Hello Friends,

The heat is on!!!

With the temperatures soaring around 40 degrees Celcius in almost all states of India it is just too hard to keep cool. Not only in physical sense but literally too! I know because when the temperature rises, so does my temper!

When this starts happening, I simply turn to kitchen cupboard and prepare some of my fail-proof remedies which have been time tested now for more than three generations in our family.

Some of these are:

1. Nachani kanji:  Take about 3 tablespoonfuls of Nachani malt (also known as Ragi, easily available in grocery stores) and roast the flour lightly in ghee for a couple of minutes or until aroma arises from it.

Next, add water to it slowly to make fine batter without forming lumps. Add salt as per tatse and cook it slowly over fire. Take care to keep on stirring it so that no lumps form and it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. This will take only a few minutes to cook after which remove from fire. When its done, it changes colour. Add cumin powder.

Let it cool for some time after which add curds or buttermilk to it and serve. For added flavour add little paste of green chillies.

This preparation can be had before heading out for work. Since this is very nutritious and filling, this is a very satiating drink with few calories and at the same time keeps our body cool.

2. For people who are prone to dehydration and excessive thirst there is a very good  and extremely remedy:

Soak a teaspoonful of dhania seeds (coriander seeds) along with cumin seeds overnight in a glassful of water. Wash the seeds once before soaking. Next morning strain the water and remove the seeds, add powdered mishri (khadi sakhar) to it and drink. This is the most effective way of keeping cool. This not only removes excessive heat from the body but also lowers occurrences of acidity and heat boils.

3. Cut down on oily and spicy foods. Drink fluids as much as possible, especially the usual summer delights such as mango panhas, lemonades, kokum sharbats and amla sharbats etc.

4. Try to store drinking water in earthern pots to which dried Khus or fresh mogra (jasmine) flowers can be added. This water works wonders and quenches thirst as sure as the water from refrigerator does not!!