Iced Tea

Come hot-summer Sunday afternoon and the heart cries out for something dizzyingly chilled!
And so this Sunday, it was the turn of my favourite ICED TEA!!!

Lazing around, swinging on my backyard swing and sipping the Iced Tea, I let the tangy, chilled taste take over and soothe my senses ....

Ingredients : what I used to make 5 tall glasses of Iced Tea
*Water - 5 1/2 glasses of water
*Darjeeling Tea - 5 tsp
*Sugar - 5 tsp
*Black salt - 1 tsp
*Lemon - 4 for juices and 2 sliced for dunking into the tea and for garnishing at the glass rim
*Mint Leaves - 10-12

*Ice Cubes - as many as you want

Procedure :
Normal Black Tea is to be made as follows :
1. Boil the water.
2. In a teapot or vessel(if you dont have such a large teapot), take 5 tsp of tealeaves and pour the boiling water on the leaves. Cover and let it brew for 2-3 minutes or till the leaves sink to the bottom. Do not brew for too long, as the tea will become bitter.
3.Use a strainer to pour the brewed tea into a jug or another container. The tea should be golden brown in colour.
4. Now add sugar, rocksalt(optional), lemon juice.
5.Refrigerate (in the freezer) for 1/2 hour. Add the mint leaves, lemon slices and keep in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.
6.Take tall glasses to which drop some ice cubes and pour the chilled tea.

Aaahhh Bliss!!!

Water Melon Drink

Scorching heat. The dry moisture-less air parching your throat and the body begging for fluids.

Just the right backdrop for chilled fresh fruit drinks...which not only quenches your thirst much better that the synthetic fizzy drinks but gives the body the much needed minerals and nutrients so easily lost the the unending heat!

So here's the recipe for a chilled and pretty red glass of water melon drink!

Ingredients : One medium sized melon yielded three tall glasses of drink

* One Water Melon (or as many as you need)

* A tsp of sugar

* Ice cubes

Procedure :

1. Scoop out the pulp of the water melon and de-seed (that's the troublesome part!)

2. Put the de-seeded pulp, crushed ice/ice cubes and sugar in a blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Add chilled water if required.

3. Pour into glasses and let the heat take a backseat while you savour the bright red drink!!!

Aam Pora Shorbot

(A Drink made of Roasted Raw Mango pulp)

Aam pora shorbot/sherbet is a perfect antidote to the scorching heat of the peak summer months of April, May in India. Returning from school to a chilled glass of home made Aam pora shorbot during the deadly hot summer months are fond childhood memories. At the onset of summer, Ma would make a huge quantity of the concentrate, add preservative (Sodium Benzoate) for storing, and use as and when required. She would dilute the spiced and sweetened concentrate with chilled water for instant use. It would last the whole tenure of summer.

These days, a variation of Aam pora shorbot...Aam panna, is a much in demand summer drink, available in packaged avatar too. That these healthy, soothing and tasty drinks are being chosen over the aerated variety to quench thirst is indeed a cause for celebration! These drinks have a high nutrient value, a saviour against heat strokes and dehydrations too.
Unlike Ma, I dont make the concentrate in bulk....I use 8-10 mangoes at a time so that the concentrate lasts me a week or so.
Note : Aam Panna and Aam Pora shorbot preparation is the same. The only difference is the starting material.
While in Aam Pora Shorbot, the green mangoes are roasted over fire, in Aam Panna, the green mangoes are boiled. I prefer the smoky taste of the roasted mangoes and hence, though more time-consuming, I make the Aam Pora variety more often.
So here goes the recipe :
Ingredients :
What I used...
Sugar : 250gm
Rock Salt : 1tsp
Red Chilli flakes :1tsp
Roasted and ground Cumin powder : 2 tsp

Procedure :
1. Roast the mangoes in their jackets over a flame.
2. Cool the mangoes and then remove the skin.
3. Scoop out the pulp and mash it after removing the seed
3. Pass the pulp through a sieve, so that the fibres, if any, are removed.
4. Add powdered sugar, chilli, flakes, rock salt and mix over medium flame for a minute or two.
5. Sprinkle roasted and ground cumin powder.
6.Take it off the flame. Cool and store the concentrate in glass bottles.

To make a drink, add 1/4 glass of the concentrate. Add ice cubes and chilled water.