Nimbu pudina sherbet / Lemon mint-ginger cooler

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it
 - Russell Baker

Summer
It beats us down with heat......
We need solace from the hot winds and the harsh sun......
We need shady trees and cool evening breeze.....
We need a lot of breaks......

But mostly we need to quench our unending thirst time and again.
And thus, the season of lazing around begins....

Lemon mint ginger sherbet 

You will need
Indian lemon or lime- about 14 in number
Mint leaves- 1 cup, cleaned and washed well
Sugar- 250 gm
Water- enough to cover the sugar.
Ginger- 2" piece (optional)
Kala namak/ red salt- 1 tsp

Method
Take sugar and water in a pan. Keep it on low flame till the sugar dissolves. Bring it to a boil. Lower the flame and cook for a minute or so.
Remove from flame to cool till room temperature.
Remove the seeds and squeeze the juice out of lemons or alternatively, strain the juice.
Blend the mint leaves with ginger. Do not add water. Add lemon juice if required.
Add the lemon juice and mint-ginger mix to the sugar syrup and mix.
Your sherbet is ready!

To serve
Pour about 1 tbsp syrup in a glass.

Add ice cubes if not using chilled water.

Add water or soda (if you like)
Add some more red salt..adjust to your taste.

Garnish with mint leaf and serve. You can also add a slice of lemon to it.

Enjoy the summers!!

Aamrus/ mango pudding

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. The scorching heat of summers had only one welcome respite.. MANGOES!!
 With mangoes arriving in big crates at home and made into "aamrus" in every single meal! I used to to ape my father by dunking 2-3 chunks of ice into it and relishing it to the last spoon (or lick in my case..:) ). Bliss.

The recipe is super simple and easy and basically if you have nice juicy mangoes, you can't go wrong with it. In my mom's version, milk and dry fruits were not a daily happening. Just mangoes, sugar and a little water would go a long way but my mom usually used ripe Alphonso/ Haphous variety which is the most juicy and flavorful variety of mangoes.

As I said, you can't go wrong if you have some ripe good quality mangoes.

Ingredients

1. Mangoes-2 small sized
2. Sugar- 1 tsp for sweet mangoes (you may need more for ones which are a  little sour)
3. Milk- 2 Tbsp
4. Dried fruits (optional)- chopped,for garnishing

Method

1. Peel the mangoes and remove the stone/seed.
2. Take the mango pulp, add milk and pluse it in a blender. (If you want mango chunks to remain then add less milk or just stop blending before its totally smooth)
3. Add sugar and blend again.
4. Pour into a bowl, garnish with nuts and enjoy!

PS: You can omit the milk and replace with water for a vegan version.
You can increase the quantity of milk and add ice to make a mango shake.
Diabetics can enjoy this by omitting sugar because the fruit itself is sweet enough. People with very high sugar will have to avoid it though.