10 Healthy Indian Summer Drinks to keep you cool

It’s the time of the season when even an advertisement hoarding of Aerated Drink or bottles stacked at a store/ kiosk makes you feel like reaching onto to it and quench your thirst. Not knowing that these drinks only steal more water from our system, leaving us dehydrated and thirsty. The best way to hydrate yourself and stay cool this Summer, is by preparing one of these simple yet effective natural 10 traditional drinks that are great coolers and have plenty of health benefits.

To begin with buy nannari or sarasparilla roots, any southern based or ayurvedic store will stock it. Pound the roots and remove the inner white part. Collect outer woody part and soak it in boiled water overnight.

 

Next day, filter the liquid. Add jaggery to filtered water and put it on medium flame. Let the liquid boil till it reaches one string consistency. Cool and filter. Nannari syrup is ready.

To make sherbet, take two spoons of the syrup, water ( cooled in earthen pot ) and half a squeezed lemon. Swirl it up and enjoy this Kerala special drink.

 

If you are unable to locate Nannari roots, you can buy Anantamul powder ( easily available on online grocery shopping portal) , dilute in water and relish.

 

You need raw mangoes, jaggery and cardamom..that’s it. Pressure cook raw mangoes for 3 whistles or till they become soft. Discard the peel and collect the pulp.

 

Add double the amount of jaggery/organic unrefined sugar to the pulp. Add 2-3 crushed cardamom pods and salt to the pulp. Mix well and refridgerate.

 

When making aam ka panna, add 1 big spoon of the preserve to chilled water. 

Wash whole bajra / Kambu , drain the excess water and then grind the kambu coarsely. Add thrice the amount of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Let the mixture cool.

 

Make balls of the mixture , soak them in water and refrigerate. When it’s time to make the kambu koozh, take the bajra ball - add to it buttermilk and salt. Mix well, garnish with onions and coriander.

 

The bajra balls with the water can be refrigerated for 2 days and used when needed. One can also use bajra flour cooked with water , instead of whole bajra grain. 

 

Ragi can also be treated in a similar way. With ragi, the dish is called kamban kool.

Keep one cup washed and cleaned rose petals and 3tbsp sugar ready. In a big dry jar , place cleaned rose petals. Sprinkle sugar (prefer unrefined organic ) on top of it.

 

Add another layer of rose petals followed by sugar and repeat till rose petals last. Close the jar with lid and keep it in sunlight for 7-10 days.

 

Make sure you open the jar and mix the contents everyday. Rose petal jam is ready. Refrigerate till stock lasts.

Take equal amounts of fennel seeds and sugar ( prefer raw organic) , grind them , add water and microwave at high temp for 8-10 minutes .

 

Cool the mixture, strain it and refridgerate in an air tight container.

 

When feel like cooling down, take 2 spoons of syrup , mix it with water  ( cooled in earthen pot ) and lime. 

Purchase edible sandalwood powder ( 100gm) , soak it in water ( 4 cups ) for 12 hours. Use a muslin cloth lined sieve to filter the sandalwood water solution. Make sure all the water squeezes out.

 

Add raw sugar ( 3 cups) to strained sandalwood extract, boil till sugar dissolves and one thread consistency is achieved. Now strain hot sandalwood syrup into clean jar, close the lid and let the syrup cool. Refrigerate sandalwood syrup

 

To make sandalwood sherbet, dissolve 2 spoons of sandalwood syrup in water ( cooled in earthen pot).

Soak dry kokum in hot water for 7-10 minutes. Blend and sieve it.

 

When you feel like quenching your thirst , add kokum pulp in a glass, along with jeera powder, rock salt, sugar / jaggery ( raw and organic ), black pepper powder and some chopped mint leaves.

 

Reading and picturing it ?...try it...it will taste refreshing.

To begin with, buy khus grass/vetiver (50-60gm) - available at ayurvedic store. Wash the grass, chop it with scissors and soak in water ( 5 cups ) for 12 hours. Strain the solution, discard khus grass and collect the khus extract.

 

Add raw sugar (4 cups) to khus extract, boil the solution till sugar dissolves and one thread consistency is achieved. Now strain hot khus syrup into clean jar, close the lid and let the syrup cool. Refrigerate khus syrup.

 

To make khus sherbet , dissolve 2 spoons of khus syrup in water ( cooled in earthen pot).

To make bael sherbet , you need 1 wood apple, jaggery ( 1 tbsp) , cumin powder and rock salt. Peel the fruit, collect the pulp in a bowl and add water.

 

Mash the pulp to separate the seeds. Sieve the pulp to get rid of unwanted seeds. Add jaggery, water, rock salt and cumin powder to the pulp. Blenderize the mixture.

 

Bael sherbet is ready. That’s quick and instant.

Grind a handful of blanched and peeled almonds , pistachios , soaked melon seeds ( magaz) and poppy seeds (khus khus) into a smooth paste.

 

Boil 1.5 litre of milk, add a cup of sugar ( raw and organic) , saffron and mix. Alongside, grind cardamom ( 8-10 pods) ,cinnamon ( 1-2 sticks) ,black pepper (8-10 corns ) and dried rose petals (20-25) to a fine powder. 

 

Now, mix the 3 - milk , nut paste and spice powder . Chill and enjoy it as is. 

 

It wasn’t that difficult, was it? But, still feeling lazy to prepare your own stock of coolers. Go through this list of 21 summer coolers for quick, instant cooling summer fixes.