A seasonal diet for Multan summers

Southern Punjab summers are hot and dry, and the body follows the season. Most complaints we see between May and August are heat complaints: acidity, nosebleeds, prickly heat, restlessness, dehydration headaches.

Add: barley water, coriander seed infusion, melon, cucumber, plain lassi before noon, and soaked almonds. Drop: fried food, heavy red meat at dinner, excess tea, and anything eaten in the open sun.

Cooling does not mean chilled. Ice-cold drinks tighten digestion and often make the same complaint worse a few hours later.