Local Drinks

1. ఇరానీ చాయ్

   irānī cāy

   Irani chai (Hyderabad milk tea)

   Usage

   The thick milk tea of Hyderabad's Irani cafés, brewed in copper vessels. Ordered with Osmania biscuits to dunk in it. The drink the city is known for

2. మసాలా చాయ్

   masālā cāy

   Masala chai (spiced milk tea)

   Usage

   Black tea boiled with cardamom, ginger and cinnamon in milk. Street stalls serve it in a small glass

3. అల్లం తేనీరు

   allaṃ tēnīru

   Ginger tea

   Usage

   Milk tea boiled with crushed ginger, the usual choice for a sore throat. Menus also write it అల్లం టీ

4. కాఫీ

   kāphī

   Coffee (South Indian filter coffee)

   Usage

   In a Telugu eatery "coffee" means South Indian filter coffee — a strong decoction of dark-roast beans mixed with hot milk and frothed between the two parts of a metal dabara. Menus also print ఫిల్టర్ కాఫీ

5. మజ్జిగ

   majjiga

   Majjiga (spiced buttermilk)

   Usage

   Curd churned with water, usually seasoned with salt, ginger and curry leaves; also called చల్ల in Telugu. Drunk after or between meals in the hot months

6. లస్సీ

   lassī

   Lassi (sweet yogurt drink)

   Usage

   Curd blended with water and sugar; the sweet version is the common one, and mango lassi is widely sold. Not the same thing as the salty మజ్జిగ

7. ఫలూడా

   phalūḍā

   Falooda (vermicelli and basil seed drink)

   Usage

   Milk with rose syrup, fine vermicelli and sweet basil seeds, topped with ice cream. It descends from the Persian faloodeh and is a fixture of Hyderabad's old city

8. చెరకు రసం

   ceraku rasaṃ

   Sugarcane juice

   Usage

   Cane pressed through a roller mill in front of you, often with ginger and lime fed in with it. If you are unsure about the ice, ask for it without

9. కొబ్బరినీరు

   kobbarinīru

   Coconut water

   Usage

   The liquid inside a young coconut, opened in front of you by the street vendor — as close to a sealed drink as street refreshment gets

10. నన్నారి షర్బత్

    nannāri śarbat

    Nannari sharbat (sarsaparilla root cordial)

    Usage

    A cold drink of syrup made from Indian sarsaparilla root diluted with water. A summer drink you find mostly in the Rayalaseema region

11. నీరా

    nīrā

    Neera (unfermented palm sap)

    Usage

    Sap tapped from palmyra, date or coconut palms at dawn. It contains no alcohol because it has not yet fermented — left standing it turns into toddy (కల్లు), so it is chilled and sold in the morning

12. ఫలరసం

    phalarasaṃ

    Fruit juice

    Usage

    The general word for fresh fruit juice; juice stalls often use the English loan ఫ్రూట్ జ్యూస్ on their boards instead. For the individual fruits, see the fruits category

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