How to make Rooh Afza from Scratch

Words by Ahsun Zafar

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How to make Rooh Afza from Scratch by Ahsun Zafar

Falling in love is great but have you ever had Rooh Afza? A rosy-coloured syrup mixed in with a glass of cold milk or water, that is so satisfying that it was able to get through colonialism, two World Wars, Partition, the violent birth of three new countries, and the onset of their most recent foreign foe: Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and yet still remain a common household drink.

Recently my aunt shared with me her receipt to make Rooh Afza. Although her recipe is based in South Asia and consists of actually boiling roses, a short trip to the grocery store works too.

Perhaps the biggest revelation from this little kitchen experiment was realizing the amount of sugar used. Rooh Afza has left an indelible mark on our culture and I think we sometimes forget that it is, after all, another product marketed and sold by a large for-profit corporation. We don’t really question it because it is something thats always been with us, and from us; in our family events, in weddings and iftars, in our childhood memories, and of course, during those hot summer days. Doubting Pepsi, Coke, and other American products is okay because they’re outsiders and outsiders will always have a certain amount of out trust.