Indian cocktails

Indians are not cocktail drinkers. They enjoy their beer and soft drinks, and sometimes whisky (which they make themselves. They have just raised the taxes on imported spirits to a top rate of 706 per cent to help the domestic market). But I discovered some new drinks with Indian-influenced cocktails. There is lychee martini. A guanabana cooler made with Absolut Kurrant, lime juice, soda, guava juice and banana (hence guanabana). The Mombay Breezer, mandarin vodka, freshly squeezed orange juice, lychee puree, cranberry juice and a splash of lime. The Jackie O, sleek and sophisticated, dressy and elegant, impressive and so irritatingly at ease with itself. Served into a martini glass and separated into two neat layers, opaque white with a cocoa-coloured underbelly. The top layer tasted soothingly of cool milk, because that's what it was. Once I had swallowed, I realised there was quite a peppery kick to it and that the milk had been subtly perfumed with spices. The bartender said the base of the drink was thandai. The original thandai was prepared with cannabis, almonds, spices and milk, and drunk on the night when Hindus worship Shiva, their most powerful god. The magic potion did not contain cannabis, either, but it include a liberal dose of mint-infused vodka, and the dark layer at the bottom was sticky coffee liqueur kahlua. I loved the savoury edge the cardamom (one of the thandai spices) gave the milk. Cardamom and milk is actually a heavenly combination, to be found all over the place at the moment.

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