This is one of the most refreshing drinks possible. Its an age old recipe handed down generations. Days when no soda or tang powders were available, these drinks were used to quench thirst and aid digestion alike. I happened to try this as a welcome drink at Made In India-1947. Its a restaurant on ring road (Bangalore) having a nice ambiance and great food. What strikes me about this place is the limited number of options they have in each category. If you want a cold beverage there are only 2-3 options. Same goes for soups, starters, etc; However, whatever they serve is really up to the mark. Another thing thats note worthy is that the place is always on high demand although its completely vegetarian! Yes, very few such pure veg restaurants in Bangalore which are running well. The first one that comes to mind is of course MTR!
Pudina Shikanji is a drink that has been perfected at Made In India-1947 and I have been meaning to try it for a while now. Its really easy to make although you need to carefully follow certain tips mentioned below.  Dont let the cold weather stop you from trying this one out.  You can minus the ice cubes if you like.

Ingredients  :

• 1 cup Pudina / Mint leaves
• A Small piece of Ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Salt
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 Lemon

Procedure :

1. Boil sugar with double the quantity of water. Ensure you do this over slow flame till the sugar melts completely. Allow the syrup to cool.
2. Wash pudina leaves well and grind with ginger, black salt and a small quantity of water.
3. Strain the pudina juice into a bowl. Add sugar syrup as per your taste.
4. Add ice cubes. Taste the mix and add a small quantity of water if required.

Please note :

1. Its important to slowly dissolve sugar in water to get a syrup of the right consistency. Its not recommended to directly add sugar in the juice at the end as the taste of cooked sugar is different.
2. Black salt should preferably be ground with mint leaves and not added as a powder at the end.
3. The lemon should not be squeezed too much. The juices that are released from the rind make the drink bitter. It helps to use a lemon press.
4. Its advisable to add ice cubes, wait and then taste the drink before adding water. If you add water initially itself the taste could get diluted.

I was instantly hooked up by the tag ‘Traditional Sindhi Cool Drink’. It caught my attention and didnt let go for several seconds. I logged into Avisha’s blog not knowing what to expect. There it was – a tall glass with a chilled red beverage in it. I was thirsty the second I saw it. To my delight I realized that I had all the required ingredients – a watermelon, rose syrup (Roohafza – my all time fave) and ice. I thought I’ll blend these sometime to check out what the result would taste like. Like all other Sindhi delicacies I was sure this one would be good too.

The Red Glass followed me like a Ghost. I couldn’t get it out of my head. So 24 hrs later I found myself standing in front of a mixie jar and ready to take the test. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, baby n Dad were sitting around warming the couch. I quickly made a glass of the traditional Sindhi drink and had a few sips. It is safe to say that the combination was perfect. All three ingredients namely watermelon, Roohafza and ice act as chilling agents to the body and so the overall combination results in a drink thats super cool. Please try it out when you have a watermelon at home next, this recipe gets a thumbs up from me. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe Avisha.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Watermelon cubes
2. 1 tablespoon Roohafza / Rose Syrup (or as per your taste)
3. Ice cold water
4. Ice

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and strain it out for a refreshing drink.

Please note:
I squeezed a bit of musambi juice into the drink for a little more zing. You can try adding mint leaves or anything else that you like in your mocktails.

Mayank asked me the ingredients required for the drink and I gave him a list. He ran the errand rather promptly and in an hours time our house was fragrant with a whole lot of mint leaves. In the evening he told me that there was a change in plans. We wont have to make the beverage as an arrangement had already been made. Hmmmm….. what was I to do with the mint leaves, ginger and whole lot of lemon that was chilling in my fridge?

Mint leaves are versatile and can be used to make pudina chutney and pulao. So that wasnt a problem and thankfully ginger also has a rather long shelf but lemon doesnt survive that way and how long can you eat tangy food in order to finish the lime juice? A week went by and every time I opened the fridge 12 angry big lemons would stare at me and I would look away, promising myself that someday I would put them to good use.

At this point my mom came up with a good solution. She asked me to make lemon squash so in the upcoming summer months we can drink refreshing lemonade whenever we want.

The procedure was simple. I bought a lemon squeezer so it would hasten the process. Once the squash was ready I added PMS to give it a shelf life of one year! Unlike the market-made squash it doesnt contain essence and food color. It has the flavor of freshly squeezed lime juice in every glass. Now I am happy that managed to preserve my 12 angry lemons for one year without really putting them in a pickle

Glass Painted the Squash Bottle

Glass Paint dried up, awaiting the Squash

Lets start Cooking. Besides the ingredients mentioned in the picture below please make sure you have a lemon squeezer and a funnel (to pour the squash into a bottle).

