Khus Syrup | Khus Sharbat Recipe

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Khus Syrup recipe with step by step photos. Here’s a fragrant summer cooling drink made from khus or vetiver (vetiveria zizanioides). I take you through the methods of making a homemade Khus Sharbat with the dried roots of this herb – that can be refrigerated for a few months and enjoyed as a cool refreshing drink anytime.

khus sharbat served in 3 glasses.

What is Khus

Khus is beautifully fragrant cooling herb. The roots of these perennial grasses have a lovely woody aroma. The aroma is reminiscent of sandalwood. Though not like sandalwood, but in its subtlety like sandalwood.

Many of us get confused between khus and khus khus. Whereas khus is a fragrant grassy plant similar to that of lemon grass and citronella. Khus khus are poppy seeds. Both are different and not related in any way.

Poppy seeds are obtained from the opium poppy plant. Khus is commonly called as vetiver and has medicinal, culinary and perfumery uses.

I have actually had khus sherbets and drinks many times in my childhood. We would buy the ready made syrup and they used to have a dark green color.

I would always wonder why the green color. Is this khus having such a deep green color that it gets transferred even in the syrup? Of course much later I came to know that the green color is not natural but artificial color. After that I never brought khus syrup.

I am into Ayurvedic reading and cooking these days. So I came across some herbs used in Ayurveda that are excellent to heal the doshas (vata, pitta and kapha).

Khus was one of them. I already knew its cooling properties but did not know its other healing attributes (have mentioned the healing benefits below).

So I went to an ayurvedic shop and got the khus and when I saw them, I was amazed. They were dried roots. A whole bunch of dried roots was given to me and all rolled up nicely.

Below a photo of the dried khus roots. Even in its dried form, the khus was wonderfully fragrant.

khus grass

I made this khus syrup more than a week ago and we used to have the fragrant cooling khus sherbet or drink everyday, to keep our systems cool.

Today I again went to the ayurvedic shop and again got a lot of stuff along with khus roots. Sandalwood powder was one of them and I have also shared making homemade Sandalwood Syrup.

I read the method on how to make the syrup in an ayurvedic book and roughly followed it. Changed the proportions to suit with the amount of khus I had.

To make the syrup, I have used organic unrefined cane sugar. I have not used processed or bleached sugar.

You can easily buy organic unrefined cane sugar or raw sugar in the organic section in super stores. You can buy the khus roots in an ayurvedic shop.

khus and khus sherbet

The process of cleaning and chopping the khus roots takes a bit of effort initially. But later its easy to prepare the syrup.

I used 60 gms of khus roots and the whole recipe yielded 1 litre of khus syrup. refrigerate and use the syrup within 15 to 20 days as no preservative is added. This khus syrup recipe is also without any artificial green color.

Actually having such healing and cooling syrups are much much better than having processed aerated soft drinks. Another good option to keep yourself cool is to have buttermilk based drinks like Chaas.

Khus Benefits

1. Relieves thirst and burning sensations.
2. Purifies and invigorates the blood, skin and genitourinary tract.
3. Strengthens the digestive fire and calms both vomiting and diarrhea.
4. Incense or essential oil of khus, cools the mind and improves concentration. It also calms the nervous system.
5. Khus is also used to treat boils, fever, skin rashes due to heat or aggravated Pitta. (source book – “Ayurveda for Women” by Dr Robert Svoboda.)

Step-by-Step Guide

How to make Khus Sharbat

1. First separate the dried khus roots slightly if you can. Rinse the khus roots very well in running water.

There might be mud particles or tiny stones on the roots. So rinse them very well. Drain the water.

cut khus roots

2. Now chop the khus roots with clean kitchen scissors.

chop the khus grass

3. Soak the roots in water for about 8 to 9 hours or overnight at room temperature.

soak khus grass in water

Make Khus Syrup

4. After 8 hours, strain this solution of the soaked khus and water and collect the filtrate solution or extract in a bowl or pan.

Squeeze the chopped soaked roots so that all the water is drained. Then discard the khus roots.

strain water from khus grass

5. Add sugar to this khus extract and stir well.

add sugar to khus extract

6. Keep this strained extract solution on the stove top. Stir so that the sugar gets dissolved. Let the solution come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, let the boiling continue for about 5 to 6 minutes.

The syrup has to be sticky to touch but not of any thread consistency. If you want, you can make a ½ thread syrup also. But I did not.

