To quench your thirst and keep you hydrated this summer, we look into the recipe books of our mothers and grandmothers. The desi drinks have sweet, spice and everything nice to keep you healthy and refreshed. Every house has a special summer drink and VAISHALI VIJAYKUMAR gathers a few traditional easy-to-make recipes
Coconut jelly
Fatima S Rajkotwala, teacher and nutritionist
Ingredients
● Water from one tender coconut ● China grass: 1 strand ● Gelatin: 1 tsp
● Condensed milk: one table spoon
Method : Blend tender coconut water with either china grass or gelatin. Add condensed milk as you mix. Leave it aside for five minutes to cool and set. Kids will love these fresh jellies and they are also good for health.
Muskmelon juice
Ingredient : One muskmelon
Method: Usually, we consume the pulp and dispose the seeds along with the inner part. Instead, take that part separately and soak it in water for a half an hour. Then strain the water and drink it. This is one of the best and simple recipes for summer.
Panagam
Rajam Gopalakrishnan, homemaker
Ingredients
● Jaggery: 100g
● Cold water:150ml
● Powdered sukku : a pinch
● Elaichi: 5-6 pieces
● Lime: half cap
Method: Mix the jaggery well in water and sieve out the sand particles. Then add powdered sukku, elaichi, and lemon. (You can make it in large quantities, and store in a mud pot)
Kulukki Sarbath
Suja George, teacher
Ingredients
● Medium Sized Lime: 1
● Water: 2 cups + ¼ cup
● Sugar: 3 tsps ● Ice cubes or crushed ice: 1/2 cup ● Green chili: 1 ● Pineapple: 1 ring finely chopped ● Chopped ginger: 1 tsp ● Basil seeds / Sabja seeds: 1 tsp
Method
Chop the pineapple, green chilli, and ginger into small pieces. Soak the sabja seeds in 1/4 cup of water for at least 15 to 20 minutes. You can squeeze the juice from one lime beforehand or squeeze the juice fresh before shaking the sarbath. Add the chopped ingredients (pineapple, green chilli, ginger) and the crushed ice in a water bottle with a lid so that you can shake the sarbath without spilling. Add the sugar and squeeze the lime juice. Finally, add the soaked basil seeds and two cups of water. Close the lid and shake vigorously until the sugar is dissolved.
Pazha naneer
Vijayalakshmi, homemaker
Ingredients
● Tender coconut water: 200 ml ● Lemon: 1
● Ginger: 1 inch
● Honey: 2 tsp ● Mint: 3 leaves ● Apple: 1 small pcs ● Pomegranate: 1 small piece
Method : Take 200 ml of tender coconut. Extract juice from lemon and ginger. Mix all three together. Then add chopped pieces of apple and pomegranate. Add honey and blend it. Serve it with mint leaves.
Ginger squash
Sahiba Mohideen, homemaker
Ingredients : ● Ginger: 250 gms ● Sugar: 1kg ● Lemon: 6
● Water to make sugar syrup: 2 glasses
Method: Blend the ginger into a mixer and take maximum juice out if them. Make sugar syrup with two glasses of water and 1 kg sugar. When the sugar syrup is boiling add in the ginger juice and lemon juice. Remove from the flame as soon as you add in the juices. Store in bottles and refrigerate once it cools off.