Procedure :

1. Heat sugar with water in a heavy bottom pan till it boils.
2. Turn off the heat and add citric acid. If you find froth on the surface extract and discard it. Thats the impurity in sugar that citric acid helps to collect.
3. Once the sugar syrup is cool add the lime juice, PMS and mix well.
4. Store in clean, dry bottle. 
5. When you want to have a glass of lemonade mix the syrup with the desired quantity of water and enjoy it with ice. If you find the sweetness to be less you can add sugar to the syrup even after its made.

Variation

You can add strands of kesar to the squash once its ready. This will add kesar flavor and color to the lemonade.

You can mix this syrup in ice tea or fuzzy apple drink to get delicious mocktails.

Being a person who has never tasted an alcoholic drink upto date I always wondered what the cocktails must taste like. One day I ran into a Mocktail counter at a food court and realized that people who dont drink liqueur also have delicious options. I had a Virgin Pinacolada and it was delicious! Since then whenever I got a chance I ordered this drink. The sweetness in the coconut milk perfectly balances the sourness in the pineapple juice. Every milky sip of this tropical fruit drink leaves your taste buds wondering whats tasting so good.

In Spanish, Pina Colada means ‘Strained Pineapple’. In 1978 it was such a popular drink in Puerto Rico that it was declared the National drink of the country. A very interesting summer mocktail indeed.

The best Virgin Pinacolada I ever had was a couple of months ago on our wedding anniversary. We had been to this fancy place called Memories of China. The Colada there was just too perfect. I hoped the glass would never finish. The texture was creamy and temperature of the drink was perfect.

I tried to recreate some of the magic. Lets see if it matches up! This is my entry to the Fun ‘n’ Sun Event hosted by EasyCrafts.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 glass of pineapple juice
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon of coconut milk
• Sugar syrup (as per taste)

Procedure :

1. Mix the above ingredients in a glass or shaker.
2. Serve chilled with bananas or fruit of your choice.

Please NOTE :

1. The temperature of this drink is important. We dont usually add ice to it so use chilled ingredients.
2. Serve in a thin, tall glass. I didnt have a thin one so I went with the closest one available.
3. Dont use a mixie to blend the drink as the cream could split.

Ingredients :

• 2 teaspoons Ice tea powder
• 1/2 glass Watermelon juice
• Lime juice
• Sugar
• Ice

Procedure :

1. Add water to the ice tea powder and stir well so there are no lumps.
2. Mix in the water melon juice, lime juice and sugar. Shake well.
3. Place ice cubes in a tall glass. Pour in the blend and serve chilled.

Variation

You can try out the same recipe with apple juice and honey instead of watermelon juice and sugar.

Please NOTE :

You need to check the sugar content in your ice tea powder and alter the water/sugar content accordingly. I used Nestea and was satisfied with the drink.

This drink is for all you chocoholics who want to beat the heat this summer, in style! Enjoy your Coffee on the rocks (rocks here refers to ice cubes please )

Ingredients :

• 3/4 Glass milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
• 1 teaspoon coffee powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Procedure :

1. Blend milk, cream, sugar, chocolate syrup and coffee powder in a mixie jar. Now taste the mixture and add more sugar if required.
2. Pour chocolate sauce along the inner sides of a tall glass, leave some sauce at the bottom too. Place a generous amount of ice cubes inside the glass. Pour the drink into your chocolate laden glass and serve.

Please NOTE :

1. The milk and cream should both be chilled to get a good blend else the milk can make the cream split.
2. Serve the drink immediately after blending it. If it reaches room temperature it will make the ice cubes melt quickly making your drink dilute.
3. Since most of the space is taken up by ice cubes the drink you make with one glass measurement can actually serve two.
4. I used Bru instant coffee, Amul fresh cream and Hersheys chocolate syrup in this drink and was satisfied with the result.

Fruit Punch

Please don’t use aerated water if this Punch is being made for children. Substitute it with milk or plain orange juice and you will be happen to discover a creamy, yummy drink for those kids who don’t like milk!

Ingredients :

• 3 tablespoons of orange squash
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon of lime squash
• 1/4 cup aerated water (optional)
• 3/4 cup milk

Procedure :

1. Blend milk, cream, orange and lime squash in a mixie jar. Taste the mixture and see if you get the flavor of orange. If no, please add some more orange squash and blend again.
2. Pour into a tall glass, add plain soda (milk/orange juice) and serve chilled.

Please NOTE :

1. You can add vanilla ice cream to the drink if you don’t have fresh cream.
2. You might need to check the taste towards the end and add some sugar. It depends on whether you used cream or ice cream and how sweet your squash concentrates are.

© Roma Sharma 2007-2008