Indian Summer Food Favourites From A Time Gone By

Gola is the best way to cool down during the summer.

As summer rolls in, a certain nostalgia hits us all. Things we relished as 5-year-olds, sitting in our backyard or at our grandparents' house, are all we can think about. Aam panna, gola, kulfi are things we have all grown up enjoying and no gourmet dish can ever beat the happiness that a gola worth 10 bucks gave us back then.

With all those memories now flooding back, we list some of our most cherished Indian summer favourites here.

Gola

Who can forget these icy-cold treats being made right in front of our eyes? The sight of the gola-waala bhaiya as he doused the crushed ice with our favourite colourful syrups for us to slurp on still makes us smile.

Rooh Afza

This dark red sherbat was better than any cold drink back in the day, isn't it? Just a cold glass of this rose drink was enough to make all of us cheery.

Rasna

Nobody can forget the time when Maa would give us a cold glass of Rasna to sip on while we watched our favourite cartoons on TV or finishing our holiday homework.

Kulfi is the best Indian ice-cream indeed.

Kulfi

It is the best Indian ice-cream, don't you think so? Those summer train journeys to our native towns was incomplete without the flat kulfis. And who can forget the stick kulfis sold on the local beaches? We say no gourmet ice-cream tastes quite like this.

Masala Kachhi Kairi

An all-time summer favourite, raw mangoes or kachhi kairi, cut and sprinkled with salt and mirchi powder was quite a gastronomic adventure. Do you remember?

Falooda

This huge glass of goodness with almost everything mixed inside, including noodle-like things and topped with huge scoops of our favourite ice-cream was more than what we could ever ask for or even finish!

Our favourite multi-colour popsicles.

Pepsi-Cola Popsicles

To choose just one flavour of these popsicles from the variety on offer, was probably one of the hardest decisions we took as a kid. Remember the orange-flavoured ones?

Aamras

With the mango season on in full swing, the only way to enjoy the summer is to eat bowls of chilled aamras. Some puri on the side would do no harm either.

Goti Soda

Pop went the soda and so did our excitement level when we saw our favourite soda bottle open on a hot summer day!