Panneer Soda / Carbonated Rosewater / Goli Soda

Pan-neer, pronounced as "pun-neer", translates to Rosewater in Tamil. It is not to be confused with paneer - the popular Indian cottage cheese! This is definitely not a fizzy drink made with cheese of any kind!

Panneer Soda is a popular roadside drink in Southern India, specifically in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a refreshing, cooling drink - the perfect antidote to the head-throbbing, sweltering summer heat. The soda comes in a green tinged codd-neck glass bottle, inside which is a smooth marble (called as "goli" in Tamil) that pushes against a washer and seals the mouth of the bottle due to the pressure of the carbonated drink. So, there's no cap or cork, just a goli that has to be tactfully released from the washer.

Our childhood was filled with an inexplicable fascination for goli soda! The bottle was enticing by itself. One would see the curvy green bottles lined neatly in every road-side shop. Of course, our parents would never let us near the drink, unless absolutely necessary. I remember the first time I had goli soda. I was about  9 years old and we were vacationing during my summer break. The blazing heat was making all of us see spots & stars, so my mom relented and got some panneer soda that the family relished. I loved the flavor of rosewater, but having never tasted soda until then, the slight burning sensation from quickly gulping it down and the ensuing after-burps didn't sit well with me. What a finicky kid I was!

Anand has many more nostalgic memories surrounding his college days and goli soda. So, when I thought aloud if I could make panneer soda at home, he jumped at the suggestion and prodded me every single day for about ten days until I finally got around to working on the recipe. Our friends TK and Sindhu were visiting last weekend, so it seemed the perfect time to make some panneer soda.

Anand and TK helped me figure out the proportions for this drink.  The two guys take their panneer soda quite seriously :)). Thanks to TK in particular for patiently and meticulously giving his feedback until the perfect proportion of rose-concentrate to soda was reached!

So, here is the recipe

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 2 cups water
3. 1 tablespoon dried rose petals, ground (can also use fresh rose petals)
4. 1 tablespoon rosewater
5. Seltzer water / plain carbonated water - as required

Preparation:
Rose-Sugar Concentrate

1. In a saucepan, mix together water, sugar, and ground dried rose petals. Heat on medium heat and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. Wait for the mixture to come to a boil. Then, remove from heat and let it completely cool down. Cover the saucepan as the concentrate cools, because the condensate is flavorful and not to be lost.
2. When cool, filter the rose-sugar concentrate to remove the rose fragments. Then, mix a tablespoon of rosewater to it. 

Panneer Soda

1. In a glass, pour 3 tablespoons of the prepared rose-sugar concentrate. 
2. Add 1/2 cup cold Seltzer water / plain soda.  Mix

Serve with some ice cubes. Increase the quantity of the rose-sugar concentrate for a sweeter, more flavored soda. 

We girls wanted 1/4 cup of rose-sugar concentrate for every 1/2 cup of soda. But the guys disagreed. According to them, panneer soda is much more subtler and milder, and hence preferred just 2.5 - 3 tablespoons of rose-sugar concentrate. 

So there it is! Customize the proportions for a refreshing drink!