PHOTO ESSAY: Phatxingu – Kargil’s apricot “miracle drink”
Phatxingu, a drink in Ladakh’s Kargil region made from dried apricots, is unbelievably popular among all age groups. In the photo essay, I delve into some of the reasons for its raging popularity.
For people in Kargil it is not apples, but phatxingu, an apricot based drink, that keeps one from needing a doctor (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Phatxingu is made by boiling dried apricots. It is filtered into an earthen pot where it can be stored for days together in a cooler part of the house (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
“Whenever I feel tired, a glass of it is enough to make me feel fresh” says Haji Abdullah, the 65-year-old farmer from Hardass, a riverside village on the outskirts of Kargil town (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
This apricot drink is traditionally believed to be the panacea for many health disorders – from indigestion to urinary infections and loss of appetite (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Many old people in the villages of Hardass and Shilakchay, major apricot-producing areas in Kargil, attribute the longer life span and good health to phatxingu (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
The younger generation, including Mohammad Irfan, a class XII student from Hardas, believes that the drink is an instant energy booster and elevates his mood (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Phatxingu is usually consumed on its own, but many also like to have it with papha, a barley bread (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Phatxingu is popular during Ramadan due to the belief that drinking it early morning satiates one’s thirst for water the whole day (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
The lead image shows dried apricots (Photo by Tanya Sid – Shutterstock)
Nasir Yousufi is a journalist based at Srinagar.