A little bit of stirring is all that is required to make a cool, tall glass of India’s favourite summer thanda – intensely refreshing, supremely beneficial Shikanji! Your Glass of Chill this summer!

 No one can get through the harsh Indian summer without gorging on cool, refreshing drinks. And anyone who’s been brought up in this heat will have memories of being admonished to come in from the heat and have some thanda “nimbu-paani” or Shikanji.

 Shikanji has been the summer cure-all for generations of mothers and grandmothers. Garmi lag gayi? Shikanji pilao! Stomach upset? Shikanji pilao! Feeling tired? Have Shikanji! Feeling nauseous? Have Shikanji!

 Ammiji’s kitchen always used to have a jug of masala Shikanji chilling in the fridge for anyone who came in from outdoors during the peak summer. She used to put a special, secret masala blend in her Shikanji that was not only superbly refreshing but incredibly addictive too. It is that secret masala that we have added to our mix for Ammiji’s Instant Shikanji. Because, as always, Ammiji knows best!

 Shikanji, the desi cousin of lemonade, is sold across the streets of India by hawkers who keep it cool in earthen pots. Fresh lemon and mint, rock salt and cumin, and loads of ice – that’s what makes for a tasty and reviving Shikanji. That is, until you try Ammiji’s Shikanji. Delicately spiced, mildly sweet – it will be your best friend this summer.

 Ammiji’s Shikanji contains dried lemon powder and spices like cumin, clove, pepper and the super-beneficial Myrobalan berries or Haritaki. It also contains a bit of dried mint for that refreshing flavour and a tiny bit of Naushadhar for its digestive properties as documented by Ayurveda. The salt we use is natural pink Himalayan salt, chock full of minerals. Together, these ingredients make a drink that’s not only refreshing but also good for keeping dehydration at bay and keeping the digestive system working optimally during the summers.

 So each time you feel tired, anxious, nauseous, queasy or just plain sick of the heat, take a leaf out of Ammiji’s playbook and stir up some instant coolness for yourself with Ammiji’s Instant Shikanji!

 Directions for use: Add 1 – 1 ½ tablespoons of Ammiji’s Instant Shikanji powder in a glass. Top it up with chilled water. Stir to dissolve. Add ice. Garnish with lemon slices or mint leaves if desired. Your thanda glass of chill is ready!

 Ingredients: Sugar, Powdered Lemon, Pink Himalayan Salt, Cumin, Black Pepper, Clove, Harad, Naushadhar, Dried Mint

 Weight: 250 gms

 Price: Rs 450 350

 Good For: 3 months

 Always use a clean, dry spoon. Store jar away from heat or direct sunlight.

Pure mango goodness in a glass – without the mess! Let the temperature take an instant nosedive with a chilled glass of Mango milkshake!

 We are all familiar with those mornings when leaving for a work is a blur of cooking food, packing tiffins, serving breakfast and ensuring that everything and everyone is set for the day. To simplify your routine a wee bit, Ammiji’s launches its Instant Milkshake Mix Collection. All the goodness of a homemade milkshake, made in a couple of easy steps. Because what could be more chill than starting off your day with a perfectly make milkshake or smoothie?

 For our Mango Milkshake Mix, we’ve taken pure dried mango sections and powdered them. No essence, no artificial flavors. So each time you add a scoop to your milkshake, you can be sure you’re getting the goodness of a mango milkshake, without the added bother and mess of chopping up a mango. After all, what’s an Indian summer morning if you don’t start it off with a chilled, tall glass of mango milkshake?

 Directions: Use about 1 tbsp for every 100 ml of milk. Add ice. Blend.

 Ingredients: Sugar, Dried Mango, Milk powder, Glucose, Cornflour

Weight: 250 gms

 Price: Rs 550 450

 Good for: 6 months

 Always use a clean, dry spoon. Store jar away from heat or direct sunlight.

Thick, chocolatey goodness, just a whir away. Add and blend for an instant cold chocolate shake!

 We are all familiar with those mornings when leaving for a work is a blur of cooking food, packing tiffins, serving breakfast and ensuring that everything and everyone is set for the day. To simplify your routine a wee bit, Ammiji’s launches its Instant Milkshake Mix Collection. All the goodness of a homemade milkshake, made in a couple of easy steps. Because what could be more chill than starting off your day with a perfectly make milkshake or smoothie?

 Ammiji’s Chocolate Milkshake Mix has dutch-processed cocoa powder, giving it a luxurious mouthfeel and a rich chocolatey taste. It also has a subtle hint of vanilla. Add it to milk or yoghurt, throw in some ice, blend, and you’ll have a super cool and super yum chocolate milkshake to cool you down this summer!

 Directions: Use about 1 tbsp for every 100 ml of milk. Add ice. Blend.

