While travelling across India is quite a high by itself, in all our forays, we love trying out the local tipple whenever it's been offered to us. Be it feni or urak in Goa, bhang during Holi, apong in Arunachal Pradesh during the Sollung Festival, kyad on a trek to a living root bridge in Meghalaya, chhang to combat the Ladakhi winter, raksi in Sikkim and Nepal, taadi and handia with tribals in Jharkhand or saraph (salfi) and mahua in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha; we have happily imbibed Indian spirits in all its glorious forms wherever we have travelled…
The history of intoxication in India is as old as its gods. Like the Greek ambrosia or nectar, Hindu texts mention amrit or soma, the divine elixir that gave Vedic gods immortality. Agni consumed it in copious quantities and Indra drank rivers of soma for strength to overcome Vrittra, the fearsome three-headed dragon. Soma, a Vedic Sanskrit word, literally "to distill, extract or sprinkle", is derived from the juice of the soma plant, ephedra vulgaris. The golden-hued drink was imbibed by mortals as well, since it enabled hallucinations and ecstasy. It often accompanied sacred rituals, helped warriors overcome battle nerves, and inspired painters and poets into bursts of creativity. In fact, soma was considered a divine bridge between the mortal world and the realm of the gods.
In the backyard
Alcoholic beverages were known to the Indus Valley Civilisation and appeared in the Chalcolithic Era during 3000-2000 BC. Wormwood wine was quite popular in India around 1500 BC. Sukla Yajurveda describes the preparation of two stimulating drinks – parisrut and sura, popular among kshatriyas (warriors) and peasants alike. Agriculturists often set aside a portion of their produce for the fermentation of home brews. Made of rice, wheat, sugarcane, grapes and other fruits, sura was prepared with germinated paddy, germinated barley, parched rice and yeast.
Katyayana Srauta sutra too gives a comprehensive description for preparing sura. Boiled rice or barley was mixed with the ferment and the entire mixture was kept in a jar, which was placed in a pit for three nights into which cow's milk and powdered parched rice were poured. Sometimes the fermenting vessel was covered with horse dung, or placed on a pile of grains, or exposed to the sun, or fumigated.
Another drink popular from pre-Vedic times is bhang, which has been consumed since 2000 BC. In the ancient text Atharva Veda, bhang is hailed as a beneficial herb that releases anxiety. An integral part of Hindu culture and often associated with Shiva, ascetics often used bhang or cannabis as food, drink or smoke to boost meditation and achieve transcendental states. From the streets of Mathura to the ghats of Benares, the buds and leaves of the cannabis plant are ground into a paste in a mortar and pestle and shaped into balls or pedas. Milk, dry fruits and Indian spices are added to make a bhang lassi or thandai, widely consumed during Holi.
During the time of Kautilya, popular Mauryan era drinks included medaka (spiced rice beer), prasanna (spiced barley or wheat beer), asava (sugarcane beer) and arista (medicinal tincture). However, modern-day distillation of alcohol scaled new heights with widespread use in the Delhi Sultanate by the 14th century. Over time, many royal families and thikanas in Rajputana concocted their own signature brews for recreation or medicine, based on ingredients available locally and climatic conditions. Spices, saffron, fruits, dry fruits and stimulative agents were added for flavour and therapeutic value, distilled through copper pots and matured in wooden casks.
Back in the day, many princely states had a separate department for liquor. Broadly, three types of liquor were prepared based on strength and refinement - ikbara for the common man, dobara for officers and upper middle class, and aasav, reserved only for royalty and nobility. Often referred to as baap-dada ki daru in Rajasthan, some of these liquors even had aphrodisiacal qualities. As per legend, Rana Hammir of Ranthambore, the 14th century ruler of Mewar, had 11 wives but didn't have the stamina to satisfy them all. One day, a saint gave him the recipe for a potion that would give him "the strength of a 100 horses". And, like a blissful royal tale, they all lived happily ever after. However, not all the royal brews were reserved for kings. It is said there was a honey-based brew with 21 spices that was meant for royal ladies, which could make a 60-year-old behave like a 16-year-old!
