost always find theoretical associated health benefits. Nannari supposedly helps one cool down, which is what you want to do when the temperature hits 106 Fahrenheit and the humidity is 100 percent. In Chennai, that's called May and June. We only felt the tail end of the extreme heat because we arrived in early July. Most days are topping out at 100 or 98 now.

The drink pictured at right has basil seeds floating on top, which I adore. Basil seeds that have been soaked long enough to create a jelly layer on the outside are common in southeast Asian drinks. The texture feels similar to soaked chia seeds. Basil seeds also apparently have some health benefits: cooling, digestion aid, and so forth.

Sarsaparilla was popular in the United States back in the 19th Century, when people were into health tonics and elixirs. You might also recognize it from The Big Lebowski as the drink The Stranger (played by Sam Eliot) orders at the bowling alley bar.