Seven days of summer drinks, easy rice lunches and chilled desserts from Siddhi’s kitchen. Each day has one cooler, one lunch and one dessert, and several of the drinks and desserts are made the day before.
Siddhi calls aam panna a natural Indian summer drink, watermelon cooler a great way to beat the heat, and malai kulfi a perfect summer dessert. Her shikanji concentrate keeps in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 months, so one batch covers the whole season.
Every recipe in this plan is cooked in Siddhi’s own kitchen before it goes live.
The plan at a glance
Day by day
Monday
Cooler
Aam Panna
Serves 4
Raw mango cooked with black pepper, ground with sugar and black salt, served in three flavours.
Lunch
Coconut Rice
Serves 2–3 · 20 min
South Indian coconut rice: cooked rice tossed with fresh grated coconut and a crunchy tempering of dals, peanuts, cashews, green chillies and curry leaves.
Dessert
Malai Kulfi
Serves 6–8 · 50–55 min
Malai kulfi made with only milk, frozen overnight in cups. Siddhi calls it a perfect summer dessert.
Tuesday
Cooler
Mango Lassi
Serves 2
Siddhi calls mango lassi a popular Indian summer drink, creamy and refreshing.
Lunch
Coriander Rice
Serves 2 · 25–30 min
Coriander rice: cooked rice mixed with a fresh coriander and mint paste, paneer, carrot and French beans, with cumin, cloves and cinnamon.
Dessert
Mango Shrikhand
Serves 4
Mango shrikhand, refrigerated for two hours to set and served chilled.
Wednesday
Cooler
Watermelon Cooler
Serves 4
Siddhi calls it a refreshing summer drink and a great way to beat the heat.
Lunch
Peanut Rice
Serves 3 · 25–30 min
South Indian peanut rice: cooked rice tossed with a roasted peanut, dal, sesame and coconut powder and a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and peanuts.
Thursday
Cooler
Indian Lemonade Concentrate
Serves 1 batch
Make the concentrate once; Siddhi keeps it in the refrigerator for up to 4 to 5 months.
Lunch
Gujarati Khichdi
Serves 2–3 · 5 min + soaking prep, 10 min cook
Plain Gujarati khichdi: rice and green moong dal pressure cooked with ghee, cloves, cinnamon, asafoetida and turmeric.
Friday
Lunch
Veg White Pulao
Danedar veg white pulao: rice cooked with whole spices, butter-roasted paneer, peas, carrot, cashews and raisins, then rested in its own steam.
Saturday
Lunch
Sweet Corn Fried Rice
15–20 min
Chinese style sweet corn fried rice: 90% cooked rice tossed with sweet corn, capsicum, carrot and spring onion in soy sauce, vinegar and red chilli sauce.
Dessert
Royal Falooda
Serves 2
Royal falooda, which Siddhi calls a refreshing summer drink and a popular Indian dessert.
Sunday
Cooler
Detox Water
Serves 2
Lemon, cucumber, orange, ginger and mint, chilled for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
Lunch
Moong Dal Kadhi
Serves 4
Khatta moong dal kadhi: boiled whole green moong simmered in a spiced sour curd and gram flour gravy.
Dessert
Malai Kulfi
Serves 6–8 · 50–55 min
Malai kulfi made with only milk: full fat milk cooked down to a quarter with sugar, dry fruits, saffron and cardamom, then frozen overnight in cups.
Make ahead for the week
- Shikanji concentrate: Siddhi stores it in the refrigerator for up to 4 to 5 months.
- Malai kulfi freezes overnight and is unmoulded the next day. One batch serves 6 to 8, enough for Monday and Sunday.
- Fruit popsicles freeze overnight.
- Mango mousse sets in the refrigerator for 6 to 7 hours.
- Falooda sev keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, so make it a day or two before Saturday.
- Detox water chills for 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
Shopping list, recipe by recipe
Each list below is the ingredient list from Siddhi’s recipe card, at the serving size the recipe makes. Open a recipe to scale it for your family.