Just a slightly thick and sticky syrup was fine with me. However a ½ thread syrup will have a longer shelf life.

making khus syrup, preparing khus sherbet

7. Now strain the hot khus syrup directly in a clean canning glass jar or bottle. We are straining it again to remove the sugar impurities. Close the lid of the jar immediately.

Let the khus syrup cool. Once the jar or bottle has cooled, keep the khus syrup in the refrigerator.

strain khus syrup, strain khus sherbet

8. While serving khus syrup depending upon your taste, you can dissolve ¼ or ⅓ part of the syrup with plain water or chilled water. Stir very well and serve the khus sherbet immediately.

khus syrup sharbat

If you are looking for more beverages then do check:

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khus sherbet recipe, khus syrup recipe

Khus Syrup | Khus Sharbat Recipe

Khus Syrup or Khus Sharbat is a cooling and fragrant summer drink made from dried khus grass roots or vetiver. This homemade recipe does not contain any synthetic colors and preservatives.
4.88 from 8 votes
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Cuisine Indian
Course Beverages
Diet Gluten Free, Vegan
Difficulty Level Moderate
Servings 1 litre
Units

Ingredients

  • 60 to 70 grams khus roots or vetiver (ramacham in malayalam)
  • 5 cups water or about 1 litre water
  • 4 cups raw sugar – 600 grams, can add white sugar instead

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • First separate the roots if you can.
  • Rinse the roots very well in water to remove any mud or tiny stone particles.
  • Chop the roots with the kitchen scissor. Soak for 8 hours in water or overnight.
  • Strain through a juice strainer and collect the extract.

Making khus syrup

  • Add sugar to the extract and stir.
  • Keep the khus extract on the stovetop and keep on stirring so that the sugar dissolves.
  • Once the solution starts boiling, continue cooking for some more minutes. The syrup has to be sticky or can be of ½ thread consistency.
  • Filter the hot syrup directly in a clean glass jar or you can filter in a bowl or pan and then pour the syrup in a clean sterilized jar or bottle.
  • Immediately cover tightly with the lid and let it cool at room temperature.
  • Once cooled, refrigerate the khus syrup.
  • Dissolve ¼ or ⅓ part of the khus syrup with water (at room temperature or cold) and your khus sharbat or drink is ready.

Notes

  • The recipe can be scaled down to make a small portion of the syrup.
  • Dried khus roots can be sourced from an Ayurvedic store or online. 

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This Khus Syrup recipe post from the archives, first published in May 2014 has been updated and republished on November 2022.

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Meet Dassana

Welcome to Dassana's Veg Recipes. I share vegetarian recipes from India & around the World. Having been cooking for decades and with a professional background in cooking & baking, I help you to make your cooking journey easier with my tried and tested recipes showcased with step by step photos & plenty of tips & suggestions.

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41 Comments

  1. HI Dassana,

    Just got the dried Khus grass. Will try this soon. Thanks for posting such lovely recipes.
    Will update you how this turns out once I make it.
    I just wanted to know from where do you buy the cast iron skillets and Kadhai?
    Thanks once again for the wonderful work that you are doing.5 stars

    1. Welcome Veena. Some I bought locally and some i got from amazon. check ‘lodge’ cast iron pans and ‘zishta’ cast iron pans on amazon.

      1. thanks a ton Dassana for your prompt response. I managed to get a cast iron Kadhai locally, and will order for a skillet from amazon.
        Just wanted to know how to clean mushrooms as I have not cooked it so far. Is it too much of a bother or is it easy?
        would appreciate your response.
        ps. have yet to make the khus syrup

        1. that great veena. the zishta kadais are good. i have one tawa and two kadais from them. from lodge, i have two skillets. both are good.

          for mushrooms, i will share how i clean them. i put them in a colander. then start the tap and rinse each mushroom under gently brushing away the mud with my fingers. i do make sure that they are cleaned very well. drain them well. then remove the muddy part of the stalk. and then slice the mushrooms. only remove the muddy part of the stalk. the remaining stalk you can keep.

        2. Thanks so much Dassana,
          Thank you for your prompt response. Will definitely now try mushrooms. Made the Khus Syrup. Was awesome. Thanks for the wonderful work you are doing. May your life be blessed with peace and abundance. love
          Veeena5 stars

        3. thanks a lot veena for your kind comment and best wishes. wish you too all the best and stay happy and blessed always.

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