Food and Drink Recipes for Summer

[pallavi]

Dry Fruit Chikki

Preparation Time:
10 min

Cooking Time:
10 min

Servings:
10 to 12 pieces

Jaggery replaces sugar in this dry fruit chikki loaded with vitamin E, iron and zinc. Here's my serving suggestion . cut the chikki into interesting shapes...your kids will love it.

Ingredients

    * 2 ¼ cup sesame seeds (til)
    * ¼ cup thinly sliced almonds (badam)
    * ¼ cup thinly sliced pistachios
    * 1/3 cup grated jaggery (gur)
    * 1½ tsp ghee for cooking and greasing


Method

    *
      1.Heat a small kadhai, add the sesame seeds and dry roast on a medium flame for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside to cool.
    *
      2. In the same kadhai, add the almonds and pistachios and roast on a medium flame for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside to cool.
    *
      3. Heat the ghee in a deep pan, add the jaggery and cook on a slow flame till the jaggery melts and caramelizes, while stirring continuously (it should form a hard ball when you add a drop in cold water). Remove from the flame.
    *
      4.Add the roasted sesame seeds, almonds and pistachio nuts and mix thoroughly.
    *
      5.Pour the mixture immediately on a greased thali or a smooth stone surface.
    *
      6.Roll it into an even sheet using a greased rolling pin. When slightly cool, cut into equal pieces.

[DCP]

look like chikkis we make with peanuts + jaggery syrup

[SaSirEkha]

a simple pudina juice drink which is kinda spicy (which you find in many places in india in pots wrapped with wet cloths and pudina leaves on top) is best drink in summer.
though its spicy for taste, its good for health.
you wont feel thirsty for long time once you have it

[Sushma]

Swimming: The best cardio exercise
      Jumping into a pool of water at the end of a long, hot day is extremely enticing. No wonder few of us consider swimming serious exercise. But it is, in fact, one of the best ways to get a complete cardiovascular workout. In addition, it is a full body exercise that burns more calories.
 
      In a 30-minute session of doing the breaststroke, you can use as many as 380 calories. What makes it so good? The reason swimming wins over other cardio workouts such as running or cycling, is because you weigh much lesser in water (about a tenth) and therefore, don\'t have to worry about high-impact injuries.
     
      Khazan Singh Tokas, former Asian Games medallist who now runs a swimming academy in Delhi, says, \"You burn more calories with swimming than with walking or jogging, and it puts no strain on your knees and ankles.\"
     
      Swimming elevates the heart rate and stimulates circulation, improving your cardiovascular health. It also helps strengthen your lungs: During lap swimming, you typically breathe every few strokes and hold your breath in between. This increases lung capacity over time.
     

      Regular swimming also helps to build endurance and muscle strength because of the resistance water offers to all movements. Warm up or cool down If you go to a gym regularly, you can swim to introduce a new element in your regime.
     

      Besides being the cardiovascular part of your workout, it\'s a great way to warm up or cool down. If you swim before a workout, start slow and gradually increase intensity to raise your heart rate and stimulate the muscles.
     
     If you\'ve just finished an intensive workout or returned from a long run, swimming a few laps will cool you down, and circulate blood through your muscles to help them recover. Besides, there\'s nothing quite as relaxing as a dip in the water. Use it to cross trai.
     
      According to swimmer Virdhaval Khade, the great thing about intensive swimming is that it helps \"maintain the size of your muscles and tone the body, while increasing strength.\"
     
      No wonder then that athletes across sports swear by swimming as a great way to cross train and keep the body in shape during the off-season. Swimming uses all the major muscle groups, including the shoulders, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes.
     
      And because water affords 12 times the resistance as air, it really helps to build strength. According to squash player Ritwik Bhattacharya, cross training prevents an athlete from getting bored with his own sport. At the same time, it exercises muscle groups that are not normally used in the athlete\'s own sport, thus helping maintain overall body strength.
     
      Footballer Baichung Bhutia says, \"It\'s important not to let go during the off-season. That\'s why I head to the pool five times a week when I\'m not training.\" Swimming is also a great recovery method to use when you\'re following an intensive training regime, like preparing for a marathon.

    Heath Matthews, physiotherapist with the Mittal Champion Trust, who\'s trained the likes of Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and Olympic gold winning shooter Abhinav Bindra, says, \"Running every day can lead to overuse injuries, so it\'s important to alternate runs with recovery methods like yoga, pilates or swimming. This helps build flexibility and strength. Swimming is one of the easiest recovery methods.\" Make the most of it.
     
     Tennis player Leander Paes, who recently won the mens doubles title at the Australian Open, swears by pool workouts. \"The pool does not cause wear and tear, and is great for an injury-proof workout. Besides swimming laps for cardio, treading water is superb for building muscle.\" To increase the load, he advises using webbed gloves and flippers. He adds: \"With the trainer standing outside holding a resistance band that goes around my waist, I go through the full sprinting motion in neck deep water. Try it, and be prepared to get completely exhausted.\"
     
      Like any other workout, to make the most of swimming as exercise, you can introduce an interval-training regime. Incorporating bursts of high-energy work helps improve aerobic capacity and gradually push yourself up to a higher level. Upper body vs lower body By itself, swimming relies more on the upper body than the legs.
       
      So while it tones the upper body beautifully, giving you great shoulders and arms, it doesn\'t do much for your leg muscles. This won\'t be a problem if you\'re cross training, but if swimming is your main form of exercise you can make up for this gap by including a session of kicking workouts, water aerobics and pool running. All of these exercises will be far more effective in water than outside it because of the greater resistance water offers.

[Star Dust]

cold water is good for skin in summer
it removes excess heat from skin but staying for long in water can cause other side effects like catching cold etc

[Ranjana]

Mango Ice Cream

Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: nil
Servings:4

This light creamy ice-cream is deceptively easy to make. There is something special about the king of fruits... sweet- scented and aromatic it imparts a luscious creamy texture to this heavenly dessert. Serve it in chocolate cups as we have in the picture on page ...as chocolate and mango are flavours that complement each other beautifully. When mangoes are out of season you can use frozen mango pulp but I must warn you that the flavour will not be as enchanting as with fresh ripe mangoes.


Ingredients

    * 1½ cups ripe alphonso mangoes, peeled and chopped
    * 2 to 3 tbsp sugar
    * ½ can (400 grams for full can) condensed milk
    * 2 cups full fat milk
    * 1 tsp lemon juice


Method

    *
      1.
      Blend the mangoes with the sugar in a liquidiser into a purée.
    *
      2.
      Combine the condensed milk, milk, puréed mangoes, lemon juice and mix well.
    *
      3.
      Pour the mixture in a shallow container. Cover and freeze till slushy.
    *
      4.
      Divide the mixture into 2 batches and blend each batch till it is smooth and creamy.
    *
      5.
      Transfer both the batches into the shallow container. Cover and freeze till it is firm.

Tip : The lemon juice is added to enhance the flavour of the mangoes. If you find that the mangoes you're using are a little sharp, do not add the lemon juice.

[sateeshas]

Looks yammy.

[feb05]

good recipes.