🥥 Pollachi

Coconut, caramelized pineapple & saffron — Semma NYC

8 min
Tropical & Floral
Tall glass over ice
Semma, New York City
0% ABV
Ingredients
  • 150ml natural coconut water
  • 60ml caramelized pineapple juice (see method)
  • Saffron infusion: 8–10 saffron strands steeped in 30ml warm water for 10 minutes
  • 10ml lime juice
  • 5ml honey
  • Ice
  • Pineapple wedge & saffron strands to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    CaramelizeSlice 2 thick rounds of fresh pineapple. Heat a dry skillet over medium-high. Sear pineapple slices 2 minutes per side until golden and slightly charred. Juice the caramelized slices in a juicer or press and strain. Measure 60ml.
  2. 2
    Saffron infusionSteep saffron strands in 30ml warm (not boiling) water for 10 minutes. The water will turn deep gold.
  3. 3
    CombineIn a shaker, combine coconut water, caramelized pineapple juice, saffron infusion (including strands), lime juice, and honey. Stir well.
  4. 4
    ServeFill a tall glass with ice. Pour the mixture over.
  5. 5
    GarnishSlide a small pineapple wedge onto the rim and drop 3–4 loose saffron strands on the surface.

About This Drink

Pollachi is a market town in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, famous across South India for its coconut and jaggery production. Semma named this drink after the town as an homage to Tamil Nadu's 'coconut belt'. The construction is deceptively elegant: fresh coconut water forms the base, caramelized pineapple juice (the pineapple is briefly seared in a dry pan to concentrate sweetness and develop complexity) adds tropical depth, and a saffron infusion — saffron steeped in warm water until golden — provides the colour and the first-sip surprise. It is a drink that tastes like the Tamil countryside in July: sweet, warm, golden, alive.

Bartender Tips

The caramelization step is essential — raw pineapple juice tastes flat by comparison. If you don't have a juicer, blend the caramelized pineapple with 30ml water and strain through muslin or a fine sieve. Good saffron (Kashmiri or Persian) turns the drink a vivid golden-orange. Cheap saffron barely colours the drink. A single generous pinch is all you need.

Origin
Restaurant
Semma, New York City
Origin
Tamil Nadu, South India
Flavour
Tropical & Floral · Easy
Related
🍹All 96 MocktailsBrowse all recipes 🇮🇳Indian CocktailsWith alcohol
Where to drink this
Restaurant
Semma
Address
60 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011
Style
South Indian fine dining
Accolades
Michelin Star · James Beard nominated · Time Out's Best New Restaurant

Semma is among the most important Indian restaurants to open in New York in a generation — a restaurant that put South Indian cooking (Tamil Nadu in particular) on the same platform as the North Indian dishes that have long dominated the Western imagination. Chef Vijay Kumar's cooking is precise, intense, and deeply traditional. The drink programme pairs accordingly: coconut, nannari, tamarind, and rooibos in forms the neighborhood has never seen.

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