Kachhi keiri ka pana/panna is one of my favourite beverage during summer season. Summer brings many childhood memories of spending time with friends after exams. These include gulping one big watermelon with your cousins, having chilled musk melons early in the morning, munching grapes whole day, drinking Mangoshake (aamras), preparing sharbat (beverages) with Rasna and Roohafza, and drinking my favorite Kachhi keiri ka pana/panna with smoky flavor!!
Kachhi kairi is raw mango and pana/panna is beverage which is prepared by either boiling or roasting raw mango. At my parents’ house we had traditional chulha (stove) and my mother used to roast raw mangoes on that. This roasting method gives wonderful charred flavor to the drink.
The other method is to simply boil raw mangoes and prepare this beverage. Kairi ka pana is a refreshing summer drink and adding fresh mint leaves enhances its already wonderful taste. It has sweet, salty and tangy taste and jaggery can be used instead of sugar. After preparing you can add a few ice cubes or leave it in the fridge till it is chilled.
To prepare Kachhi keiri ka pana/panna , always buy firm raw mangoes. If you will just keep on postponing the preparation for 2-3 days, kairi will ripen because of summer heat and will turn sweet. The same happened with me, so if you will see the pictures, the pulp has slight yellow colour. But as the taste of the pulp was still tangy, I went ahead with the rest of the process.
Ingredients :
Raw mangoes (kairie), sugar powder, white salt, black salt, red chilli powder, dry cumin seeds powder, dry mint powder and fresh mint leaves.
Use all dry ingredients as per your taste buds. Sugar or jaggery is added so that the extra tangy taste of raw mango can be balanced. Therefore, sugar gets added a lot more than the other ingredients. Rest of the ingredients are added to enhance the flavor. Add them in small quantities and check the taste from time-to-time and adjust according to your liking. My personal suggestion is to go generous with mint and roasted cumin seeds powder.
Process :
Wash and boil or roast kairie (raw mangoes) till they are become soft. Don’t throw away the water in which kairie is boiled.
Let them cool down completely and peel off the skin.
Take out all the pulp and mix it in boiled water.
If you are using granulated sugar, pour this pulp and sugar in mixer and grind it till sugar is mixed thoroughly. If using hand blander, use powdered sugar. Pour this mixture in a pan.
Add other dry ingredients, mix them well, taste and if you are satisfied with the ratio of all ingredients, add finely chopped green mint leaves.
Mix it well and Kachhi keiri ka pana/panna is ready to beat the summer heat 🔥.
