UP Nimbu Pani Rooh Afza Summer Drink Lemon Rose

Method

1. 1

   Roll the lemons: Press each lemon firmly against a hard surface, rolling back and forth several times. This breaks the juice cells inside and extracts more juice per lemon.

2. 2

   Juice the lemons: Cut each lemon in half. Squeeze to extract all the juice. Strain through a small strainer to remove seeds. Measure the lemon juice.

3. 3

   Add Rooh Afza: Pour 2 tbsp Rooh Afza rose syrup into a tall jug or directly into glasses. Rooh Afza turns everything it touches a deep, vivid crimson-pink colour.

4. 4

   Add cold water: Add 2 cups cold water. Stir until the Rooh Afza is fully dissolved and the water is uniformly pink.

5. 5

   Add lemon juice: Add the fresh lemon juice. Stir. The lemon juice cuts through the sweetness of the rose syrup and brightens the drink.

6. 6

   Add black salt: Add black salt and a pinch of regular salt. Stir. The black salt adds the characteristic sulphurous-complex flavour.

7. 7

   Taste and adjust: The drink should be: sweet from the Rooh Afza, sour from the lemon, salty from the black salt and distinctly rose-scented. Adjust each element to taste.

8. 8

   Fill glasses with ice: Add 4 to 5 ice cubes per glass.

9. 9

   Pour the drink: Pour the mixed drink over the ice.

10. 10

    Serve immediately and cold.

11. 11

    Note: Rooh Afza was created by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed in Old Delhi in 1906, but the manufacturing has been based in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh for decades. It is the most consumed commercial rose syrup in South Asia — particularly during Ramzan when the rose sherbet is served at iftar tables across UP, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Rooh Afza-lemon combination is a UP street drink specific to summer fairs, school canteens and chai shops.