Sunshine in my kitchen: Summer is the time to relish food and beat the heat

The arrival of Indian jujube in the vegetable market used to mark the onset of summer in Bengal. There is a popular myth associated with eating them.

Green mangoes are everywhere in Bengal during summer, so are aam diye tok dal and ambol (a sour and watery dish) made using raw mangoes tempered with mustard and aniseed.

In summer, it is difficult to digest spicy food, and the sour ambol without sugar is believed to help cool your body. Also, tok dahi with rice or chira (rice flakes) are consumed this time.

As the sun got brighter, my late grandmother used to keep her signature kuler achar or jujube pickles in old Horlicks bottles. Me, a child then, used to finish them off when every one was taking their after-meal siestas.

Biuli/kalai/urad dal with alu posto (potatoes with poppy seeds), raw poppy seed paste or poppy seed fritters and mashed potatoes are other summer delicacies.

Leafy vegetables like kalmi and hinche are everywhere this time and pat shaker jhol or soup of jute leaves is another summer delicacy.

But in rural Bengal, panta bhat (semi-fermented leftover rice soaked in water) is eaten with onion and chillies. Potato fry is another signature summer dish.

"In summer, our body demands more liquids and we must consume plenty of liquids in the form of water or fruit juices. This improves our digestive capacity and also protect us from dehydration, exhaustion, lack of energy and dryness in the body, which are very common during this season," Agarwal says.

Another interesting summer beverage in Odisha is ghasa jala, a special drink that includes ghasa chandana (paste of sandalwood), water, jaiphal, karpura (camphor), malli phula (jasmine). It is made and stored in a matki (clay pot).

Young jackfruits or echore is another interesting ingredient. Sabji (dalna) and even pickles are made using echore. Also, dishes with morunga or drumsticks and flowers start appearing this time.

And who can forget gur aam, the mango pickles with jaggery or sugar from Bengal, and different types of mango pickles available all over India.

A popular dessert in Gujarat is aam ras, mango pulp flavoured with saffron and cardamom.

Mattha is lightly spiced buttermilk using fresh ginger, roasted cumin, black salt and fresh coriander. There is also a tempering using curry leaves.

Earlier in western India, when people used to visit someone, they were first served a piece of jaggery followed by water. This gives them an instant energy boost and helps them cut down the chances of getting a heatstroke.

On the occasion of Padhva, a new year festival, a special pachadi is made using tamarind pulp, raw mango pieces, hing, neem flowers, cumins, pinch of salt and jaggery.

During Chaitra Gour in Maharashtra, group of ladies take watli dal and panha, which is soaked chana with puffed rice. Here the soaked Bengal gram is roughly crushed on mortar and pestle and cooked with raw mangoes. Tempting!

Raw onion is considered to be very good in summer. Kayras is an absolutely delicious variety of chutney that is often made with kairi (raw mango) and raw onion.

A number of delicious summer beverages come up all over India.

Thandai without Bhaang Popular in UP, Punjab and Rajasthan. A concoction of nuts, various spices and saffron is added to milk and served chilled, garnished with nuts, rose petals and laced with saffron. It is verypopular during Holi

Summer eating habits in Assam are also very interesting.

South Indian summers are intense. The mercury can soar to 40-45 degree Celsius. According to Ayurveda, “pitta dosh” occurs this time. Certain types of food are recommended to counteract that.

Kharbooja Hannina Rasayana from Karnataka is finely chopped cubes of muskmelon/cantaloupe mixed with finely ground coconut, almonds and cardamom and jaggery. This is eaten as a snack or with dosa.

Neeragaram — pazha soru kanji — fermented rice and buttermilk of Tamil Nadu. Similar food is consumed all over south.

Kambu Koozh is a bajra flour drink made using freshly powdered bajra flour that is first boiled in water. As it cools, it thickens. Orange-sized balls are made of this and these balls are soaked in plain water overnight. These balls can be eaten when warm as well. It is supposed to cool the body.

Indian Sarsaparilla/Nannari sherbet (TN and Andhra) The nannari plant is known for its medicinal values and is known as ananthamoola in Ayurveda. Nannari sharbat is generally a mixture of lemon juice, jaggery/sugar, water in a concentrated syrup prepared from nannari. It is also known as suggandhi.

Kanji is a very thin watery drink. Koozh has a thick porridge like consistency.

In Kerala, kulluki sharbat (soaked spiced sabja/basil seeds) and kachia mor or mor curry (a tempered buttermilk dish eaten with rice) are extremely popular in summer.