 Ingredients: Sugar, Milk powder, Cocoa powder, Glucose, Cornflour, Vanilla Extract

 Weight: 250 gms

 Price: Rs 550 450

 Good for: 6 months

Always use a clean, dry spoon. Store jar away from heat or direct sunlight.

Plain vanilla has a new definition. Cool down your summer with some homemade milky goodness…

We are all familiar with those mornings when leaving for a work is a blur of cooking food, packing tiffins, serving breakfast and ensuring that everything and everyone is set for the day. To simplify your routine a wee bit, Ammiji’s launches its Instant Milkshake Mix Collection. All the goodness of a homemade milkshake, made in a couple of easy steps. Because what could be more chill than starting off your day with a perfectly make milkshake or smoothie?

 Ammiji’s Vanilla Milkshake Mix has pure vanilla extract. The fragrance will uplift you at the same time as the taste enthralls you! Just stir it into some milk, add ice, blend or use a frother, and a tall glass of thick vanilla goodness is ready! Add it to your smoothies for that extra flavor too.

 Directions: Use about 1 tbsp for every 100 ml of milk. Add ice. Blend.

 Ingredients: Sugar, Milk powder, Glucose, Vanilla extract, Cornflour

 Weight: 250 gms

 Price: Rs 450 350

Good for: 6 months

Always use a clean, dry spoon. Store jar away from heat or direct sunlight.

Ammiji’s Rasbhari Chutney

 Big, fat, golden rasbharis, made into a sweet-sour-spicy chutney. Because jams are passé and chutneys are here to stay.

 Spring was the season that Ammiji’s garden burst into bloom. It was also the season that big cane baskets of ripe Cape Gooseberries arrived in Ammiji’s verandah. Before neat bunches of peeled Rasbhari appeared on fruit carts, the fruit was delivered with the peels on. And wouldn’t you guess it – it was the job of us kids to peel them. Ammiji’s strict instructions about not bruising them while peeling fell to deaf ears. And there was no question of bruising – we ate all the rasbharis that were even slightly marked during the peeling. (We also ate a lot that were perfectly fine, but we don’t tell that to Ammiji.)

 Once the rasbharis were peeled, Ammiji placed them in small bowls around the house – to be eaten as is. But she reserved a large amount of them to make one of her favourite chutneys. Ammiji’s Rasbhari Chutney lasted us throughout the early summer. We would sit in front of the cooler, and eat the chutney with thin, cold ajwain paranthas and the season’s first melons.

 For us, the Rasbhari Chutney is not just another chutney – it is nostalgia and emotion and memory in a jar. It is a grandmother’s passion for giving her children and grandchildren the best that she could, with whatever resources she laid her hands on. And we hope to replicate her passion with this chutney.

 Ammiji’s recipe for her Rasbhari Chutney not only has the super nutritious cape gooseberries, but also incorporates raw turmeric, bolstered by cumin and black pepper. Each spoon of this chutney will not only provide you with deliciousness, but with the good intentions of a grandmother’s heart.

Pair this chutney with anything that your heart desires. We promise that it will taste good on any plate that you want to put it on!

Ingredients: Cape gooseberries, Salt, Jaggery, Sugar, Lemon, Cumin, Cinnamon, Fenugreek seeds, Bay leaves, Raw turmeric, Black pepper, Mustard Oil

 Weight: 200 gm

 Price: Rs 500 400

 Good for: 3 months

Keep this chutney refrigerated. Use only a clean, dry spoon to scoop out Ammiji’s deliciousness.

Angoor khattey hain? Not quite! Khatti, meethi, teekhi and finger-lickin’ good!

 Ammiji made a chutney out of every fruit that ever crossed her tongue. And while we slowly weasel out her precious recipes from her, we bring to you her favourite chutney recipes that she’s already shared with us.

Her one instruction when we tried this Black Grape chutney recipe out for the first time was, “Cheeni hath khich ke!” or “Be stingy with the sugar!” And we were. We not only used minimal sugar in our first try, but we replaced three-fourths of the sugar with jaggery in the second try. What resulted was a chutney that tasted distinctly of earthy black grapes, with the kick of mustard and white pepper and the umami of jaggery, all neatly bound together with a tinge of lemon.

 This delicious chutney can be paired with paranthas, roti, dal-chawal, biryani…anything, really! Or take a tip from us – eat it with some wholewheat crackers. Yes, you can use it as part of your cheeseboard too – it tastes awesome with brie!

Made from fresh seasonal black grapes, this chutney is proof that wine is not the only delicious thing that can be made with black grapes. :D

 Ingredients: Black grapes, Jaggery, Sugar, Salt, White Pepper, Lemon, Bay leaves, Cumin, Yellow Mustard, Mustard Oil

Weight: 140 gm

 Price: Rs 350

Good for: 3 months

Keep this chutney refrigerated. Use only a clean, dry spoon to scoop out Ammiji’s deliciousness.

