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Indian coolers can broadly be divided
into two categories—milk-based and fruit-based.
Sugar-rich concentrates and lighter fresh juices are
popular too.
A lighter milk-based drink is chaas (buttermilk), which
is usually salty and spiked with cumin seeds that help
in digestion. and heavy version of it is known as thick,
creamy lassi or whipped curd A glass of thandai – a
blend of poppy seeds, nuts, saunf (fennel seeds), rose
petals and melon seeds with milk is also fancied by
some.
Fruit juices help the body stock up on essential
vitamins and minerals though some of them are high on
sugar. The trick is to stick to low-sugar fruits like
watermelon rather than apples or grapes.
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Gajar ki Kanji
Ingredients: 250 gm
carrots-preferably the dark variety (called kaali gajar)
6 cups water
3 tbsp powdered mustard seeds
2 tbsp salt
Method:
Peel the carrots, and cut
them into 7cm/3" pieces, not too thin (about finger
size, you can say).
Boil the water and add the carrots to it. When the water
comes to a boil again, shut off the heat and leave to
cool.
Add the salt and the mustard powder, and transfer into a
jar with a lid, and keep this in the sun, to mature.
In sunny weather, it takes 3-4 days, for the taste of
the mustard to become strong. Do not keep the jar in the
sun, after it is ready.
Kahwa
Ingredients:
1 litre water
75 gm sugar
20 gm cinnamon sticks
10 gm cardamom powder
40 gm kahwa tea
50 gm almonds-slivered
Method:
Boil the water with sugar, cinnamon and green cardamom
powder for 5 minutes.
Add the tea leaves and remove from the flame. Cover with
a lid and brew for 3 minutes.
Strain and pour into cups and add slivered almonds into
each cup. Serve hot.
Jaswant Sherbat
Ingredients:
1 kg sugar
3 litres water
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 cups hibiscus-broken petals (Jaswand Phool Ki Pattiya)
Method:
Dissolve the sugar in the water, not letting it come to
a boil.
When sugar is dissolved, increase the heat and bring to
a boil.
Add the milk and continue to cook till scum forms on the
sides, which you should skim off.
Add the lemon juice and continue to cook till one thread
consistency is reached.
Turn off the heat and add the flowers, and cover
immediately.
Leave thus overnight. Strain and store in bottles.
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Ingredients:
1 kg red pomegranate (anar)
1 kg sugar
1/2 kg water
ice as required
rock salt (kala namak) as required
1/4 tsp potassium meta bi sulphate
Method:
Peel anar.
Boil sugar and water.
Boil it to one sugar syrup strand.
Take out juice of pomegranate.
Let syrup cool, and then add anar ka juice and potassium
meta bisulphate.
Fill it in a bottle.
Serve it in a glass with water, kala namak, crushed ice. |
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Chandan ka Sharabat 50 gm
sandalwood (chandan ka chura)
2 kg sugar
1 kg water
1 tsp orange colour
2 tsp sandalwood (chandan) essence
1/2 tsp potassium meta bi sulphate
How to make chandan ka sharbat :
Soak chandan in water for 8-10 hours.
Then strain it.
Boil it with sugar in it.
Boil it to one sugar syrup strand.
Let it cool, and then add colour, essence and potassium
meta bi sulphate.
Fill it in a bottle and enjoy with chilled water.
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