Kokum Kadhi, Solkadhi (Birinda Salla Kadhi)

Kokum Kadhi, Solkadhi (Birinda Salla Kadhi)

Famous through out the Konkan region - Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka is a delicious Konkan drink called as kokum kadhi or solkadhi. A Goan meal in incomplete without kokum kadhi. Goans drink kokum kadhi at the end of every meal, like we South Indians drink buttermilk. Solkadhi is a type of curry usually eaten with rice or is served as a drink after meals. It is made from coconut milk and kokum. Kokum kadhi is prepared using liquids extracted from fresh coconut - coconut milk and liquid extracted from kokum peels. The tanginess from kokum and the soothing flavour of coconut milk complement each other to make a well-balanced drink/curry that is loved by everyone. Solkadi is a refreshing and cooling Konkan drink with coconut milk as the base and with tanginess from kokum. Kokum kadhi served as a drink after every meal is also made without using coconut milk. You'll find recipe for this solkhadi/kokum khadi, also known as futi khadi here

Sol means peel in Konkani, as the kokum peels are used to make this kadhi, it’s called solkadhi. Birinda salli too means kokum peel in Konkani. Kokum is also known as bhirand/bhirind in Konkani and hence this kadhi (means watery gravy in Konkani) is called as bhiranda/bhirinda kadhi in Konkani.

Kokum also known as Garcinia indica is a fruit bearing plant from the mangosteen family. The plant yields dark red colored fruit. They are amazing to eat with a sweet sour taste. The outer peel of the fruit is sun dried in large quantities and is sold as kokum. These dried kokum peels are used, when fresh kokum is not available throughout the year. After drying the peel gets blackish purple in color. These kokum peels are sour to taste and have a sweetish aroma. The sun dried peels can be stored in air tight containers for years together. 

Kokum is used as a souring agent in many cuisines. This fruit grows in Goa and Konkan region during the summer and people make kokum drinks out of the peel.

Apart from being good for digestion, kokum peel has numerous health benefits. Kokum has high concentration of anthocyanins, which is a great antioxidant, that also works as an anti-carcinogenic and anti-aging agent. Kokum also has cooling, cleansing and digestive properties. This explains the reason for it to be served after every meal. Kokum kadhi is a real saver during hot Indian summers as kokum has cooling effects on your body.

Bored of curries and rasam’s for lunch, dinner? Then make this delicious curry to enjoy your bowl of rice. Solkadhi are made in many ways. Here’s a recipe that most Konkana’s follow.

P.S: You can try making solkadhi (kokum kadhi) using carton/store bought coconut milk for sake of ease & for a quick drink. Though I recommend you to make some coconut milk super quick at home to avoid the preservatives used in packed coconut milk.

Ingredients:

  • 5-6 dried kokum peels
  • 1 cup freshly grated coconut
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • 1 leaflet of curry leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander (optional)

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Soaking Time: 20-25 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 minute

Preparation Method:

  1. Soak dried kokum peels in 3/4 cup of water for 20 minutes.
  2. Sun dried kokum peels:
  3. Soaked kokum peels: 
  4. Meanwhile grate fresh coconut, grind it with 1 cup of water. 
  5. Strain the coconut milk and collect it in a vessel.
  6. Grind the strained grated coconut again with another 1/2 cup of water and collect the coconut milk in the same vessel as before. Discard the grated coconut.
  7. Give the soaked kokum peels a nice squeeze with your hands, so that you squeeze out all the juice out of it. 
  8. The more you soak kokum and the more you squeeze it, the kokum peels continue to give out its juice into water. Once you have about 3/4 cup of thick, concentrated kokum juice you can squeeze and remove the peels out of the water.
  9. Add all the kokum juice into the coconut milk, add salt and mix well. Kokum khadi is watery in consistency. 
  10. Kokum khadi is usually on the tangy side. However, if the kokum peels are too tangy and your palate can’t take too much tanginess then add kokum juice as much as required to the coconut milk.
  11. Season the kokum kadhi. Heat oil in a tempering pan, add in mustard seeds. When they start popping, add in dried red chilli broken into pieces, curry leaves and let them sizzle for few seconds. Add this seasoning to kokum kadhi and mix well.

Serving suggestions: 

  1. Serve kokum kadhi as a drink before or after lunch.
  2. Serve kokum kadhi with a bowl of rice and enjoy!

Side Note:

  1. Kokum kadhi isn’t cooked. Enjoy them within a few hours of preparation or they tend to get spoilt due to the coconut milk present and as it isn’t cooked. 
  2. You can store leftover kokum khadi in the fridge for a few hours and reuse it later on. But do empty it the day it is prepared. If the oil from the seasoning solidifies on keeping the kokum kadhi in the fridge, then let it rest outside for 20 minutes. Once the oil melts you can enjoy the kadhi.
  3. You can use fresh kokum peels to make kokum khadi if you find them during kokum season. 
  4. Kokum kadhi is not made spicy. Red chillies in the seasoning gives flavour and just a hint of spice to the kadhi. For extra spice add green chillies to the kadhi. You can smash well 1-2 green chillies using a mortar and pestle and add them to the kadhi.
  5. For added taste and flavour you can add a pinch of asafoetida powder to the seasoning or add a little melted asafoetida to the kadhi.
  6. For added taste you can also use carom seeds. Use just 4 carom seeds while grinding your grated coconut.
  7. You can store dried kokum peels for ages, but it tends to lose it’s potential to make a good kadhi with time. As dried kokum peels age they tend to lose their sourness and taste. They then make the kokum kadhi bland if used. They also do not give a nice pink colour to the kadhi. So, use freshly dried kokum as much as possible. You know the age of the peel, by looking at them. They tend to blacken and shrink with time. 
  8. You could use store bought kokum juice to make this kadhi. I would rather go the traditional way to avoid the preservatives added to the bottled kokum juice. Also, for the authentic kokum kadhi taste you do need dried kokum peels. Haven’t been able to get the authentic taste from the bottled kokum juices.
  9. You can also use store bought coconut milk, however I haven’t given it a try until now. So, you would have to experiment with that.
  10. Read this article for more info on kokum.

Tags: Kokum khadi, birinda salla kadhi, Konkani cuisine, Konkani recipe, Konkani food, Goan cuisine, Maharastra cuisine, sol khadi, birnda khadi, Konkan drink, Indian drinks, sol kadhi, Goan kadhi, summer drink, birinda kadi, bhiranda/bhirinda kadhi, GSB Konkani recipe, vegan, vegetarian recipe, Konkani cooking, GSB Konkani cuisine.