I am very well known amongst my family and friends for my love for writing and sipping tea. I am a tea lover who wouldn’t let the ‘masala chai’ go waste. I am a self-acclaimed bookworm and “chahabaaj” (slang for “Tea addict” in Marathi)

Writing started as a hobby and now I am taking it up to the next level, If you sincerely grow into writing reading is equally important, may it be reading fellow writers or reading for getting more understanding of a topic or for inspiration. Reading and writing both go together.
My love for chai was passed to me by my dad, we both could have tea at any time in a hot summer afternoon or at midnight… the love never changed. However, when I went through all the prompts given by the hosts, my darling husband picked this topic for me and as a nested challenge that is a challenge within a challenge he said “write about beverages except tea”, yes you got it I rolled my eyes but still liked the idea. And as summer is approaching, I am sure many wouldn’t be as fond of tea while reading there favorite or latest reads.
So next time you are drafting your blog, or creating graphics for it or reading through articles or working on excel (meh) or coding (meh, meh, meh) remember to sip on the list below.

Let’s start with desi drinks:

1. Amla sharbat or Indian gooseberry Sorbet

Who isn’t aware about the goodness of Amla, right from indigestion, sore throat, immunity building to anti-ageing. Amla is a cure for almost everything.

There are two ways of making it,
a) Wash and Grate amla, throw away the seeds add water and sugar (as per taste) to it and leave it for 15-20 mins. Then add cumin powder and black salt put some ice cubes and its ready. Isn’t it very simple?
b) The second method is to bring water to boil and add amla to it let it cook and become soft, once cooled deseed it. Add cooked amla, sugar and chilled water to a mixer and blend it, transfer the liquid to a bowl add cumin powder and salt, if needed add more water. Add ice cubes and its ready.

2. Sattu ka Sharbat
Mostly consumed in Northen states of India, You can get ready made sattu or can make it at home. I prefer to buy it, its easily available at online stores as well as local grocery shops in India. It is a desi summer cooler, helps in regulating hunger pangs as well as acidity.

All you have to do it take 3-4 spoons of channa sattu in a glass add little water to it, put cumin powder, salt, few drops of lemon juice mix it well so that knots are not formed and add glass full of cold water. To enhance the flavour either mint leaves or green chilli or even grated or cubed raw mango can also be added.
Keeping sipping on this tasty cooler while reading and it will even help you in weight loss and boosting digestion.

3. Kokum Sharbat
This is my personal favourite, off course after tea. I am a Konkani, every time we visited Goa or Konkan we used to bring this concentrated kokum syrup. However now its easily available through e-commerce portals.

Simplest drink, which our mom always asked us to make as you can’t go wrong with it. Add one cap full of kokum syrup, ice cubes and water now Enjoy your drink.

Kokum has a unique property that apart from physical good like controlling diabetes, obesity, stomach ulcers its really a good help in easing anxiety and depression.

4. Aam Panna
Ohoo hoo!!!! They don’t call mango the king of fruits for nothing. The fruit is true king of taste when raw as well as ripe.

Aam Panna can be made in exactly the two ways as Amla sharbat, either by grating raw mango into water and by cooking it and pureeing it. Which ever way you have it don’t forget to add cumin powder or nutmeg powder.

Mango is good for heart health, it is super packed with antioxidants and nutrients. It helps improve eye sight as well as improves skin and hair health.

5. Summer= Melons
The moment we start feeling summer, we start seeing all kinds of melons in the market. Watermelon, muskmelon, sun melon. They are best fruits for the season because of the water content they have.
There can be many recipes for drinks, which are easy to make and super tasty.

You can watermelon-lemonade slush or summer melon slush

A) Pink Watermelon Lemonade Slushies
Cut watermelon slices, add fresh lemon juice, sugar if required add lot of ice and grind it.
B) Summer Melon Slushies
Mix Watermelon-Lime, Honeydew-Ginger-Mint any combination with ice will make a great slush for a long reading expedition.

6. Smoothies
From slush let’s move to smoothies, I am sure you have Banana blueberry smoothie all the time.
Let me introduce a fruit and vegetable smoothie. As a mum, I am sure you mind prompted you “lets fool the kids and feed them veggies”

Here comes the Pomegranate, beet and spinach smoothie

You can clean and cook the beet once, if you have some problem in eating it raw, however I use it raw.

Clean and Cut one apple (red or green any), half beet root, one handful of spinach, couple of mint leaves half cup pomegranate, zest of lime and one cup of hung curd. Grind everything together, add honey if required. If it becomes very thick add some water or ice to it and yes its ready to be slurped.

You got goodness of all the fruits, veggies as well as yogurt in it.
Hope you remember me next time you sit to read!!!

All the images courtsey : Pixabay, ggogle Images