The fragrance of an ordinary home in the south of India, encapsulated in a jar…

 “We Punjabis, we can cook a brilliant dal. But no matter what we do, we can’t transform it the way a South Indian will make sambar,” Ammiji used to say whenever she ate sambar.

 We take Ammiji’s word as gospel. And that’s why we took the help of a dear friend, a seasoned South-Indian home-chef, when we were working on this recipe. Because who would know the secrets of the perfect sambar better than a person who cooks it everyday?

 Ammiji’s Sambar Masala is a beautiful blend of premium spices, spiked liberally with home-dried coconut and garlic. It’ll make you swoon over the sambar that comes out of your kitchen. It’ll remind you of coconut groves, of streets lined with tropical trees and of carts presided over by bossy, matronly women who serve homemade thatte idli and sambar with the same panache that they serve advice on your love life.

As with all our products, this masala contains only premium, hand-sorted spices. It also contains garlic and coconut that we grind and sun-dry ourselves. So it’s best to keep the jar refrigerated to extend the shelf life of the masala.

 To use: For every cup of dal, use about 1-1 ½  tbsp of the masala.

 Ingredients: Red Chilli, Cumin, Fenugreek, Black Pepper, Mustard seeds, Coriander seeds, Garlic, Coconut, Salt

 Weight: 150 gm

 Price: Rs 500 400

 Good For: 6 months.

 Contains no preservatives. Please keep refrigerated for a longer shelf life. Always use a clean, dry spoon.

Harnessing the immensely powerful benefits of raw turmeric in a delicious pickle that’ll make you ask for more…

By now, most of us know about the health benefits of incorporating raw turmeric into our diet. The west has only recently realized what we Indians have known for ages – turmeric is one of the top-notch superfoods ever. It is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and has shown to prevent and control the onset of various chronic diseases. Our grandmother’s age-old haldi-doodh nuska may now be enterprisingly called a turmeric latte, but that doesn’t detract from the benefits of haldi.

 Raw turmeric is a powerful root. And Ammiji knew it. Which is why we always had this pickle at our table during the summers. In the winters, she added fresh raw turmeric to a lot of her sabzis and the summers saw her pushing the jar of the turmeric pickle that she had prepared in the winters towards us.

This pickle is made with a simple, no-fuss recipe that preserves the character of the raw turmeric root and yet adds a delicious tang to it. Add it to your daily meals for a boost to your health and gut.

 Ingredients: Raw turmeric root, salt, red chilli, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, lemon juice, mustard oil.

 ]Weight: 200 gms

 Price: Rs 400 300 (inclusive of taxes)

 Good for: 9 months

 Refrigerate after opening. (This pickle contains no preservatives.)

 Always use a clean, dry spoon while scooping out Ammiji’s delicious pickles!

Raw, crisp chunks of guava, pickled in subtle spices to give layers of tang and flavour.

What’s a winter season if you haven’t sat in the sun in the afternoon, having a pre-lunch snack of freshly cut guava sprinkled with some rock salt? As children, Ammiji’s verandah was the place where we would get all our winter pre-lunch goodies at. She used to start her day early, finish her housework quickly and spend the afternoon out in the sun, peeling oranges, slicing up amrood and urging us to eat it all.

 One day, one of her sons, while munching on a piece of guava, jokingly remarked that he wished that such crispy, tangy guavas were available the year round. The next day, Ammiji pulled out her pickling pitara and set about chopping up a whole lot of guavas. We sat with her, surrounded by guavas, and filched a lot of slices – she usually turned a blind eye to this and then later pretended that we had finished the entire lot! Soon, two barnis were full of guava, spices and oil, happily sunning themselves and Ammiji sat back with a satisfied smile.

From then on, the guava pickle was made every winter – to see us through the summers. In keeping with the tradition, we’ve put a big batch of Amrood ka Achaar too. This pickle is being made in Amritsar under Ammiji’s supervision. The guavas are from an orchard nearby and the mustard oil is custom cold-pressed. Only select, premium and hand-sorted spices are used in this pickle.

 Amrood ka Achaar will add that special tang to all your meals. Munch on it between bites of your meal, and make your meals more interesting and nostalgic…

Ingredients: Guava, Cold-pressed Mustard Oil, Black Salt, Raw Turmeric, Red Chilli, Cumin, Coriander, Black Pepper, Mustard seeds, Nigella seeds, Fenugreek seeds

 Weight: 250 gms

 Price: Rs 550 450 (inclusive of taxes)

Good for: 6 months

 Refrigerate after opening. (This pickle contains no preservatives.)

 Always use a clean, dry spoon while scooping out Ammiji’s delicious pickles!