One royal bastion that stands out for its heritage liquors is Mahansar, a thikana in Shekhawati founded in 1768 by Thakur Nahar Singh, second son of Thakur Nawal Singh of Nawalgarh. The Mahansar royal family's legendary saunf was brewed by fermenting gud (jaggery) and ber (Indian date) in an earthen pot for 15 days, distilled by adding milk, misri, saunf and other spices, stored in a ceramic vessel and matured for six years. The resultant brew was aromatic, spicy and clear, with a dash of pale yellow.
Mahansar has maintained its heritage liquor brewing tradition and old royal formulae. In 2006, Shekhawati Heritage Herbals began brewing gulab, saunf and orange, mint and ginger royal liqueurs under three brands - Royal Mahansar, Maharani Mahansar and Maharaja Mahansar. During mid-18th century, ably guided by his kulguru Thakur Karni Singh Shekhawat, descendant to a clan of Mahansar thikana, prepared various aasav using herbs and spices like fennel, cardamom, mint, coriander, fruit extracts like orange, apple, watermelon, berries, and liqueurs like cider grape wine and rose. The word 'julep' was supposedly derived from an English mispronunciation of 'gulab'.
Royal brews like Rohitaasav, Kumari aasav, Kankaasav, Dus mul ka aasav and Mahaverlane were made exclusively for the use of the royal families of Bikaner, Kashmir and Nepal, mainly for medicinal benefit.
In 1862, Thakur Zorawar Singh, part of the Champawat clan of Rathores, founded the prominent Kanota thikana. As a tribute to the royal houses of Jaipur, the Kanota family created the drink Chandrahaas in 1863 and named it after Lord Shiva's indestructible sword.
Since then, they have meticulously followed the original recipe of using nearly 165 herbs and spices like kesar, awlah, safed musli, jaiphal, amla ki chaal, white sandalwood and dry fruits.
Amar Singh of Kanota thikana is known for writing the world's longest continuous diaries. Maintained in English for 44 years from 1898 to 1942, these precious notes include detailed recipes for dishes and heritage liquors. His heir Mohan Singh and his sons Man Singh and Prithvi Singh offer special royal thalis and Chandrahaas at their Jaipur hotels Royal Castle Kanota and Narain Niwas, built by Amar Singh in 1928. Legend has it that Amar Singh's son-in-law, Rajasahib Karni Singh of Gadi thikana, was on his deathbed, and all the efforts of the royal physician to cure him proved futile. When nothing seemed to work, the royal brewer requested for a chance and administered Chandarhaas. Sure enough, Rajasahib was back on his feet!
The Shyopurs, who were in charge of the household affairs of the Kachhwahas (Jaipur's royal family), have over three dozen recipes like angoor, ananas and narangi, which is made with oranges and 18 herbs. The drink supposedly keeps the body cool in scorching summers, and can be consumed "from dawn to dawn", and one still feels fresh as a daisy in the morning, without a hangover. Shyopur Narangi Ginger is made from fruits, two dozen spices and pineapple flavours!
Jagmohan, an ancient recipe from the royal house of Marwar in Jodhpur, is made of herbs, spices, dry fruits, seasonal fruits, murabba and bark, finely blended with milk, desi ghee, saffron and crystal sugar. Distilled in the royal cellars for the use of kings and princes, it was a drink for winters. It could be consumed on the rocks in summer as a post-meal dessert liqueur, though citrus and acidic drinks are best avoided with it. Similarly, Kesar Kasturi is made from exotic ingredients like saffron, dry fruits, herbs, nuts, seeds, roots and spices, blended with ghee, milk and crystal sugar.
Another liqueur Mawalin, from the royal house of Sodawas, 90 km from Jodhpur towards Udaipur, has 38 different ingredients including dates, dry fruits, herbs and two dozen spices. Local folklore says Maharaja Umaid Singh of Jodhpur gave the recipe of Mawalin as jagir (aristocratic fiefdom) to Thakur Sahib Bishan Singh of Osian. It is typically served "in a liqueur glass on a bed of crushed ice in summer, and in a bowl of half-inch deep lukewarm water in winter." A good appetiser, it has curative and medicinal properties when taken in small doses.
To keep these unique traditions alive, Rajasthan State Ganganagar Sugar Mills (RSGSML) has launched Royal Heritage Liqueurs as a tribute to the state's royal brewing legacy. The fermentation and distillation process used by the ruling thikanedars have been strictly adhered to with the use of earthen pots, copper and brass utensils. We got to savour some of these brews with Raghavendra Singh at Fort Amla, a rustic-style heritage retreat in western Madhya Pradesh, bordering Rajasthan.
