Refreshing Iftars

As the monsoons have almost ended in our part of the country , rozas have become hard. They were not initially – as I had thought they would be keeping in view  the summer heat and excessive power cuts. Most of the Ramadan has been spent during a bearable weather .I’d say. But towards the end , rains have disappeared and loadshedding has struck back with full force after a short break during the rain season. (Oh and they are not ethical enough to spare us  even during Sehar and Iftar as they promised they would! )

For some odd reason , our generator gets conked out whenever it is needed the most – making the heat more oppressive. So the last ashra has been tough comparatively.

As I write random stuff , I am reminded of the drinks that help us recuperate our energy that gets drained throughout the fasting period. So let’s move on from discussing heat to  some refereshing stuff.

The daily drinks that we prepare for iftari our the first ones to disappear from the table. There have been a variety of drinks in the daily iftar menue. Tempting enough to dedicate a post to them =p (I guess)

Falsa Juice

Although falsas are out of season , we still get a home-made purple falsa drink for iftar every other day. We are a falsa loving family- a tiny subset of a falsa loving nation ( I am yet to come across a Pakistani who doesn’t like falsa or mangoes) – and make sure that we freeze an ample amount of falsas to enjoy even after they are not available in the market. Falsas make a ‘guest appearance’ and usually last in the market for around 2 months. The chilled falsa juice , sometimes plain and sometimes prepared with ‘ soda’ or ‘sprite’ is one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever tasted.

Lemonade

Or Sekanjabeen( Ive hardly ever pronounced that word properly)  or Limo-Pani/Nimbu-Pani is the other common item on the table. Again , one of the most delicious drink no person  I know doesn’t like . The drink is   served plain sometimes and sometimes made ‘fizzy’ with the addition of Sprite. I like it both ways. (  Somehow, Cameron pops into my mind when I mention ‘both ways’ – ah never mind – no politics for a change!)

Jaam-e-Shireen :

Is the most famous local red drink in the country. Jaam = drink and Shireen = sweet . We didn’t drink much of it during the earlier parts of Ramadan. I’ve been making it since a few days and believe me , breaking your fast after a hard day of fasting , jam-e-shireen is absolutely heavenly. Chilled ofcourse.

Lassi

And one of my all-time favourites, Lassi. The first day I decided to add lassi in the iftar menu , I thought about adding some mint. We have it planted in our back garden. The experiment turned out to be ‘refreshingly wonderful’. Homemade yougurt plus home-grown mint – the drink acquires a ‘special status’. I continued making the drink throughout the month. Mint has been a regular ingredient in almost all the different items Ive prepared since then. I even stuck them into green chillies along with lemon and chaatmasala yesterday  =/

By the way , flour coated green chillies stuffed with lemon juice and anaardana(pomegranate seeds) fried for a few minutes are one of the best things to eat. Do not forget your Chapati along with the mirch. It is a delicious torture.

‘Tera bairra gharak hoye ‘ is what I get to hear when my family cannot resist the temptation of the special chillies I make occasionally. Runny nose , watery eyes , and a great burning sensation are the side-effects but the taste is just worth bearing all this hardship. I tell them it is okay and that they’ll have their stomachs ‘clean and clear’ by a few hours :P

Tea

And atlast , the dinner ends on tea.While other drinks may be skipped on some days, tea is a must. Only me, my mother and my aunt gulp down full mugs of tea  as a ‘necessity’. We’re addicted.

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