Indian Watermelon Drink: Tarbooz ka Sharbat

"Tarbooz" in Hindi means "watermelon," Hindi "sharbat" means like "sugar sweetened drink, syrupy drink," a word that was apparently borrowed from Persian. 

 

This drink has relatively small amounts of two kinds of salt. Remember, salt is an important element, especially in hot climates such as in much of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The black salt used in this drink is also called "Indian black salt" by some, but "Himalayan black salt" is another term used. It has a sulfurous smell and taste, and don't let the name fool you, as Indian black salt tends to be more of a pink color, especially when it's ground, usually into a fine powder for use in drink or food recipes. Nowadays, it is often available in supermarkets and spice shops, but keep in mind, there are other black salts, and not all have the sulfurous taste; so, make sure you get the Indian black salt with the sulfurous taste (the amount used in the drink will not give the drink an overwhelming taste of sulfur).   

You should try to get seedless watermelon (although they usually have some small, soft white seeds). If the watermelon you buy is sweet, you'll want to watch how much sugar you use to further sweeten the drink, and accordingly, I've given a wide variance in the amount of sugar as an option in the recipe below. 

 

Ingredients (2 servings for tall glasses, 3 or 4 servings for smaller glasses):

 

4 cups watermelon, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

2 teaspoons up to 2 tablespoons white sugar (depending upon sweetness preference)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black salt (kala namak)

watermelon wedges for garnish

ice

2 tall glasses (10 to 12 ounce each)

Add the watermelon pieces, lemon juice, salt and black salt to a blender or food processor, briefly blend/process these ingredients, then use a spoon to give the mixture a taste so that you can determine how much sugar you may need. I suggest adding a couple of teaspoons of sugar to start, blend the ingredients again, then taste it again, and then go from there to either leave the drink as is (usually my preference), or to add more sugar and blend again. Add some ice to the glasses and pour the drink over the ice, stir slightly and enjoy. 

WORD HISTORY:

Spurt-This word is related to "sprout," "spit," "spew" and "spread," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and to "spray" meaning "droplets of liquid dispersed through the air," both verb and noun, another Germanic-derived word, but borrowed by English from Dutch (seemingly not related to "spray" meaning "a branch or bunch of flowers"). "Spurt" goes back to Indo European "sper/spre," which had the notion "strew, toss about;" thus also, "sow" (long 'o,' for "strew seeds for planting"); however, exactly how the word developed in the Germanic languages is unclear; that is, whether it came from its own Old Germanic form, or whether it developed as a variant form from what are now its relatives, but it certainly seems to have come from the basic meaning of "something projecting outward," like its relatives "sprout" ("a new plant projecting upward or outward"), "spit" ("to project liquid outward from the mouth," with figurative use such as, "the burning log spit sparks all around the campfire"), "spew" ("release liquid of some type with force outward from the mouth," although figurative use, "to release words, usually nastily and derogatorily"), etc. The Old English form was "spryttan," which meant "to spring out, to sprout," and this then became "sprytten," then "sprutten," then "spirt," where the 'r' and vowel changed places, called metathesis, which was used by some, but also "sprit," the logical continuation of the older forms. By this time it had also taken on the additional meaning "to squirt out from," but also still with the meaning "to sprout." Then (mid 1500s) the spelling became "spurt," with much more emphasis on the meaning "to squirt out from," "perhaps" influenced in both meaning and spelling/pronunciation by its German relative of the time "spürzen," meaning "to spew out, to spit." The word later also took on figurative uses as in, "The marathon runner had a final spurt of energy to make it to the finish line." German has "spritzen" (verb: "to squirt, to spurt, to splash, to inject a 'squirt' of vaccine or medication with a needle;" " noun: Spritze: "a squirt, an injection (commonly 'a shot')"). The other Germanic languages have words that are really close relatives of some of the other English words I've listed above as being relatives of "spurt;" for instance, Low German has "sprütten," meaning "to spray," but it's also likely a close relative of "spurt."