Sol Kadi (Kokam Kadi)

Sol Kadi is an essential part of Konkani cuisine. It compliments the spices used in our chicken and fish dishes very well. You can drink it as an accompaniment with your meals or even eat it with plain rice. Refreshing and also supposed to be good for digestion.

This cooler is made of dried Kokam rind, a tree mostly found on the western ghats of India. It is a souring agent and used as a replacement for tamarind in many of our dishes. Kokam imparts a nice pinkish/reddish color to the dishes and I always use some for my fish gravies.

There are many different ways to may this kadhi, some use carom seeds, some use garlic flakes.
But here is my favorite recipe, where I add both carom seeds and garlic flakes together.

Ingredients
Around 12 dried Kokam rinds
2 cups of freshly grated coconut
2 Green chillies
1 tsp Carom seeds (ajwain/ova)
2-3 garlic flakes
Coriander for garnishing
Salt

 

Method

1. First of all soak the Kokams in luke warm water for 15 mins.
2. Now mix all the above ingredients except Kokam and coriander leaves to a smooth paste along with 2 cups water.
3. Strain this mixture in a muslin cloth. You can add more water if needed.
4. You can again grind the coarse remains from the straining with some more water for some thin coconut milk.
5. Strain the Kokam extract and add it to the coconut milk. Adjust the salt for taste. You can add 1 tsp sugar here to enhance the taste.
6. Garnish with finely chopped Coriander leaves and refrigerate before serving.

Note:
The Kokum I used was old and hence I did not get the nice pink color that this drink usually has.

Other versions
Using Curd
Sometimes when I am not in a mood to grate coconut, I have used curd instead of coconut and followed the same recipe as above. Though not as good as the original, it comes a close second.

I have also used a combination of curd and coconut and even that tastes good.

Using Store bought Coconut milk
You can also use coconut milk from a can or tetra packs that are readily available to save on cooking time.

Using Kokum extract
If you do not have Kokam rind, you can use Kokam extract that you get – around 2 tbs should suffice for the above measurements.

 

 

 

Tagged with: coconut, coolers, drinks, easy to make, konkani, quick