Kerala's most-relished drink - Kulukki Sarbath - has reasons to worry. It has already lost or is on the verge of losing its coveted status to a new entrant in the market – fuljar soda. Or is it full-jar?
No one knows where it got its name from or what it means, but it is the most talked about concoction on social media with TikTok videos and memes on the drink filling up the social media feeds.
The quirky-named drink has garnered a huge following in a short span of time.
One glass of Fuljar Soda offers you a myriad of taste - from hot to sour finishing with sweet. Some even say one can trace the path taken by the drink as it gushes down the food pipe.
What makes fuljar soda
The tangy-sour-sweet taste of fuljar is due to the whole plethora of ingredients that goes into its making. Lemon, soda, bird's eye chillies, pudina, couscous, ginger, salt and sugar are needed to make one glass of the irresistible soda. Of these the chillies, pudina and ginger would be made into separate pastes and kept aside.
Then you need two glasses. The first should be a sizeable one such as the beer mug and then a small glass. In the small glass, first add lemon and half-a-spoon salt, and then add quarter teaspoon of the various pastes of chillies, pudina and ginger. Then fill up the glass with sugar syrup. Next take the big tumbler and fill three-quarters of it with soda, and then add lemon and kas-kas as required.
Both these glasses are handed over to the consumers. The next job is for the consumer to pour the contents in the small glass to the bigger one. The tumbler then fizzes as the ingredients mingle and fuse, and the glass is left brimming.
Enough of the talk, where is fuljar?
Despite the big talk on social media, several are left wanting to get a taste of fuljar soda. The drink is yet to reach out to every nook and corner of the state. Most of the comment boxes for TikTok videos are filled up with queries on where to find the elusive drink.
It is believed that the first fuljar drink of Kochi was offered by Siyad at his shop in High Court Junction. However, even the kiosks neighbouring Siyad's shops are yet to master the knack of mixing the sought-after drink.
However, certain shops in Vyttila and Kaloor areas in Ernakulam have learned the trick. The price of one glass of fuljar soda is Rs 30.
Naysayers too
Not just fans, fuljar is gaining good number of detractors too. Some are questioning the loss of soda due to the brimming glasses and remind people on the need of conserving water. But they do not seem to have made much impact on most of the fans. Some shops even have put up banners that proclaim, 'The thrill is in spilling'.