Aam Panna (serves 4)
- 500 g raw mango, peeled and chopped (base)
- 2 glasses water, to cook the mango (base)
- 10 to 12 black peppercorns (base)
- 1 cup sugar (base)
- 1½ tbsp black salt (base)
- Salt to taste (base)
- 1/3 cup mint leaves (lemon mint)
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (lemon mint)
- 1/2 tbsp ginger juice (honey ginger)
- 1 tbsp honey (honey ginger)
- 3 tsp roasted cumin (jeera) powder (jeera)
- 3 cups water, 1 cup for each flavour
Coconut Rice (serves 2–3)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 3/4 cup fresh coconut, grated
- 1½ tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tbsp split black gram (urad dal)
- 1/2 tbsp split Bengal gram (chana dal)
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1 tbsp peanuts
- 8–10 cashews, slit
- A few curry leaves
- 1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
- 1 dry red chilli
- 2 green chillies, slit
- 1/2 lemon
- Salt to taste
Malai Kulfi (serves 6–8)
- 2 litres full fat milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Dry fruits, finely chopped or sliced
- 4–5 saffron strands
- 1/2 tsp cardamom, crushed
Mango Lassi (serves 2)
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup chilled fresh curd
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 6 to 7 ice cubes
- About 1/3 cup water
- Almond and pistachio flakes, to garnish
Coriander Rice (serves 2)
- 1½ cups cooked rice
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup carrot
- 1/4 cup French beans
- 1/3 cup paneer (cottage cheese), cubed
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
- 3 cloves and a cinnamon stick
- Salt to taste
- 1½ cups coriander leaves, for the paste
- 1/4 cup mint leaves, for the paste
- 3 green chillies, for the paste
- 1/2 lemon, juiced, for the paste
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder, for the paste
- 1/2 tsp black salt, for the paste
Mango Shrikhand (serves 4)
- 1 cup hung curd
- 1/2 cup thick mango puree
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- Saffron strands, soaked in 1 tsp water
- Pistachio flakes
- Almond flakes
- Food colour (optional)
Watermelon Cooler (serves 4)
- 1 kg watermelon, cut into pieces
- 15 to 20 mint leaves
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp black salt
Peanut Rice (serves 3)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1/3 cup peanuts
- 3 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 2–3 dry red chillies
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 1 tbsp urad dal
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- Curry leaves
- Salt to taste
- Lemon juice, optional
Fruit Popsicles (serves 3)
- Orange juice
- Tender coconut water (nariyal pani)
- Lemonade (lemon shikanji)
- Strawberry slices
- Kiwi slices
- Black grapes, thinly sliced
- Popsicle mould
Indian Lemonade Concentrate (serves 1 batch)
- 1 kg sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 2 tsp black salt
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
Gujarati Kadhi (serves 4)
- 500 ml buttermilk
- 1/2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)
- 1 dry red chilli
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp ginger paste
- 2 green chillies, crushed
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 8–10 curry leaves
- 1½ tbsp gram flour (besan)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Gujarati Khichdi (serves 2–3)
- 1/2 cup rice
- 1/2 cup split green gram (green moong dal)
- 1 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)
- 3–4 cloves and a piece of cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp curd
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
Mango Mousse (serves 3)
- 3 ripe Alphonso mangoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 250 ml fresh cream, chilled
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey
Mango Iced Tea (serves 2)
- 1/2 cup mango puree
- 1/4 cup mango, chopped
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tea bags
- A few mint leaves, plus more to garnish
- 1 lemon slice
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- a pinch black salt
- 500 ml warm water
- Ice cubes
Veg White Pulao
- 1 cup rice
- 1/2 cup fresh peas
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 200 g paneer (cottage cheese), cubed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6–7 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 7–8 black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 10–12 cashews
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 2–3 green chillies, sliced
- 1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
- 10–15 raisins
- Salt to taste
Mango Custard
- 500 ml milk
- 1 cup thick mango puree
- 1/2 cup mangoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp custard powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Almond flakes
- Pistachio flakes
Mojito (serves 2)
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
- Mint leaves, plus more to garnish
- 1 tbsp sugar
- A pinch of salt
- Crushed peppermint candy powder
- Lemon juice
- Crushed ice or ice cubes
- Sprite
Sweet Corn Fried Rice
- 2 cups rice, 90% cooked
- 1 small capsicum, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup sweet corn, boiled
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped
- 3–4 spring onions, finely chopped, white and green parts kept separate
- 1 inch ginger, julienned
- 3–4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tbsp red chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt to taste
Royal Falooda (serves 2)
- 1 tbsp sabja (tukmaria) seeds, soaked in water
- 1/2 cup cornflour (falooda sev)
- 1½ tbsp sugar (falooda sev)
- 1 cup water (falooda sev)
- Ice cubes and water, in a bowl (falooda sev)
- 1½ glasses chilled milk (milkshake)
- 2 tbsp rose syrup (milkshake)
- 2 scoops ice cream (milkshake)
- 3 tbsp rose syrup, 1½ tbsp per glass, plus a drizzle on top (to assemble)
- 2 to 3 scoops ice cream, to top (to assemble)
- Almond and pistachio flakes (to assemble)
Detox Water (serves 2)
- 2 litres water
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
- 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 orange, thinly sliced
- A small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
Moong Dal Kadhi (serves 4)
- 1/2 cup green gram (whole moong), boiled
- 1/2 cup sour curd
- 1½ tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 2–3 green chillies, crushed
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tbsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp gram flour (besan)
- 1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
- Salt to taste
FAQs
Which drinks can I make ahead?
Siddhi’s shikanji concentrate keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 to 5 months, and detox water chills for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. The falooda sev keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Which desserts need to be made the day before?
Malai kulfi and fruit popsicles freeze overnight, and mango mousse sets in the refrigerator for 6 to 7 hours.
Is the mojito alcohol-free?
Yes. Siddhi’s mojito is an alcohol-free mint and lime drink topped with Sprite.
How many does malai kulfi serve?
Siddhi’s malai kulfi serves 6 to 8, which is why it appears twice in the week.