Feeling hot, hot, hot

You know how the saying goes. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. There is just one problem with following that piece of advice, as temperatures hover around the mid to high forties in India. We can’t stand the heat; we would love to get out of the kitchen; but we can’t do that because we have a family to feed.

No matter how scorching the day, you still have to rustle up three meals a day for yourself and those in your household. And there is a limit to how much—and how often—you can order in. So, how do you cope? Well, here are some pointers, based entirely on my own experience of keeping everyone fed during the blistering summers of Delhi. 1. Keep actual cooking to a minimum. Instead, rely on fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs that you can turn into scrumptious salads. Not only will this reduce the amount of time you spend by the range, these meals will be both cooling and nutritious for the whole family.

2. I know, I know, getting a salad prepped is no joke. You have to chop and peel endlessly and that can be a sweaty business. But who said that you have to do all this in a hot and humid kitchen? Spread some old newspapers on your dining table, and set up your chopping board in air-conditioned comfort. You can, in fact, do all your food prep here; even if you are making a full meal. 3. This is the time when you should get your oven to do all the heavy lifting. Chop up all the vegetables you need, arrange them on a baking tray, throw in some sausages (if you are a meat-eater) or chunks of halloumi cheese (if you are vegetarian), sprinkle with oil, bung them in the oven, set the time to 45 minutes (or an hour) and sit back and relax while your dinner is cooked. This is my go-to dish when it’s simply too hot to slave away on the stove. And it’s delicious, to boot. You can come up with your own variations. 4. The other kitchen aid that I rely upon completely at this time of year is my Insta Pot. This is the best way to cook meat curries, stews, or even dals and sabzis. Most days I don’t even bother to fry the onions, garlic, ginger and tomato with the masalas. Instead, I put all the ingredients in, press the button that says ‘Slow Cook’ and then let the Insta Pot work its magic over a couple of hours while I have a shower and then sit back with a nice cooling drink and a good book.

5. Life is too short (not to mention, too hot) to make rotis on summer evenings. When I was young, I remember my mother sending off our dough to the neighbourhood tandoor, and getting hot crisp tandoori rotis back in a matter of minutes. But those days are long gone now. And I can’t really justify ordering in rotis and parathas. So, I compromise by ordering in some interesting breads that I can toast, butter generously, and eat with my sabzis and dals.

6. This is the time to make one-pot meals that require minimal stirring and watching. So, ditch the stir fries and bhuna ghoshts; instead, make a khichri with vegetables. Forget about the risottos that need constant attention; restrict yourself to pastas that can be put together in a jiffy. 7. Batch cooking is what will save you endless botheration in the kitchen. If you are making a pasta sauce, make three times the quantity you need, and freeze the extra two portions to use later in the month. Fry up enormous amounts of ginger-garlic paste and keep it in the fridge to use for the rest of the week. Whatever you are cooking—whether it is dal or a Thai curry—you can’t go wrong by making a few extra portions and freezing them to use on a day when cooking seems like too much of a palaver.

8. The best part of summer, of course, is that the heat is the perfect excuse to stuff yourself full of ice-cream. And, thank God, that requires no cooking at all (though you might want to slice a mango to eat alongside!).

BEAT THE HEAT

Batch cooking will save you endless botheration in the kitchen. Make three times the quantity you need, and freeze the extra

It’s called a baby S-class. To be likened to the flagship of the Mercedes range (and upstaging the senior E-class in the process) is possibly the best compliment the all-new Mercedes C-class could get. But why is it more of a baby S-class and not just a smaller E-class? It starts with the design. The all-new W206 C-class has scaled down, but similar proportions, to the S-class. The long bonnet, longer wheelbase (25mm more) and a distinctive ‘three-box’ shape gives the vehicle the stately demeanour of the luxurious S-class.

But it’s inside the cabin that the likeness to the S-class is most apparent. That’s largely because the massive 11.9-inch portraitoriented touchscreen is lifted directly from the S-class. It’s intuitive to use, with a logical and uncomplicated menu system. The sharpness, colour and contrast are all fantastic and functionality is top-class too. The ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice assistant gets smarter with every new Merc and works well, understanding even the thickest of accents.

The new C-class is jam-packed with driver assistance aids and there’s a lot of onboard tech, like fingerprint-based biometric authentication, which lights up blue and automatically selects your profile stored in the memory. Smart. The Mercedes Me app now gets features like remote cabin cooling and cloud connectivity. Over the air updates allows Mercedes to share rain and traffic alerts, and even calls for assistance.

The cabin is a big step up from the previous model in terms of design and overall fit and finish. The circular air vents are illuminated and the ambient lighting lets you choose from almost any colour to suit your mood.

The multi-layered dashboard, the door pads and chunky steering wheel with piano black spokes are high quality, but lower down the cabin, the bits you don’t regularly see or touch aren’t made of the same grade of plastic.

Where Mercedes has taken a step back is with the functionality of someoftheswitchgear;theswipesensitive,steeringmountedswitch gear doesn’t respond easily and is annoying to use—the same goes for the sunroof slider control. The seat pictograms are touch sensitive too and don’t click like before, so you’re never sure if the buttons are working or not.

The front seats are large with generous cushioning and outside visibility is good. Comfort levels in the back seat are much improved too, thanks primarily to extra legroom. However, this is a compact luxury car and rear seat space is limited. The boot isn’t very large and the spare tyre eats into a lot of the space.

Within the first few kilometres behind the wheel, you can tell the new C-class is far improved. Lighter on its feet, it feels responsive, stable and secure. What elevates the driving experience is the steering, which is quick, direct and accurate and reaffirms my belief that Mercedes is the best when it comes to steering feel. The ride is comfortable and the suspension irons out bad roads quite well. It’s only the sharper edges and ruts that filter through.

The C-class comes with three engine options—two diesel and one petrol—all of which have a 48V Integrated Starter Generator, a hybrid system that gives the engines an electric boost to improve efficiency.

To fully exploit the car’s dynamics, the 265hp 300d is the one to go for. This motor is smooth and has tremendous grunt, propelling you forward with one strong, relentless tug. This is indeed a very quick car which can accelerate from a standstill to 100kph in under six seconds.

The base C200, which gets a 204hp, 1.5 litre petrol is the engine of choice for city dwellers, but enthusiasts may find it a bit wanting.

With prices ranging from ₹55 lakh to ₹61 lakh, the C-class is on the pricey side, but that said, this all-new model has moved the goalposts far more than its predecessors. It’s packed with tech, drives well and looks great inside and out, which makes it the most desirable compact luxury sedan in the market today.

The views expressed by the columnist are personal