Sharbat-e-Bazoori: Unani Summer Sharbat Recipe and Sugar Truth
Ask an old style hakeem for something to cool “gurde ki garmi”, heat in the kidneys, and there is a fair chance he reaches for Sharbat-e-Bazoori before anything else. It is one of the more specific formulas in the Unani sharbat family, built around seeds rather than fruit, and it deserves a proper home version instead of the syrupy pharmacy bottle most people know it from.
The short version
- What it is: a cooling Unani seed and herb sharbat, traditionally for “garmi” and urinary discomfort
- Home yield: about 700 ml concentrate, makes 12 to 14 glasses diluted
- What it can plausibly do: add fluid and a cooling drink to a hot day
- What it cannot do: treat a kidney stone, a urine infection or diabetes related thirst
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What Sharbat-e-Bazoori actually is
Commercial bottles vary by manufacturer, but a traditional Bazoori style formula draws on cooling seeds and roots long used in Unani practice for what is described as “hararat” (heat) in the kidneys and bladder: kaseni (chicory) seed, khubbazi (mallow) seed, tukhm-e-kasni, gaozaban (borage) flowers, and often a little unnab (jujube) or khatmi root for texture and a mild soothing feel. Sugar, and sometimes rose water or kewra, carry the flavour. None of this is a drug in the pharmaceutical sense; it is a flavoured, seed thickened cold drink built on a tradition of “thanda” foods for hot weather and a temperament considered unbalanced toward heat.
Building a home version, step by step
You will not match a factory bottle exactly without its exact seed ratio, but a reasonable home approximation, made from ingredients sold at most pansari (herb shop) counters, gets you something close and lets you control the sugar yourself.
- Soak 15 g khubbazi (mallow) seeds and 10 g kaseni (chicory) seeds in 250 ml water for 3 to 4 hours, until they turn slightly gelatinous.
- Separately, simmer 5 g dried gaozaban (borage) flowers and 20 g deseeded, chopped unnab (jujube) in 500 ml water for 15 minutes, then strain and keep the liquid.
- Combine both liquids with the soaked seeds (do not discard the soaking water, it is part of the thickness).
- Add 150 to 200 g sugar, adjusted to taste, and warm gently only until the sugar dissolves; do not boil hard or the flowers turn bitter.
- Cool completely, strain if you prefer a smoother drink, and bottle. This gives roughly 700 ml of concentrate.
- To serve, mix 2 to 3 tablespoons of concentrate into a glass of chilled water, about 200 ml, and stir well since the seeds settle.
Keep the concentrate refrigerated and use within a week; it has no preservative beyond the sugar, and mallow seed drinks spoil faster than you would expect from the smell alone.
What it can do, and what it genuinely cannot
Reasonably: it adds fluid, a moment of proper cold, and seeds that give a mild, mucilage like soothing feeling in the throat and gut, similar to what tukh malanga or sabja do in other sharbats. That is worth something on a 42°C afternoon.
What it cannot do, whatever the bottle label implies with words like “kidney tonic”: it does not dissolve or prevent kidney stones, it does not treat a urinary tract infection, and it does no work against the actual heat stress of a heatstroke, which needs cooling of the body and, in a bad case, an emergency room, not a sharbat. If “garmi” symptoms mean burning urination, cloudy or smelly urine, fever, or lower back pain that will not settle, that is a possible infection or stone and needs a doctor and, usually, a urine test, not a syrup. Our piece on Khoon Ki Garmi (Heat in the Blood) goes further into which of these folk descriptions map onto something a doctor would actually investigate, and which are just a way of describing feeling unwell in the heat.
A cold drink can make a hot day bearable. It cannot make a kidney stone go away.
The sugar truth, and who should skip it
This is the part most sharbat writeups skip. A 200 ml serving diluted from the recipe above, at roughly 150 to 200 g sugar per 700 ml batch, carries somewhere around 6 to 13 g of sugar, roughly one and a half to three teaspoons, per glass depending on how much sugar you used and how strong you pour it. That is not a large amount next to a bottled soft drink, but it adds up over a hot afternoon if you drink three or four glasses, and a diabetic drinking it as “just a cooling home remedy” without counting it is making the same mistake people make with fruit juice.
| Who | Sensible approach |
|---|---|
| Healthy adult | 1 to 2 glasses a day is a normal treat, not a medicine |
| Diabetic (diet controlled) | Use a sugar substitute in the syrup step, or skip it and take the seeds soaked in plain water with a little lemon |
| Diabetic on insulin or sulfonylureas | Count it like any sweet drink against your daily carbohydrate allowance; talk to whoever manages your diabetes before making it a habit |
| Pregnant or breastfeeding | Small amounts as a flavoured drink are generally fine; skip concentrated herbal formulas with unnab or gaozaban in larger, “medicinal” quantities without asking your doctor first |
| Child under 5 | Offer a very dilute version occasionally; seeds like khubbazi and kaseni are not established as safe in babies and should not replace their normal fluids |
Sharbat, thermally speaking: where this fits among summer drinks
Unani food logic sorts ingredients by temperament, hot or cold, wet or dry, and treats summer as a season to lean toward cooling, moist foods. Sharbat-e-Bazoori is considered strongly cold and wet in this system, which is why hakeems traditionally paired it with “garmi” complaints rather than, say, a winter cough. It sits in the same shelf as khus and sandal sharbat, which lean on vetiver root and (often only nominal) sandalwood flavour, and falsa sharbat, which is closer to a straightforward fruit syrup with its own tartness doing the cooling work. If you want the wider picture of how Unani pharmacy sorts jawarish, majoon, arq and sharbat into different categories of preparation, our explainer on Unani preparations decoded covers where sharbat sits in that family and why it is considered the gentlest form.
