Rose milk (gulab doodh): the 2-minute recipe
Rose milk three ways — with rose sharbat, gulkand or rose water. Exact amounts, a hot winter version, and why real rose milk is not pink.
The short answer
Rose milk is cold milk sweetened and flavoured with rose. Stir 30–40 ml of rose sharbat into 250 ml of chilled full-cream milk and it is ready. You can also blend in a spoon of gulkand for a thicker, petal-flecked glass, or use a few drops of rose water with mishri if you want to control the sweetness yourself.
Why is our rose milk not pink?
Most rose milk sold in bottles, and most rose syrup, is bright pink because colour has been added. Rose petals do not turn milk pink. Our Clear Rose Sharbat is made with no added colour, so the milk stays white or very pale cream, and tastes of rose rather than of red syrup. If you want a pink glass for a party, a pinch of beetroot powder does it naturally.
Ingredients (rose sharbat version)
• 250 ml cold full-cream milk
• 30–40 ml clear rose sharbat
• 3–4 ice cubes (optional)
• A few chopped pistachios or almonds, to finish (optional)
Method
1. Pour the cold milk into a glass or jug.
2. Add 30 ml of rose sharbat and stir well; taste and add up to 10 ml more if you want it sweeter.
3. Add ice if you like it very cold.
4. Finish with chopped pistachios or almonds and serve at once.
Version 2: gulkand milk
Blend 250 ml of cold milk with 2 heaped teaspoons of Rose Gulkand for 20 seconds. The petals break into soft flecks and the milk thickens slightly. Gulkand is already sweet, so taste before adding anything. With Kesar Elaichi Gulkand you get a saffron-cardamom milk that works well after a heavy meal.
Version 3: rose water milk
Stir 2 teaspoons of powdered mishri or sugar into 250 ml of milk until dissolved, then add ¼–½ teaspoon of rose water. Rose water adds scent but no sweetness, so this is the version for a less sweet glass. Add it last and go easy; too much tastes soapy.
Hot rose milk for winter
Warm the milk until steaming, take it off the heat, and only then stir in the rose sharbat or rose water. Boiling drives off the rose scent. A pinch of cardamom and a few strands of saffron make it a good bedtime drink in Mewar winters.
Questions
Can I use toned milk? Yes, but full-cream milk carries the rose better and tastes richer.
Will the milk curdle? No. Rose sharbat, gulkand and rose water are not acidic enough to split milk.
How long does it keep? Make it fresh. Stirred rose milk keeps a few hours in the fridge.
More drinks with the same bottle: rose lassi, rose falooda and five ways to serve rose sharbat.
Buy from the Haldighati valley
- Clear Rose Sharbat — Rose water and mishri, no added colour. 350 ml, ₹349.
- Rose Gulkand — Sun-cured Damask rose petal preserve. 470 g, ₹449.
- Rose Water — Steam-distilled Damask hydrosol. 200 ml, ₹249.