In India, spices grow in abundance. They come in a staggering variety and have been ruling Indian kitchens for years. All you need to do is, scan through your spice rack, select the ingredients and add layers of flavours to your everyday meals. The fact that most of them are loaded with healthy properties gives spices an edge. One such spice that has been a part of our kitchens for eons is saunf (or fennel seeds). Dried seeds of fennel plant (or Foeniculum Vulgare Mill), it has a jeera-like shape and is light green in colour. In the Indian food culture, saunf has a range of roles to play. From being a mouth freshener to masala for desi tadka, we consume saunf on a daily basis. It doesn't end here. In traditional medical practice, saunf is consumed as a coolant as well. Let's find it out in detail.
Health Benefits Of Fennel Seeds:
The benefits of including saunf in your everyday diet are many. According to the health practitioner, nutritionist and macrobiotic health coach Shilpa Arora, "Fennel is packed with several health benefiting properties, which help keep us hydrated, maintain body's water level, regulate blood pressure and more."
Moreover, saunf, being enriched with vitamin C, is also known to help reduce inflammation in the body. This further reduces your body heat and regulates proper digestion.
These factors further make saunf an ideal ingredient to add to your summer diet. Experts suggest, drinking saunf water during the summer helps you stay hydrated and beat the scorching heat outside.
Also Read: Weight Loss: Drink Saunf Water Daily For Weight Loss; Recipe Inside
How To Make Saunf Ka Sherbet:
Here, we give a delicious spin to the regular saunf water, to prepare the cooling saunf ka sherbet. In this drink, we add mint, black salt, a sweetening agent (of your choice) and some basic spices to make the summer drink.
All you need to do is, heat a pan, add water, fennel seeds and other spices to it and boil for some time. Then strain the drink in a pan, add a sweetening agent and prepare a syrup.
Now, you can either store the syrup for future use or prepare your drink and relish it. Click here for the recipe.
How to serve saunf ka sherbet:
To make a glass of this drink, add half a tablespoon of the prepared syrup in a glass. To it, add mint leaves, black salt, salt, roasted saunf powder and ice cubes and pour water. Mix everything together and serve. The amount of salt, sweetness and other flavours, used to prepare the drink, may vary as per your palate.
Try the drink at home and let us know how you liked it. For more such summer cooler recipes, click here.