Is this the best drink in India?

AlanJ

Indiamike really needs a special forum for food and drink.

Against all the "rules", we have now spent two trips in India sampling the delights of street food and drinks from small milk bars.... and we're still alive and well.

There are four of us, and we all have our own thoughts on what was the best meal we had in India. But one thing we all agree on: the best drink we tried in India was from a little laneside milk bar in Mumbai, not far from Victoria Station. The drink was called piyush. I think the price was 12 rupees a glass (you'd think I'd remember, since on one day we kept going back, and had four servings of this delightful lassi-type drink).

Well, our photos have now come back, and, wonder of wonders, I can just make out the address of the shop! So I thought I would share this pricelss pearl with Indiamikers, and advise anyone planning a trip to Mumbai to make sure they pass by this little bar, in the Fort area.

The name and address is:
Shri Balaji Milk Center
55 Dwarkadas Lane,
Bora Bazaar St,
Fort Area.

Piyush is thick, yellow, creamy, nutmeggy, and has a dozen subtle and mysterious flavours chasing each other around your palate (no, one of them is NOT bhang! This is a family thread!). It gets our vote for the best drink in India. I would be happy to hear if anyone can come up with a better one.

Aishah

There is a Forum for food and drink etc. and I shall move your post there now, AlanJ!

The Forum is called Indian Cooking and Cuisine - and your post fits here nicely. You tell us about the ingredients (cooking sort of!) and taste (cuisine!!).
I have never tried this drink but it sounds just delicious. Apart from the nutmeg do you, or anyone else know what is in it to give the flavours.

I might have a rival for piyush, and since you have also been to Jaisalmer, you may have tasted it and this is the Makhania lassi - yoghurt with saffron, cardamon, and other spices (not sure here either) and delicious ones from Mohan Juice Centre. Jodhpur have a very thick one to rival, it's almost too rich for words, but their shop, the lassiwalla near the Clock Tower, is famous for it.

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AlanJ

Aishah, thanks for directing my thread to the right forum... which I had never noticed, for some reason.

We didn't try the Makhania lassi in Jaisalmer (how did we miss that? Now I'll have to go back there!), though I must say, with its saffron, it sounds not unlike the piyush. We did, however, try the lassis near the clock tower in Jodhpur -- actually, I think it's against the law in Jodhpur for tourists NOT to visit, first, the Omelette Man, and, straight after, the lassi shop near the Clock Tower.... and they might just come in at second or third of all the lassis we had in India. Certainly the thickest... you have to attack them with spoons! But their sweetness is just a little dominant, whereas the beauty of a great lassi is that the sweetness is never allowed to take over from the curdy undertaste.

I note that there's a recipe on the net for piyush.... whether it's as magical as the Mumbai one, of course, I can't say. It's on http://enjoyindianfood.blogspot.com/2008/01/piyush.html

Brisso

Bit like Aisah - for me, a seasonal favourite - mango lassi with saffron, cardamom, crushed nuts and glaced cherry (Varanasi).

PeakXV

Sounds tasty AlanJ! There were also some interesting drink concoctions mentioned in the Guaranteed this drink will revive you thread. Cheers!

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