Thank you Sheila, I never thought of looking on amazon, but of course they have everything. It amazes me, so many obscure things readily available. Thanks for the heads up, when we run out of the bottles I will try amazon.

Rekha, you can get it from Amazon for sure and also in local stores.
I absolutely love that drink. There was a thread but I think you were on vacation so you must have missed it. Here's the link. It is amazing how it was originally from India but very widely used in Asia. Absolutely delicious drink.

Check out this discussion on Houzz - https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4002762/old-roses-from-the-island-of-borneo-southeast-asia

jin

Do you know how to make it from scratch starting with rose petals ? I am looking for an old recipe.

jin

I'll have to ask my mom if she knows how to make it from scratch. I would assume you make a simple syrup with the petals, but I dont know for sure.

In India, we used to have this unnamed rose growing everywhere that has the strong "rose" fragrance. It was used in so many things...for instance, in weddings and ceremonies, guests were greeted with a sprinkling of water with its essence, wedding Garlands would be made with this rose...it would bloom year long, ugly plant, but beautifully scented. Rose essence probably came from that...my Comte de Chambord has a similar fragrance, but that rose iin India is maybe the 4 seasons damask?

I had no idea they used it in other parts of Asia, I've been to Indonesia a couple of times and Thailand, and have not come across, but realize most often these "local" dishes/drinks are not found at the "better" restaurants or stores. People assume Indians eat curry all the time, but there is nothing really called curry and our cusine,the everyday cusine, is completely unknown to others. Probably same with other cultures...

rekha, a lovely memory!!! We have done it all our childhood, I think I have shared my story earlier, my aunt had a garden full of bushes of 1 red rose and she’s used to make rose syrup. Drying the petals in sun , boiling in water, separating and then adding sugar. Thanku for sharing this memory. It used to be 100 times better than the store bought we use now . :)

I know roughly but I don't know how much water or rose petals to put. Sugar wise I might go with tasting but it is just the first two ingredients that I think it is important.
I am sure it must be Damask or Bourbon roses that can be used. Yup, I try to find out where it came from and it is from India.

Below is totally out of topic :).

Since you are from India. I been watching how to make 'Kajal' for eyes. It is very interesting how it helps the eye in so many ways using actual ingredients like whole almonds and crushed and the rest I can't remember...lol. Stuff wrap in wick and burn in castor oil or coconut oil . Vitamins E and oil add to the sooth . From what I gather it really helps the eyes. Now, all the eyeliners I bought has chemicals in them. I been reading the ingredients ( so small) and I am tempted not to used it anymore but trying to buy things made with quality ingredients . No wonder my eyes get irritated by the end of the day.
One day, I will make that but for now I am looking for top 5 kajals recommended in India. Call me crazy but I don't know why I am going backwards into time. Maybe it was made better .
To make the kajal looks so easy but I have non of the ingredients not even the diva ( I hope I spell that correctly).

jin

Jin, will try to track down the recipe, but India is also now like other places, no one makes anything from scratch!

I have not used kajal in a long while, it used be a requirement for traditional dance and I did not stick with it, but my grandma used to put castor oil in my dad and his siblings eyes every night! There iis a lot of science in traditional cultures and yes, I do think people are now gravitating to go back in time and test if indeed it is better than what we have today. Speaking for myself, I am drawn towards ayurveda which is almost a lost science...

I think u mean diya, which is a lamp with a wick..

Haha plumeria girl, what an irony, many people ( not all) have moved on to Maybelline and other brands for kajal..but I will try to ask and update if somebody still does it..

I have always wanted to make candied rose petals (and violets!!) but have never gotten around to it. Maybe rose syrup would be a good start!
Carla in Sac

Diya, that is what I meant. well, it is all on Utube. But I saw a few really good ones. Well, I am using Tarte brand. That is not bad and I don't get tears or irritation so I only do cat eyes but not as tight inner liner.

I just got this hair oil. I have only used it once and totally forget about it for 3 yrs until you mention Ayurvedic...got to thank you for it. I bought this in Asia.

It is 100 % herbal and very cooling.

Rose milk sounds good. I once had rose iced tea at an Egyptian restaurant in New Orleans..it had pine nuts in it and was delicious. I think they used rose water. Amazon has that as well in food grade. I've never made it as I was not sure how much to use, but that's so silly as you can just add it to taste.

Jin, yes, the hair oils are a must for me!! I usually just apply regular coconut oil from trader joes or sesame oil, both cool you down. I leave it overnight and waswash next morning, you can tell the difference when I get lazy and dont do it for a while!

