Jal-jeera is an Indian beverage. It is flavored with a spice mix known as jal-jeera powder. In
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage.
There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...
or similar tangy drinks and jaljira spices, and is a popular summer drink in India. It is sometimes served as an appetizer, as it is intended to "startle" the taste buds.
Jaljira spices generally consist of cumin, ginger, black pepper, mint, black salt, some fruit powder (usually either mango, or some kind of citrus zest), and chili or hot pepper powder.
History and culture
Jaljeera has a very long history, originating on the banks of the
Ganges river
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
. At one time, the powder was ground on stone slabs, and stored in clay pots.
The
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...
has a cooling effect. Black salt or rock salt acts as a digestive.
Jaljeera is popular in northern India because it is thought to have cooling properties, against the temperature of the region.
List of Indian beverages
With a climate as varied and extreme as India, the people require a myriad of options to keep their thirst appropriately quenched according to the weather conditions, varying from steaming hot drinks during winters to frosty cold drinks in su ...