I guarantee that fresh lime soda will become your go-to drink after reading this! My first encounter with this Indian favorite was a few years ago driving from Udaipur to Jodhpur. It was late March and the weather had shifted dramatically from spring to intense summer heat. We stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant high in the Aravelli mountains. Under the shade of a Banyan tree, we ordered fresh lime sodas.

“Salty or sweet?” the waiter asked. “Sweet” I said. A few minutes later, what looked like a gin and tonic arrived. Carbonated, fresh, sweet citrus with sprigs of mint; it was just what I wanted. It’s now my go to drink of choice when I’m out for lunch in Jaipur.

While we don’t have the small limes you find in India, you can certainly make it with our limes. I recommend sipping this in an extra tall cold glass on a warm afternoon under a tree. It’s the closest you’ll get to India without the long plane ride.

Let me know if you make it! And yes, this is the photo of the first fresh lime soda I ever had on that hot drive to Jodhpur.

Ingredients

• Tall glass

• Ice cubes

• 2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh lime juice from one lime

• 1/16 teaspoon kala namak or black salt*

• 1/8 teaspoon sugar

• One 12-ounce (330ml) can cold soda water

  Technique
  

  Place ice in a tall glass and fill to the top with water.**

  Combine lime juice, kala namak, and sugar in a small mixing bowl, and stir to completely dissolve solids.

  Drain water from glass.

  Add lime juice mixture, fill glass almost to the top with soda water, and stir briefly. Top with splash of soda and serve.

  
  

  *for the kala namak you can substitute Himalayan salt, Maldon salt, black salt or fleur de sel

  **wetting the ice helps preserve carbonation of the soda water when you pour into the glass

  
  

  Feel free to experiment with the salty/sweet combination. I prefer it sweet (no salt).

  Some like it half and half (both salt and sugar) and other like it without sugar (salty).

recipe from Serious Eats