Taste of Life: When Poona’s favourite drink was pomegranate juice

On April 12, 1898, the “Hindoo Patriot”, a daily published from Calcutta (Kolkata), informed its readers that a consignment of the pomegranate fruit had arrived from Kabul. More such consignments, twice a week, were expected during the summer months. The newspaper added that pomegranates from Kabul had become popular in cities like Bombay and Poona, and consignments of fresh and dried fruit sent from Peshawar had become a regular “event” in the Presidency.

Even though the pomegranate fruit was much esteemed in the Indian subcontinent, the quality varied in different localities; in the southern provinces and Bengal, it was inferior to the pomegranate of the north-west and hilly regions. The best kinds were produced still farther west, in Afghanistan and Persia, brought down annually, or biannually, by the Afghan traders from Kabul. It was kept very well, remaining moist, palatable, and fresh for a long time.

A considerable portion of the transborder fruit imported to India came to Peshawar from Afghanistan. This chiefly consisted of dried fruits (almonds, raisins, nuts and the like) and musk melons and pomegranates. A special fruit van was booked every day from Peshawar to Bombay during the busy months of September–November, at the height of the pomegranate season. During summer, when the March crop, which was considered “secondary” to the prime crop of winter, had been harvested, the consignments arrived once or twice a week.

Some Afghan traders travelled to Indian cities along with their fruit during summer. They would pay a visit to Poona too. These traders would pitch their tents just outside the cantonment. They would typically stay in the city for a couple of weeks till they had sold all the fruit they had brought with them.

The pomegranate was considered sacred by the Parsees of Bombay and Poona, and among the Persians, the pomegranate was one of the holiest trees. Its twigs were used to make the holy broom, its seeds were thrown over the child when it was girt with the sacred cord, and the juice was squeezed into the mouth of the dying.

At the “navjote” (the initiation of the Parsee child into the fold of Zoroastrianism), the child was given a pomegranate leaf to chew, and the juice was believed to purify, was swallowed by the child. Pomegranate buds were laid on a grindstone and worshipped by the Poona dyers on the fifth day after the birth of a child. The barber community offered a pomegranate to “Satvai”, a popular goddess worshipped primarily in rural Maharashtra, known to preside over childbirth and female reproduction within villages, her shrine located outside the physical boundary of every village. The Jewish high priest’s robe was adorned with a row of golden bells and pomegranates.

The pomegranate juice was a favourite drink in Poona. It was used as an ingredient in cooling and refrigerant mixtures and in some medicines for dyspepsia. A pleasant cooling sherbet, made from the pulp, was highly esteemed by wealthy Muslims, Parsees, and Hindus of Poona, and was widely appreciated by the Anglo-Indians who had tasted it.

Europeans living in Poona considered the pomegranate a fine fence plant. It always maintained its place in the gardens owned by the sardars of Poona if it was only for the splendour of its brilliant scarlet blossoms, which no flower could surpass, and which it produced more or less during all the hot season and rains. It bore its fruit principally during the cold season, which, if not protected in due time, was almost sure of being destroyed. However, some trees produced fruit during or after spring.

Pomegranate of two kinds was grown in gardens throughout the district and was valued for its fruit, and for the healing properties of its root, leaves, bark, flowers, and fruit rind. The bark of the root was used as a cure for worms.

The British government intended to encourage the cultivation of pomegranates in and around Poona because it wanted to expand the dyeing industry in the district. The pomegranate flowers were used to impart a light red colour, said to be fleeting, to cloth. The astringent rind of the fruit was a valuable tan and was also frequently employed as an auxiliary to other colouring agents (generally turmeric and indigo) in dyeing. Alone, it imparted to cloth the greenish colour known in the Bombay Presidency as “kakresi”. When used for this purpose, the rind was boiled in water till three-fourths of the latter had evaporated and the cloth was then dipped in the concentrated infusion.

The bark was similarly used as a dyeing auxiliary, but its chief value was as a tan and dye for leather. It was largely employed in preparing the Morocco leather of Tangiers. Large quantities were said to be exported from the forest divisions of the North-West Provinces. The government hoped that greater cultivation of pomegranate from Poona would help increase export.

In the early nineteenth century, an attempt was made to acclimatise an excellent variety of pomegranates imported from Kabul at the Ganeshkhind Gardens. However, this did poorly on its own roots and was then grafted onto the local variety as a stock. 1916-17 was the last year of this experiment. The Kabuli plants did a little better on the local stock, but not well enough to warrant their introduction in the district. The plants were stunted and bore poorly. They were entirely unsuited to our climate.

Owing to this failure, the pomegranate from Kabul remained a favourite in Poona for several decades before the Second World War temporarily paused the transborder movement of fruits. The Kabul pomegranate also inspired the European cooks in Poona to make pomegranate molasses and sell it in the bazaars.

More about this the next week.

Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune’s food culture. He can be contacted at chinmay.damle@gmail.com