While royalty elevated intoxication into an art form and a science, alcoholic brews were not the exclusive domain of palaces but were widely consumed by the proletariat. Across the adivasiheartland of tribal India, we've encountered local ladies selling handia in weekly village markets by the roadside. Rice is fermented with bakhar, a yeast prepared with roots, bark and leaves of more than 20 plants to produce handia, which is named after the handi (earthen pot) in which it is stored and usually served in makeshift cups of sal leaf. We've glugged it from large brass vessels in a Santhal home near Shantiniketan during the Sohrai festival, accompanied by dancing and thrumming of the mandhar (drum).
Perhaps the most well known Indian distillate is Goan feni, made from cashew, a plant that was introduced to India by the Portuguese (we still call it by its Portuguese name 'caju'). With the advent of summer, the hillsides come alive with the heady aroma of ripening cashew fruits. The fruits are plucked from the trees and the nuts are separated from the cashew apple and consumed after roasting. The cashew apple is squashed in a rock cut basin to extract niro, a non-fermented sweet juice best served chilled. All the collected niro is allowed to ferment and transferred into a big earthen pot where it is boiled for distillation. The first distillate is called urak, which is low in alcoholic content while subsequent distillates yield feni. Quite potent and smelly, feni is best enjoyed with lime and soda though many bars in Goa stir up feni-based cocktails!
Across Central and Eastern India, flowers of the mahua tree are collected and fermented to make a desi liquor mahua, jokingly referred to as ABCD or Adi Basi Cold Drink. Similar to it is salfi or the chheen tree, whose sap is tapped to make a local brew, hailed as 'Bastar Beer'. It is considered a sign of prosperity and can be found in almost every tribal household. In Bihar and Jharkhand, taadior sap from the palm tree is equally popular, known as neera in the south. We tried salfi at the village haats at Onkudeli and Chattikona with the Bonda tribesmen in southern Odisha, as they offered it to us straight from their unique ridge gourd cup with a spout to gulp it! Needless to say, it was a heady experience.
Alcoholic brews have always been closely related with festivals and merriment, as we found out. In the North East, during Etor or Chhota Sollung Festival in Arunachal Pradesh, we danced with members of the Adi Padam tribe. Wherever we went, villagers handed us kala (black) apong in hollow bamboo stems, and the songs and laughter echoed across the hills. The local brew is made of fermented millet and rice.
At The Grand Dragon Ladakh in Leh, huddled in a traditional sit-down Ladakhi-style restaurant in winter, our host Danish gave us a crash course in Ladakhi cuisine. If endless cups of salty gur gur cha with yak butter ain't your cup of tea, try the local tipple chhang, made from fermented barley. The drink was poured into our kore (cups) with a snack of churpe (hard cheese) served in a pheypor or decorative lidded bowl, often used to store tsampa or barley.
A thousand miles away, we had discovered chhang at Sonam's little shack at the Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe near Kushalnagar. It tasted like wine, had a high like beer, and cost as much as water. After a round, you only had to add water to the fermented millet, leave it for 10 minutes and voila, your next serving was ready! We used to pick up sacks of millet to drink it at leisure at home in Bengaluru. Little wonder then that the local authorities banned it. The next time we went to Bylakuppe, there was no whiff of chhang anywhere!
Perhaps the most popular intoxicating brew across India is bhang lassi or thandai, sold at government-authorised bhang shops. We've tried it in Allahabad, Varanasi, Pushkar and Omkareshwar, though the craziest experience was at the famous bhang shop in Jaisalmer. Located at the base of the fort since the early 1970s, the tiny shop was immortalised by Anthony Bourdain. Chander Prakash Vyas or Babu, better-known as Doctor Bhang, represents the tech-savvy third generation and has a YouTube video, an FB page and a killer spiel to hawk his potion to foreign tourists. We laughed as he rattled off the variants - "We have a light Baby Lassi for Japani-Korean people, then Medium, Strong and Super Duper Sexy Strong – full power 24-hour, no toilet, no shower!" Besides bhang lassis in banana, chocolate and other flavours, they also had bhangchocolates and cookies. As we pored over the menu, Dr Bhang took a long look at us and said, "Better you take Super Duper Sexy Strong!"