Neem flower rasam

As a child I hated few things imposed by my grandparents during our visit every summer. It was disgusting to find all our clothes reeked of bitter neem oil as they were washed using neem detergents. We also disliked to gobble up extremely bitter balls made of neem leaves paste forcibly given by our grandmother. But now I have been yearning for such eco-friendly chemical-free detergents suitable for my washing machine, and also I feel guilty to give de-worming tablet to my son as I am unable to persuade him to take the home-made herbal substitute available plentiful around us. Nevertheless I feel contented that I can prepare delicious soup using neem flowers that possess almost same properties as that of neem leaves.

Melon ball fruit salad

Generally, we prepare refreshing musk melon juice or milkshake by adding milk & sugar (or condensed milk). Ever since I realized the weight loss properties of musk melons I started including them in my diet as much as possible during the entire summer. Needless to say that calorie conscious people would prefer to take fresh musk melon salad than creamy milkshakes during this summer to enjoy its health benefits completely. So lets make melon ball fruit salad that will satiate our hunger as well.

Indian Popsicles

Hot sunny days always remind me the summer vacations spent during my childhood days indulging in ice pops (Popsicle) like paal-ice, semiya ice, javvarisi ice, thengai ice, pazha ice, panchamirtha ice, etc. Indian popsicles are so flavourful that we could find delicious chunks of native fruits like mango, grated coconut, chopped nuts, slimy tapioca pearls or smooth vermicelli while relishing chilled pops. Nowadays it is hard to find ice pops with Indian flavours, those milky ice pops are replaced by creamy ice cream, chocolate sticks, etc.

Kambu koozh

Kambu koozh (millet porridge) is one of the best breakfasts that can be taken on a scorching sunny day during summer as it keeps us cool & energetic all through the day. It is so filling that we don’t require to take anything until lunch. You can check out the link here to know more about various millets, their health benefits and also millet recipes. I found this site on millets very informative. We can prepare koozh (porridge) using millets by cooking the whole millets or millet powders, and serve it diluted by adding either milk or buttermilk.