The mercury has been setting new records in summers every year in India. Scorching heat, sweat and dehydration are some of the common woes every season. Counter this summer with these refreshing non-alcoholic drinks that can be easily prepared within minutes. These summer specialities of India may have been laid on the table for you at home by your mother or grandmother, and here are 10 quick recipes to prepare your favourite drinks yourself this season.
1. Lassi:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh curds (dahi) chilled
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamoms
- 8 to 10 ml saffron (kesar) strands
- 2 drops vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup crushed ice
- 1 tsp hot milk
Preparation:
- Soak saffron in 1 tsp hot milk and rub till dissolved. Combine the sugar and curds and whisk till the sugar is dissolved. Just before serving, combine all ingredients and blend using a hand blender. Serve chilled.
2. Aam panna:
Ingredients:
- 1 large raw mango
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 4-5 crushed black pepper corns
- Black salt (kala namak) as per taste
- Pinch of Asafoetida
- 1/2 cup Sugar
Preparation:
- Wash and boil mangoes. Let them cool. Peel, mash and strain the pulp.
- Add cumin powder, crushed peppercorns, black salt, asafeotida and sugar. Mix well till sugar is dissolved. Divide the mixture into four tall glasses, fill it up with chilled water.
- Stir well and serve.
3. Jaljeera:
Ingredients:
- 4 cups milk
- 1/4 cup almonds (badam)
- a pinch of cardamom (elaichi) powder
- a pinch of nutmeg (jaiphal) powder
- 3 to 4 tbsp honey
- edible silver leaf (vark) for garnish
Preparation:
- Blanch almonds in boiling water for two minutes. Peel and chop roughly.
- Heat milk in a thick-bottomed vessel and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chopped almonds and simmer on low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.
- Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and continue to boil for another two minutes.
- Remove from heat, add honey and stir.
- Serve warm in individual earthenware glasses, garnished with silver warq.
4.Masala chaas:
Ingredients:
- 4 glasses of slightly sour buttermilk (subsitute buttermilk with 2 glasses yoghurt and 2 glasses chilled water)
- 1 tbsp vegetable/sunflower/canola oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10-15 curry leaves
- 2" piece of ginger grated fine
- 1/2 tsp asafetida
- 2 green chillies chopped fine
- Salt to taste
- A handful of finely chopped corainder leaves
Preparation:
- Put the buttermilk/yoghurt, ginger, green chillies, 5 curry leaves chopped finely, coriander and salt to taste into a food processor and blend well.
- In a small pan heat the oil. When it is hot add the mustard seeds. They will splutter. When this happens add the remaining curry leaves and asafetida. Remove from the fire in another 30 seconds.
- Add this to the buttermilk mixture and mix well.
- Serve in glasses.
5. Sugarcane juice:
Ingredients:
- 6 cups sugarcane juice
- 6 tbsp sugar
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 to 3 drops of ginger (adrak) juice (optional)
Preparation:
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well till the sugar dissolves.
- Pour into a shallow container. Cover and freeze till it is set (approximately 4 to 6 hours). Transfer to a mixer and blend till it is slushy.
- Spoon it into 4 individual serving glasses and serve immediately.
Handy tip:
Ready-made sugarcane juice sometimes already contains ginger juice. Hence add as per the requirement.
6. Khus sherbet:
Ingredients:
- 16 tsp khus syrup
- 4 tbsp soaked falooda seeds (sabja)
- 16 tsp kewra water (optional)
- Few drops lemon juice
- 3 bottles lemon drink (lemonade)
- Crushed ice
Preparation:
- Mix all the ingredients except the ice. Serve in tall glasses with crushed ice.
7. Watermelon juice:
Ingredients:
- 1 large watermelon (tarbuj)
- 1 small sized honeydew melon
- 1 large can (850 grams) pineapple juice
- 1 large can (850 grams) orange juice
- 3 bottles ginger ale
- 1 bottle lemonade
- 1 1/2 cups watermelon (tarbuj) juice
- crushed ice to serve
Preparation:
- Cut the watermelon lengthwise, about 1/3 down. Scoop out flesh with a melon baller from both melons. Chill the balls. Put the scooped portion of watermelon into a liquidiser and take out the juice.
- Chill the fruit juices, 2 teacups of the watermelon juice, ginger-ale and lemonade. Just before serving, mix all the juices and drinks. Fill the melon shell as required. Add chilled Melon balls. Decorate with flowers if desired.
8. Falsa juice:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of water
- Falsas
- crushed ice
Preparation:
- Make 2 cups of sugar syrup by mixing 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups water till thick. Remove and keep aside. Soak falsas in 4 cups of water for 4 hours, now blend 2 or 3 times, then pass it through a fine sieve. Discard the seeds, mix the juice and sugar syrup well. Serve chilled with ice cubes and black salt.
9. Badam milk:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup pistachios
- 3 cups chilled/ warm milk
- Sugar to taste
- 2/3 tsp cardamom powder
- 2 tbsps kewra essence (available at Indian groceries) - optional
- 2 tsps rose water
Preparation:
- Grind the almonds and pistachios to a smooth paste in your food processor. Add a little milk to do this. A lot of people like to remove the skin from the almonds before grinding them. I don't do this as the skin contains many nutrients. You can do it if you wish, by soaking the almonds in hot water for 5 minutes. When soaked, press the almonds between your thumb and index finger. The skin will slip off quite easily.
- Add milk, sugar, cardamom powder, kewra essence (if using) and rose water. Blend well. Serve chilled in a tall glass.
10. Rose sherbet:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups rose petals (washed well and patted dry on a paper towel)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- Juice of 2 lemons (strained)
- 1 cup pomegranate juice (optional)
Preparation:
- Coarsely crush the rose petals in a mortar and pestle and then put into a deep glass bowl. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the paste and add the cardamom powder. Mix well, cover and allow to steep overnight.
- In the morning, strain through a very fine sieve.
- Add the sugar and stir till dissolved - do not heat.
- When the sugar is dissolved, add in the lemon and pomergranate juices and mix well. The syrup is ready now and can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- To serve, pour some syrup into a tall glass, mix with chilled water to taste and add crushed ice
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