Keep Cool / Cool Sips!!!!!!
Summers in most parts of India can be rather exhausting and
weakening. The scorching heat and humidity can repress your
appetite and drain your energy. Hence, we should keep our diet light
and drink plenty of liquids to maintain a bodily balance through the
discomforts of the season.
In the olden days when there were no refrigerators or air
conditioners, people used ‘cool’ ingredients in their daily menus in
summer.
These included lot of green vegetables, melons, mangoes, citrus
fruits, mint, water filled vegetables like cucumber, pumpkin, bottle
gourd, tender coconut, palm fruit(nungu), buttermilk etc.,
Drinking water was stored in earther jars, to which some khus (the
dry grass herb, sabja seeds were added. This way the water remained
cool and fragrant.
Listed are some of the naturally cooling dishes and some summer
special recipes like pickles and vadams(fryums).
Sherbet, Lassi, Aam panna, Falooda, Kulfi, Cucumber ullel, Lemonade,
Mango Smoothie etc.,
Summer Recipes
Mango Pickle
Ingredients
Raw mango
Red chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt
Mustard seeds Powder
Fenugreek seeds (Roasted & powdered)
Gingelly oil
Asafoetida/Hing Powder
Instructions
Wash the raw mango. Remove the top stalk part of the mango and
Chop into small pieces
Clean and dry in sun for an hour or until there is not extra moisture.
In a preferably porcelain or glass container, mix all the ingredients
except the mango, using a clean ladle.
Add mango and mix well. Keep it aside and give the pickle a stir once
every day for 3-4 days.
The pickle will be dry when mixed, later will become oily.
Add one more tablespoon of oil next day and mix it well. Mango
pickle ready!
Storing the pickle in a porcelain/glass jar increases the shelf life.
Lemon Pickle
Ingredients
Lemon
Red chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Fenugreek seeds (Roasted & powdered)
Salt
To temper
Gingelly Oil
Mustard seeds
Instructions
Wash, and cut lemon into small pieces. Avoid cutting through the
seeds and take out whole as it causes more bitterness.
Sun dry for few hours.
Add salt and turmeric powder to the cut lemon in a non reactive jar
(glass or porcelain). Leave it aside for 3 to 4 days.
Then chilli powder and roasted fenugreek powder are stirred in.
Temper with oil and mustard seeds. The pickle is bottled or kept in a
porcelain jar for longer shelf life.
Sabudana Papad/Sago Fryums
Ingredients
Sabudana/Sago
Salt
Green Chilli
Hing
Jeera
Instructions
Soak Sabudana in enough water for 4-5 hours or
overnight .When soaking, make sure water level is well above
the sago. Next day drain water .
Transfer the soaked sabudana to a pressure cooker .
Add 4 cups of water .Use same cup to measure sabudana and
water . 1 : 4 proportion. Pressure cook for 2 whistles .
Let the pressure release . Sabudana would have cooked well .
Meanwhile prepare chilli paste . Coarsely grind 4-8 green
chillies with salt .
Add it to cooked sabudana . Add hing and mix well .
Boil for 5-6mins . Take care not to burn the bottom .
Add tsp of jeera and stir well.
Sabudana batter would have become like porridge
consistency. At this point batter may look little thin & watery ,
as the batter cools , it will thicken .
Cool a bit . . And now start spooning the mixture when its still
hot. Using a small ladle/spoon, pour the sago mixture on a
plastic sheet to make small circles as shown below.
Let these fryums get dried under bright Sun for 1-2 days .After
1 day , it starts peeling off and looks transparent .Turn over to
other side and dry for another 2-3 days.
Once the fryums are fully dried , store them in an airtight
container. Stays good for a year if sundried well .
Onion / Vengaya Vadagam
Small onion/Shallots
Garlic cloves ( Chopped)
Chopped curry leaves
White urad dal
Mustard seeds
Toor dal
Cumin seeds
Fenugreek seeds
Pepper
Turmeric powder
Salt
Castor oil - 2 tsp
Hing
Wash and soak urad dhal for 30 min
Grind the dhal coarsely
Peel the skin of onions
Wash and dry them completely using a cloth
Grind the onions with the mixer coarsely
Put into the frying pan (kadai)
Grind the garlic with the skin coarsely
Add the garlic to the pan
Mix the dhal with onion-garlic mixture
Add the given spices and salt to your taste
Churn the mixture using your hands, store in an air-tight box
overnight
Mix once again and make into lemon-sized balls
Leave them to dry in the sun for the day
Grease the ball with oil and dry them for the next two weeks
