Recipes: Seven really cool drinks to hang out with

Quick fix recipes for summer coolers by Kanchan Maslekar.

In summers, while it's convenient to drink and serve off the shelf fruit juices, soft drinks or sherbets, here are few quick drinks which can be prepared in a jiffy and these will impress one and all. These drinks can be whipped with the ingredients easily available at home. Seven choices to choose from for your summer week

Super sugarcane

Sugar cane juice or Ganne ka Raas is one of the most popular summer drinks. Give it a glamours twist and serve in a delicate class. Just make sure you serve/freeze it quickly as it turns dark.

Ingredients

• 4  cups sugarcane juice
• 1 tbsp ginger juice (grate and strain to remove the juice)
• 3 tbsp sugar (optional) 
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well till the sugar dissolves. Pour into a shallow container. Cover and freeze till it is set (approximately 4 to 6 hours). Remove from the freezer and transfer to a blender and liquidise till it is slushy. Pour it in separate glasses and serve immediately.

Coating the brim of the glasses with salt and lime will add that extra zing to the drink.

Pink lemonade

Ingredients 

1/2 kg Raspberries, water (as required), sugar, lemon, lemon zest, 

Method

Bring the water to boil. Add the lemon juice, zest, sugar and raspberries with 1.2 liters of boiling water. Let cool, then sieve, pressing through juice with the back of a spoon. Add sugar to taste and chill in jugs. To serve, add a few lemon slices, raspberries and lots of ice and lemon zest.

Serve in tall classes and garnish with lemon slices.

Kool Spicy Kairi

The seasonal raw mango can be used to quench the summer thirst. Instead of the traditional panha, here is a spunky drink for those who like the kick of a chilly!

Ingredients:

• 2 raw mangoes (kairi)
• Sugar
• Water
• 4 green chilies
• A pinch of cumin powder
• Salt to taste.

Method

Chop the raw mangoes into small pieces. Remove the seed. Add the pieces to the blender, two tsp of sugar (this may vary according to the bitterness of the mangoes and your taste), and four glasses of water and blend. Chill the mixture. 

While serving you may dilute the mixture according to your taste and a pinch of cumin powder. Slit open a green chili and add to the glass just before you serve the drink. 

Choco cola

Two most popular things in the whole world for kids and as well as adults makes an awesome drink for summer

Ingredients  

• 2 bottles coke
• 2 tbsp chocolate ice cream
• Grated chocolate or choco chips
• A few drops lemon juice
• Crushed ice to serve

Method

Mix the Coca-cola, ice-cream and lemon juice (optional) in a liquidiser and blend for 1 minute. You can also replace the lemon juice with lemon zest. Garnish with pieces of chocolate and serve.

Golden froth

Use oranges instead of the traditional lemons to quench your thirst.

Ingredients

• 2 bottles orange soft drink (even the carbonated ones work well)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp vanilla ice-cream
• Orange pieces for garnishing.

Method

Mix the soft drink with ice cream with vanilla ice cream and blend for 1 minute in a liquidiser. Add a dash of lime juice and blend again for a few moments. Top it with crushed ice. Garnish it with orange slices and serve immediately.

Lime and Lemoni

The very common Lemon and mint drink, although very simple is not to be underestimated in terms of its taste and popularity! 

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves (pudina) leaves
• 4 tbsp finely chopped lemon
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 tbsp sugar syrup
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 2 bottles chilled carbonated lemon soft drink 

Method

Combine 2 tbsp of mint leaves, 1 tbsp lemon, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp sugar syrup for one glass of Lime and Lemoni. Muddle (lightly crush) the ingredients together, using a muddler.

You can also transfer the ingredients into a small mortar and pestle and grind them roughly.

In each glass, place ¼ cup of crushed ice and top it with ½ bottle of chilled carbonated drink and add the mixture (Some also strain the muddled leaves to avoid them getting into the mouth). Serve immediately.

Citrus green tea

Ingredients

• Green tea
• Water
• Sugar 
• Lemon 
• Some mint twigs.

Method

Make the tea with 1.5 litres water and the sugar. Add mint to the pot and infuse for 10 minutes. Strain and cool. Pour into a jug, stir in the juices and serve with orange slices, mint and plenty of ice.