A variant of lime juice) traditionally called bonji vellam or naranga vellam, is an ethnic preparation of lime juice prevalent in southern parts of Kerala, India.This is usually prepared by crushing sliced lemon with fingers and mixing the juice with mild hot water or cold water; sugar or salt are added to the mixture. It is probably as popular as karikku vellam (tender coconut water) and sambharam (buttermilk) as ethnic drinks of Kerala.
The origins of the word bonji, pronounced in the local dialect as "bwaanji", remain shrouded in etymological mystery. The lemon fruit is popularly known as "bonjikkaya" in southern parts of Kerala. Bonji water is popular in the southernmost regions of Thiruvananthapuram. In other parts of Kerala it is commonly known as "Naranga Vellam" or Lime Juice. Usually in kerala houses, guests were welcomed with Bonji Vellam. In situations like temple festivals and Kavadiyattam, there will be long queues for bonji water.
There are several variations of Bonji water. You can add soda to bonji syrup and drink. To make it tastier you can add ginger.In some parts of Kerala, cardomom is also added.
Recipe
Water- 1-1.5 L
Lemon- 5
Sugar- As Required
Salt- As Required
Cut the lemons in two and squeeze all the juice (using fingers) into a bowl. Add sugar or salt as required. Adding a bit of salt when you are using sugar will make it more tasty. Mix the concentrated syrup with cold water and serve.
Medicinal value
Experiments conducted by University of Melbourne suggest that Bonji water, or lime juice in general, thanks to its acidic nature and vitamin C content is effective in killing the HIV virus and therefore useful in AIDS prevention.[1
