My earliest memory of a summer thirst quencher is a big, red bottle of Roohafza. This was the mainstay of the season. Our choices with it were limited. It was either mixed with water or milk. I preferred neither, until much later in life, I learnt it tasted better with nimbu pani—giving it a certain je na sais quoi punch that lingered long after the sherbet was guzzled. As a child, I preferred the colourful concentrates of Rasna, which were painstakingly made by stirring large quantities of sugar, powder and liquid in water, until dissolved. These were then packed into plastic bottles, to be made into sherbet, only when guests came over. We even managed to secretly freeze them into kulfi moulds to make orange popsicles.

In her book, The Lucknow Cookbook, Padma Shri awardee and architect Sunita Kohli talks about the drinks made in her hometown to protect from the strong, harsh dry winds. Bel and falsay ka sherbet are quintessential to the region. There is also the lassi, thandai and nimbu ka sherbet, along with the famous aam ka panna. “The typical Lucknowi panna is different from how the rest of the country makes it. I even shared the recipe with Emine Erdogan, the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on their last visit to India when they came to our studio in Delhi. What makes the panna different is the step where we roast the green mangoes. This refreshing summer beverage is cooling and prevents heatstroke. You can prepare the pulp and freeze it for use as and when required,” says Kohli.