Sippin' goodness at Dilli Haat to beat Delhi heat

With colourful and chilled drinks on display, Dilli Haat, INA organised a Sharbat Mela over the weekend. The three-day mela, organised from June 9 to 11, had a variety of drinks, desi and non-preserved concoctions and herbal ice teas for the visitors. From jazzy jeera and raseela falsa to zesty orange and kala khatta, Delhiites got to sample and choose from a variety of summer coolers at one of the stalls, and the co-owner Gulshan Poddar told us, "Delhiites love kala khatta. They are also enjoying unique flavours like falsa and pudina."

Chana sattu, jau sattu, aam panna - urban farmers from Dhansa border offered preservative-free desi coolers to the visitors. The aam panna was prepared with desi khaand (sugarcane extract) and Amrapali and Mallika varieties of mangoes. Thandai was prepared with fresh milk, a mixture of dry fruits, saffron and spiced just right. The stall also displayed a variety of millets grown organically and was sampling Rabbdi, a desi cooling drink made of crushed millets and buttermilk. Talking about her products, Anita Dagar said, "We focus on growing our food with traditional and organic methods to ensure that food is healthy, and so is the soil and the environment. The aam panna, thandai and rabbdi are all made at home."

Balaji Ramanujam, a Mumbai resident visiting Delhi, bought a bottle of aam panna to beat Dilli ki garmi. "It was really refreshing. Just what I needed in this heat. I expected it to be very sweet but since it is organic, it was perfectly balanced"

Among the visitors was the young Kouriki, who was having aam panna. She said, "It is so cooling. I have never had raw mango squash with masala. I quite like it"

Five young Hotel Management graduates - Samarth Khare, Rishabh, Maietraie, Sarthak Joshi and Naman - were seen serving herbal ice teas at the Sharbat Mela. From citrusy cranberry tea to cooling blue pea flowers fermented with jasmine tea, visitors sampled tasty and trendy flavours, made with honey instead of sugar. Dolly Joshi, who was sipping her Virgin Mojito ice tea, said, "There is not a single flavour that you can skip. From rose-menthe tea to choco boba, I sampled all the flavours."