Aam panna

Aam panna is a tart, cooling Indian summer drink built on the pulp of unripe green mango, cooked until soft, blended with sugar or jaggery and seasoned with roasted cumin, black salt and mint, then diluted with cold water and served over ice. Pale yellow-green and cloudy, it is sharply sour-sweet with a savoury, spiced edge unlike any Western fruit cooler. Long valued across north India and Pakistan as a hot-weather tonic, it is prized for replacing the salts lost in sweat and for warding off the summer heat. It is non-alcoholic, caffeine-free and, in its plain form, vegan.