Kewra

Kewra, keora or kewda (Hindi: केवड़ा, Bengali: কেওড়া, Urdu: کیوڑہ‎) is an extract distilled from the flower of the pandanus plant. It is primarily used to flavour North Indian and Pakistani sweets, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani meat dishes. In India it its mostly used for biryani, awadhi and hyderabadi - Lucknowi dishes.

The male pandanus flower is almost exclusively used for kewra distillation. Approximately 95% of total kewra flower exported from India is collected from areas surrounding Berhampur city in Ganjam district. The coastal areas of Chhatrapur, Rangeilunda, Patrapur and Chikiti are famous for their aromatic pandanus plantations. Arguably, flowers from coastal locales have an exquisite floral note that rival inland varieties with the most famous varieties being those endemic and cultivated in Gopalpur-on-Sea. Cultivation of kewra flower is a major source of income in Ganjam district and there are nearly 200 registered kewra distillation factories.

Kewra is also an ingredient of attar, a fragrant perfume particularly popular in Arab and other Muslim countries, and globally among perfume connoisseurs. Attar produced from kewra is considered rare. Kewra flower has a smooth, refreshing fruity scent with hints of rose, hyacinth and honey. Anecdotally, kewra attar is thought to facilitate lifting of creative blocks, especially for artists and writers.