Buying it instead of making it
If you would rather buy a bottle, a few checks help. Shake it: a properly made Bazoori sharbat should show visible mucilage or slight cloudiness from the seeds, not run perfectly clear like a soft drink syrup. Check the ingredient list for actual named seeds (khubbazi, kaseni) rather than just “herbal extract” and colour. And check the date; opened bottles left in a warm pantry through a Karachi summer degrade fast, going flat in smell within weeks even before the printed expiry.
In older Unani practice, cooling sharbats like Bazoori were often prescribed alongside advice to reduce foods considered heating (chillies, excess meat, foods eaten very hot) during a spell of “garmi” complaints, and to increase plain water and cooling foods like cucumber and melon. This is described here as a long standing tradition of dietary balance, not as a treatment with proven clinical effect on any kidney or urinary condition.
Do not use any concentrated “kidney” sharbat as a substitute for seeing a doctor about actual urinary symptoms: burning urination, blood in urine, fever, or pain that will not settle. Diabetics should count the sugar in every glass rather than treating it as sugar free because it is “herbal”. People on diuretics or blood pressure medicine should mention any new herbal drink they are taking regularly to their doctor, since some seed and root mixtures can interact. Keep it away from infants, and if you are pregnant, ask your doctor before using it as anything more than an occasional flavoured drink.
For more seasonal swaps, from monsoon gut safety to load shedding fridge rules, browse the rest of our Season Shift series, including our companion piece on monsoon stomach infections and fridge rules.
FAQ
What is Sharbat-e-Bazoori used for?
In Unani tradition it’s a cooling seed sharbat for “garmi”, especially heat felt in the kidneys and bladder (gurde ki garmi). In practical terms it’s a cold, lightly thick, sweet drink that adds fluid on a hot day. It isn’t a medicine for any kidney or urinary condition.
Can Sharbat-e-Bazoori help with a kidney stone?
No. It doesn’t dissolve stones or stop new ones forming, whatever a “kidney tonic” label suggests. Severe side or back pain, blood in the urine or fever with urinary symptoms need a doctor and usually a urine test, not a syrup.
Does it help with burning urination or a urine infection?
It won’t clear an infection. Burning when passing urine, cloudy or smelly urine, fever or lower back pain that won’t settle can mean a UTI or a stone, and both need proper testing. A cold drink might feel soothing for a moment, but it shouldn’t delay a doctor’s visit.
What are the ingredients of Sharbat-e-Bazoori?
Traditional versions are built on cooling seeds and herbs: khubbazi (mallow) seed, kaseni (chicory) seed, gaozaban (borage) flowers, and often unnab (jujube) or khatmi root. Sugar carries the flavour, sometimes with rose water or kewra. Brands differ in the exact ratio.
How do I make Sharbat-e-Bazoori at home?
Soak khubbazi and kaseni seeds for a few hours until slightly gelatinous, simmer gaozaban flowers and chopped unnab separately and strain, then combine everything with sugar and warm gently just until it dissolves. Don’t boil hard, or the flowers go bitter. The recipe above gives exact amounts.
How much concentrate goes in one glass?
Stir 2 to 3 tablespoons of concentrate into about 200 ml of chilled water. Stir again before drinking, because the seeds settle at the bottom. The home batch of about 700 ml makes roughly 12 to 14 glasses.
Is Sharbat-e-Bazoori safe for diabetics?
Only if you count it. A glass from the home recipe carries roughly one and a half to three teaspoons of sugar, and “herbal” doesn’t make that sugar free. Diet controlled diabetics can use a substitute or soak the seeds in plain water with lemon; anyone on insulin or sulfonylureas should talk to their diabetes doctor before making it a habit.
How long does homemade Sharbat-e-Bazoori keep?
About a week in the fridge. Sugar is its only preservative, and mallow seed drinks spoil sooner than their smell suggests, so go by the date you made it rather than your nose.
Can children drink Sharbat-e-Bazoori?
Older children can have a dilute glass now and then as a treat, never in place of water. Under 5, keep it very dilute and occasional, since the seeds aren’t established as safe in small children. Babies under 1 shouldn’t have it at all: they get no added sugar, and under 6 months nothing but breast milk or formula.
Can I drink it during pregnancy or while breastfeeding?
A small glass as a flavoured drink is generally fine. Don’t use it in larger, “medicinal” amounts, especially concentrated versions with unnab or gaozaban, without checking with your doctor first.
Can Sharbat-e-Bazoori help with heatstroke?
No. Heatstroke (very hot skin, whether dry or still sweating, often with confusion) is an emergency that needs the body cooled fast and urgent medical help. A sharbat does nothing for that level of heat stress. It’s only a pleasant drink for an ordinary hot afternoon.
I take BP medicine or water pills. Can I drink it regularly?
Mention it to your doctor if you plan to drink it often. Some seed and root mixtures may interact with diuretics or blood pressure medicines. Keep taking your prescribed medicine as usual and let the doctor advise.
Is Sharbat-e-Bazoori the same in every brand?
Not quite. Makers vary the seed ratio, sugar level and flavouring, which is why a home version tastes a little different from any one bottle. When buying, look for named seeds such as khubbazi and kaseni on the label rather than just “herbal extract”.
How can I tell if a bottled Bazoori sharbat is genuine?
Give it a shake. A proper one shows some cloudiness or visible mucilage from the seeds and doesn’t run perfectly clear like a soft drink syrup. Check the date too, since opened bottles kept in a hot pantry lose their smell within weeks.