Sipping Through the Summer Heat
There might be some uncertainty about whether the summer heat will return but we can guarantee that these drinks will quench your thirst. Here are some much loved desi drinks that you can make at home with just a few ingredients that will help you manage the heat.
By Samar Jamal | Images by Samar Jamal and Dassana Recipes
Limu Pani (lemon water) sold at Pakistani Street Food
There are heartwarming and belly filling dishes that steam up the kitchen window in the long wet winter months. You have your piping hot pakoras, your richer cuisines that are a real labour of love like gajar ka halwa (a sweet carrot dessert enriched with ghee) and your year-round favourite like samosas.
But during these unusually warm summer days, we find ourselves seeking food or drinks that quench our thirst and cool our bodies from the inside out. Every culture has its own staple recipes, some are completely unique whilst others share ingredients that have similar cooling properties.
In the region of South Asia, temperatures can reach up to 40 degrees in the summer months so there is an abundance of cooling drinks to provide sustenance from the blistering heat. The area of Govanhill has one of the most diverse cultural demographics across the whole of Scotland. People of Pakistani heritage account for 22 percent of the population and whilst migration creates diverse communities it also brings with it traditional recipes.
I spoke to local residents about the beverages that are staples and dear to them. Shikanjvi (also known as shikanji or shikanjabeen) is a popular tangy lemonade beverage in Pakistan. It contains both cooling properties that are essential in the heat and healthy ingredients for extra nutrients.
Kamran, who runs Pakistani Street Food on Victoria Road, explains more:
It’s made with lemon and sugar but some people make it with lemon and salt. So normally we use lemon sugar and Pakistani black salt, which is slightly different from the white salt. So basically, it is a summer drink back home, and people drink it in the summer to cool down, hydrate themselves and boost their energy as well.
Although lemonade has not been conclusively proven to cool the body down, the acidity does increase salivation and makes you feel hydrated. Studies from The National Library of Medicine indicate that lemonade also increases ‘gastric secretions and emptying rate’. It might sound like a small part of your body's function, but studies prove that higher temperatures affect how our gut microbes perform, making us feel bloated and fuller for longer. And with temperatures in Scotland reaching highs of 35 degrees last year, making adjustments to our diets to manage the heat feels more essential than ever.
Although Kamran’s recipe can only be bought in a bottle on the fridge counter at Pakistani Street Food, its origins started much closer to home: “The recipes basically started at my home with just me and my wife. We worked a lot on it when we started about six years ago and then when it was finalised we launched it here.”
Shishikanjvi with mint sold at Pakistani Street Food
Kamran’s recipe is one of several variations of shikanjvi. Fresh mint leaves are often added too as the mint creates a burst of freshness and helps in the summer heat with its lingering coolness.
For Tallat, who volunteers at Al-Khair, the fragrant leaves are an essential part of the beverage that she often makes with her family: “We usually make it in a big bucket kind of thing and then everyone tastes it to see if it has enough sugar or if it needs more lemon or whatever. We also grate in the lemon peel and sometimes you mix some lime in it as well.
The lack of specific measurements is an ode to South Asian cooking where the ingredients are passed down from generations but measurements are often eyeballed to match the individual's taste and preference.
“You change it as you go along. When it has simple ingredients like in shikanjvi or even like lassi you can make it to your own preference”, explains Tallat.
Lassi is another well-known summer drink that has roots in South Asia but can be found in many restaurants in Govanhill. It refers to any yoghurt-based drink and translates to ‘yoghurt combined with water’. The taste of the drink can be easily changed by adding specific condiments or spices. The base of the drink, yoghurt or water, remains consistent and gives the drink a tangy punch. Ice is also added for extra coolness.
There is namkin lassi (savoury lassi) which usually contains salt; masalewali lassi (spicy lassi) which has added spices like pepper and cumin; meethi lassi (sweet lassi) which is made with sugar or most commonly seen on the high street, mango. The popularity of mango lassi is self-fulfilling as the sweet pulpy fruit is in abundance in the summer heat. And to combat the heat it has been combined with lassi so it can be guzzled down as a refreshing beverage.
Lassi yields many health benefits too as researchers say it helps prevent heat stroke. It is packed with probiotics which can help with microbe balance and with preventing bloating. It also helps to reduce cholesterol in the body.
Tallat's mango lassi recipe is simple and sweet: “We'll put in three, four mangoes. So we still have the taste of the mango, then we add in plain yoghurt and water and then we stick it all in the blender.”
As with most recipes, slight adjustments can yield a totally different result, Tallat adds:
“Sometimes we change the yoghurt to milk or cream but then we put it in the ice cream maker and after about 45 minutes you have ice cream you can eat. It’s healthy and it’s a little treat.”
Traditional lassi.
For Warda, who works at Mi Chaii on Victoria Road, drinking lassi is nostalgic and helps recall memories of home, in Pakistan: “I really miss drinking kachi lassi there, there’s a lot of good memories attached to it. It reminds me of sitting together and enjoying quality time with my family.”
Kachi means ‘uncooked’ which refers to the milk which is not heated and does go through the cooking process to become yoghurt. The savoury version of lassi it make creamy by removing the yoghurt and replacing it with cold milk that’s not been heated.
For Tallat, it’s also in the background of memories of summer days: “When it was summer we would have the lassi sitting in the garden and playing. And then my mum would come out and give us something cool to drink, and every half an hour she would give us more.
We didn't want to drink anything, especially water. This way we were drinking something because when you're young, you don't want to drink so much, you just want to play in the sun and that's it.”
For step-by-step recipes with specific measurements, you can visit the pages below and add or remove ingredients to your preference. Or to save yourself the cleaning up process head to Pakistani Street Food for a bottle of freshly made shikanjvi or mango lassi.
Savoury lassi and masala lassi (for sweet lassi replace the salt with sugar)
Desi: a word that translates to “from our country” and it is commonly used by people of Indian, Pakistani and Bengali heritage to refer to something that is from these countries.