Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar has shared the recipe of “neem flower sherbet” as part of her new Instagram series – “Recipes Of India '' – where she discusses food preparations from around the country. As per Rujuta, each episode, in this series, will talk about a native recipe of a particular region which is “worth adopting across India, across the globe”. The “neem flower sherbet” is a simple but exotic delicacy from Hyderabad. While we have heard a lot about gut cleansing drinks and smoothies for boosting immunity, this neem sherbet was used by our grandmothers to not just clean our gut but also our common sense.
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This sherbet is a seasonal gift by nature, since the neem flowers are only available in March-April. So make good use of these flowers while you can and add joy to your life.
What you need:
-- Two glasses of water
-- Jaggery
-- One spoon of neem flowers
-- Adrak (ginger) small pieces
-- Fresh black pepper (kali mirch) powder
-- Raw mango cut into small slices
-- Salt to taste
What you need to do:
The process is simple and fuss-free. Put jaggery in water and after 10 minutes add everything else. Diwekar added jaggery helps beat the heat and cool the body. It gives natural immunity to the body. In fact, people would serve a piece of jaggery with water to guests in the summer season, she said.
In the first episode of her “Recipes of India” series, Diwekar talked about Himalayan-style raita from the hill state Uttarakhand.
The recipe makes good use of some local ingredients like kakdi and pahar heb jakhiya. Another great coolant, it can be had with breakfast, lunch or dinner during the summer season. While Kakdi cools the body, and keeps acne, bloating and constipation at bay, the wild Himalayan herb jakhiya adds a crunch to the dish. But it also carries a lot of medicinal properties.