Kewra

Pandanus · kewda · pandanus water

The scent of a flower you’ll never see, in a bottle.

What it is

Kewra is the distilled essence of the male flowers of the screwpine, a fragrant water (or, concentrated, an attar) with a sweet, hay-like, faintly rose-and-honey perfume. Like rose water it is a scent added by the drop, a signature of perfumed Mughal cooking.

Where it comes from

The screwpine grows across coastal and tropical South Asia; kewra distillation belongs to the same floral-water tradition as rose, centred on places like Kannauj. It is most associated with the biryanis and sweets of the north.

What it's called

Kewra · kewda · pandanus / screwpine water. The concentrated form is kewra attar. Botanically from Pandanus.

In the kitchen

A few drops perfume a Mughal biryani, sweet rice, or milk sweets — lifting a festive dish with floral aroma. Restraint is everything: too much turns cloying and medicinal. Add off the heat, near the end.

What we know about the claims

A culinary flavouring with no health claim to make; buy the food-grade distillate rather than a cosmetic or perfumery one. The only rule is a light hand.

Choosing and buying

Food-grade kewra water is sold in South Asian grocers (UK and US); a small bottle lasts a very long time. Look for culinary labelling.