Erasmus, that drink sounds delicious. Rose water is another widely used rose derivative, we used to mix face masks using some type of clay, sandalwood, rose water...not sure about the complexion, but the fragrance is to die for!!

Eramus, I had a tea here many years ago. It comes in a very narrow cup and you can smell the mint. That ingredient that I know but the rest not sure but it taste of floral but again I can be wrong. It's is very refreshing tea. From middle East but not sure after so many years. They said drinking this tea on a very hot day will cool you down and it is very popular in deserts. I bought the ingredients but it came out horrible. So, I have no clue what they used maybe rosewater. I had 2-4 cups of tea that will tell you how delicious it was. Usually I have only 1 cup of tea. I am making a guess it is Arabic tea or Egyptian tea. It has no milk if that makes a difference.
I am crazy over Hawaiian coffee which I can't get here and I don't know the brands . Maybe I should check up Amazon to see if they sell them. coconut, macadamia, hazelnut all sounds delicious and yummy !!

jin

Rekha, sandlewood and rose sound wonderful together. I have intented to bake a cake for a long time which has rosewater in it, cardamom, and an icing with some rose water , petals on top and pistachios. Some reviews say the flavors are not strong enough so I figure I'd add more. After reading about your rose milk and the syrup I looked it up on Amazon and see there is a good syrup available, and also a rose extract for baking: Angel Bake. The extract would be nice in that a small amount would do, and it wouldn't add any sugar. I think I'll order one or the other.

I ordered rose water one time but didn't use it promptly and since I'm a nut about not using food that is past the due date I threw it out. I think regular old tapioca pudding made from the recipe on the Minute Tapioca box, with the slight sweetness and good custardy flavor would be good with a little rose flavor in it. I also noticed some lavender syrup and that too would probably be fun to try.

Plumeria, you make me want some refreshing tea, especially with a little mint. What better way to cope with summer than to indulge in something refreshing. I see Hawaiian brands of coffee in TJ Maxx but don't know if they have any of the flavors you mention. Just Kona coffee I think.

My husband and I have been watching the old show, Upstairs, Downstairs. It's such a great show. Anyway the English sure drank tea for any occasion...celebration or disaster, it always seemed just the thing. I usually just drink Peach Passion caffeine free tea in the cold months. I think it's mostly chamomile.

Maybe this is how Rose water could be made if you have a fancy still? She calls it aromatic dew, but that must be a Chinese translation. The rose gardens shown in the video are beautiful!
https://youtu.be/RGQvyEjX2MM

Well, I bought the Angel Bake rose extract. Haven't tried it in baking yet but I put a few drops of it in iced tea and didn't like it. Reviews said it wasn't fakey tasting but I thought it was either fakey or I just didn't like it. Maybe the rose syrup is better for drinks.

I made rose syrup and rose petal jam and it came out fantastic! At the time I did not have my own rose petals and bought certified organic food grade dried rose petals. They were centifolia and dark purple pink and over the top fragrant. I dont have the recipe right now but it is pretty easy. You mix white sugar and water one is to one, ie 1000gms sugar and 1000gms water. Juice of 1 or 2 lemons and a good bit of dried rose petals. I remember the mixture was full of petals, not just e few floating at the top. But not a mush either. Then cover and refrigerate for 24 hours to deeply extract the flavor. The lemon juice helps to keep color vivid and accents the flavor without tasting of lemon at all. Then slowly bring to simmer and simmer stirring for about 10-12 mins. Strain in to clean jars and keep refrigerated.

Tastes great with ice cold milk or lassi or just diluted over ice cold water......or so many yummy desserts.

Certainly can be made with fresh petals. You keep them, as you collect them, between layers of paper towels and covered in the lowest shelf of the refrigerator until you have enough. Has to be your most fragrant rose.

The vendor I got the dry petals from seems to have disappeared otherwise I would get some now.

Rekha thank you so much for bringing your memories. There are so many ways to enjoy roses, I was forgetting!

Speaking of other ways to enjoy roses, Jo Malone red rose perfume smells exactly like Mr. Lincoln to me. I have other sprays, but this one is surprisingly close. This is OT on top of OT for sure!

I you have a good Asian market one can buy rose petals by the pound for tea. I'll see if I can post a pic. Almost any Mediterranean market will have a pure rose water for cooking called Mawared. Ziyad and Cortas are two well known brands.