Rooh Afza

Ingredients

The bottle

• 1 bottleof Rooh Afza syrup

To serve

• cold water or cold milk
• ice
• basil seeds, soaked, if wanted
• vermicelli, for falooda

For a homemade rose syrup

• 600 gcaster sugar
• 400 mlwater
• 3 tbsprosewater
• 2 tbspkewra water
• juice of 1 lemon
• a handful of dried rose petals
• 1 tbspdried mint
• 1 tspfennel seeds
• a strip of orange peel
• a few drops of red food colouring, if wanted

Note

• the commercial syrup is a proprietary blend of many herbs and cannot be reproduced

Directions

1. Put three or four tablespoons of syrup in a tall glass. Add cold water and stir it well. Add plenty of ice to the glass. It should be a clear bright pink rather than pale. Put the syrup in the bottom of a glass. Pour cold milk over it slowly.
2. Stir it well, since the syrup sinks. Adding basil seeds is common and worth knowing about. Soak a teaspoon in cold water for twenty minutes. Stir them through the whole drink. Boil fine vermicelli and rinse it cold.
3. Put the noodles in the bottom of a tall glass. Add the soaked basil seeds as well. Add the syrup and the cold milk. Top it with a scoop of ice cream.
4. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan. Heat it gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice, which stops it crystallising. Bring the syrup up to a simmer. Infusing the aromatics is done off the boil.
5. Add the dried rose petals, mint, fennel and orange peel. Simmer it very gently for ten minutes. Do not boil it hard, which makes the botanicals bitter. Take it off the heat and cover it. Let it infuse for a full hour as it cools. Strain it through a fine sieve, pressing the solids. Discard the spent petals and spices.
6. Stir in the rosewater and the kewra water once it is cool. Adding them to hot syrup drives off their aroma. Add a few drops of colouring if you want the familiar red. It should be intensely sweet and strongly perfumed.
7. Pour it into sterilised bottles. It keeps for two months in the fridge. Stir it into cold water or milk over ice. Add soaked basil seeds if you want.

Technique

• The commercial syrup is a proprietary blend of many botanicals and cannot be reproduced at home.
• Add rosewater and kewra water off the heat, since heat drives off their aroma.
• Do not boil the botanicals hard, as that turns them bitter.

Substitutions

• A bottle of Rooh Afza, which is what most people should use.
• Any rose syrup for the same role in a drink.

Variations

• Stirred into cold milk, as served at iftar.
• Made into falooda with vermicelli and ice cream.
• With basil seeds soaked and stirred through.

History

Created in 1907 by Hakim Abdul Majeed at Hamdard in Delhi; separate Hamdard companies have produced it in Pakistan since Partition.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rooh Afza?

Rooh Afza is a drink from Pakistan: rose and herb syrup stirred into milk or water, the standard iftar cooler. Created in 1907 by Hakim Abdul Majeed at Hamdard in Delhi; separate Hamdard companies have produced it in Pakistan since Partition.

How long does Rooh Afza take to make?

Rooh Afza takes 30 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes notes on using a bottle, and an approximation. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rooh Afza?

Yes, within limits. A bottle of Rooh Afza, which is what most people should use. Any rose syrup for the same role in a drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rooh Afza?

Put three or four tablespoons of syrup in a tall glass. Add cold water and stir it well. Add plenty of ice to the glass. It should be a clear bright pink rather than pale. Put the syrup in the bottom of a glass. Pour cold milk over it slowly.