Chaas

It's definitely heating up for summer! My Indian friends gave me this great recipe for a drink that keeps you cool, and replaces salt lost from sweating. It's called chaas, and the savoury ingredients may initially intimidate you, but I suggest making a small amount, very cold, and see if you like it. I love it :)

Ingredients:

• 2 generous tbsp natural yoghurt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 400ml cold water
• a handful of ice
• 1/4 tsp crushed, toasted cumin seeds (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients in a glass and whisk until combined. Drink cold or keep for up to a couple of days.

Iced Coffee

They make this amazing drink here called 'Coffee Chill', which is iced coffee in a carton. I could drink it by the gallon, if it weren't for the rather hefty sugar and fat content. Once I had a carton in my fridge for three weeks and it was still good at the end! Mmmmm. Preservatives...

Here's my home-made version, which I've been making for years, since it's so hard to get a decent iced coffee in the UK. Amusingly it took me quite a few tries to get the order of the steps right, but I blame that on not having had a cup of coffee before I began the process!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp excellent ground coffee
• 100ml boiling water
• 2 tbsp demerara ('raw') sugar (optional)
• 100g ice
• 100ml milk
• 100ml cold water

Put the coffee in your cafetiere and cover with the hot water, and allow to stand for five minutes, then depress and strain into a glass. (Or, make ~100ml of coffee in an espresso maker.) Dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee. Add the ice and stir until the coffee is cold. If the ice completely melts, add a few more cubes. Add the milk, then top up with cold water, or milk, to taste.