Muskmelon|Cantaloupe juice

Summer is here we are already using the AC bye bye cooler days until later this year - You will be busy. The sniffles are making their way now as the weather changes and it is scary to hear about harmful epidemics making their rounds too.Just hope everyone stays safe.No matter how many vaccines we take these days virus gets even more powerful i guess.

Panagam | Indian style spiced lemonade

I've been on a long break from blogging i have my reasons just to mention it in a line family emergency would be the reason.But all is well now and I will be more busy in the coming few weeks when we will be house warming our first own home and moving in soon after.So good things to look forward to and thank the Lord for.

Rose Lemonade|Lemon juice with Home made Rose Extract

 I had a bunch of red roses which i wanted to use to make rose syrup which never happened.And i was wondering how to not waste these roses which initially were to make crystallized rose petals to garnish a cake(that never happened too) :)
But this was a good refreshing drink on a warm afternoon.

Spiced Watermelon Juice

Should I even tell anyone how hot it is in Chennai!phew!I can say that i'm almost melting :) Thank God for such heavenly blessings fruits they are natural coolants to our poor bodies.

I know you must be wondering why I'm making a juice out of this when it is so yummylicious to have it just by itself.Its so cooling and refreshing in its every bite but this juice is a good substitute for those who can't do without their teas and coffees.

I have heard many people say how watermelons are too cooling and kids catch a cold too soon I don't know how much thats true now because fruits are so healthy right.So when my LM comes back dripping in sweat I make her a glass of this juice and all goodness goes in at one go.

This I watched on tv long back one of the many recipes of Sanjeev Kapoor I used to watch religiously on tv.But I haven't added many more of the stuff he had mentioned.

To make this juice, you need

Watermelons chopped 2 cups (don't bother to de-seed) 

Sugar/Honey as per need

Mint leaves/pudhina 4 sprigs

Lime juice 1 tablespoon

Ginger 1 inch piece

• Whizz everything up in a blender and sieve it if you feel like drinking juice without any tid-bits else your refreshing juice is ready to go.

Cooling watermelon spiced juice is ready to cool your head :) 

Sending this to Summer Splash

Spiced Watermelon Juice

Should I even tell anyone how hot it is in Chennai!phew!I can say that i'm almost melting :) Thank God for such heavenly blessings fruits they are natural coolants to our poor bodies.

Gooseberry Ginger lemonade

Amlas/Indian wild gooseberries are really healthy, if you can get to eat them that is.I find it too bittery sour that I can't even nibble a bite of it!!So my mum gave me this idea of making gooseberry juice and i added a little spice to it :) The results were refreshingly cool!

The simple technique to enjoy some amla is by chewing it and then gulping down some water, which makes your mouth taste really sweet (after all that bitterness) :)

I thought of pickles and relishes before this easy lemonade came by...I felt this was the best alternative to pickles.Healthy, cooling and refreshing too.Not to forget its loaded with Vit C to fight some cold and Iron which most women are deficient off.

You need
Gooseberries/amla as much as you need
Lemon as per need
Sugar/honey as per your need
Ginger an inch sized piece
Water as required.

• Chop off the flesh of the amlas and ginger and blend them in a mixer with a little water.Squeeze off the juices using a strainer.Store this concentrate in the refrigerator.

• To make the juice:
• In a glass add about 2 3 tablespoons of amla juice concentrate and a tsp of lemon juice.Mix in sugar or honey to make the juice as sweet as you like.Add enough water.

• Serve chilled or as it is :) Enjoy your spiced amla lemonade :))

Note:

- The amla juice concentrate has been sitting in my fridge for the past week and its doing good.I haven't added any preservatives.

Gooseberry Ginger lemonade

Amlas/Indian wild gooseberries are really healthy, if you can get to eat them that is.I find it too bittery sour that I can't even nibble a bite of it!!So my mum gave me this idea of making gooseberry juice and i added a little spice to it :) The results were refreshingly cool!

Li'melon Cooler

We had some summer rains this morning here in sunny Chennai.We have some cool relief but not as much as I wanted it!

Water melon and sweet lime are 2 summery cool fruits which was a great hit when i combined them both.

Watermelon is a a seasonal fruit which is a wonder fruit in itself.Its so thirst quenching and cooling and so aptly available during the summers.Nowadays theres no such thing as seasonal fruits as we get them from one source or the other but the watermelon definitely tastes better in the summers.Check out the health benefits of watermelon juice here.

Sweet lime/mosambi is a cooling citrus fruit which is beautiful.On our way from college there used to be this juice guy and we used to pick one glass each day everyday it used to be such a blessing to keep us going after a long day at college until we got home.

To make this juice you need

Water melon flesh deseeded and chopped 1 cup
Sweet lime/musambi juice of 1

• Put the water melon and sweet lime juice with a little water if you need the water melon will have enough water content and blend it well until frothy.

• Pour it into glasses and serve immediately.Enjoy the sweet cooling juice.

Variations:

- you can add mint leaves,ginger and a pinch of pepper for a spicy drink.
- I haven;t added any sweetening agents as my juice was sweet enough.

Sending this to CHilled delights @ Tickling palates,Kids delight@hosted by UK rasoi started by Srivalli , Summer spirits @ tomato blues

Li'melon Cooler

We had some summer rains this morning here in sunny Chennai.We have some cool relief but not as much as I wanted it!

Water melon and sweet lime are 2 summery cool fruits which was a great hit when i combined them both.

Peanut butter Rose Surprise

Summers is here anything cooling and soothing is welcome for me.I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine and so I picked my mixer jar and looked around for some stuff to make a milk shake.My sister is a shake-maniac she'd just throw everything she finds and make just fantastic shakes...but i need to do just one think overlook the calories!

Here;s a rosy drink for any summer's day or even to serve some thirsty guests.i named it \surprise' because when i tasted this drink, i was surprised at the wonderful taste.

You need:
Milk 1 cup
Banana 1 small
Rose syrup 2 tablespoons
Peanut butter 1 teaspoon
Sugar/honey 1 tsp or as much as you need
Chocolate to garnish (optional)

• Whip all the above in a mixer until frothy.

• Serve chilled or as it is with chocolate syrup or shavings.

Sending this to Fruit fiesta @Ramya's Recipes,Summer splash@spicy Treats, Holi Fest@Preeti's kitchen life, Colorful Holi@Cuisine Delights

Peanut butter Rose Surprise

Summers is here anything cooling and soothing is welcome for me.I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine and so I picked my mixer jar and looked around for some stuff to make a milk shake.My sister is a shake-maniac she'd just throw everything she finds and make just fantastic shakes...but i need to do just one think overlook the calories!

Cucumber mint cooler & Awards

The summer is fast approaching and anything cool would do good to our thirsty souls.

I watched this on tv, nothing great I thought until i had it myself.The mint and cucumber impart a soothing flavour to the water rather than just having it by itself.Adding a little salt and lemon juice takes it a notch higher!

You need

Water as required
Mint leaves as required
Coriander leaves/cilantro as needed
Cucumber slices few
Lime juice of one lime
Salt to taste
Chaat masala as required

• Pound or chop the leaves and drop in a glass or jug.Add a few slices of cucumber.Top it lime juice,salt and chaat masala.
• Add enough water.
• Have this cool drink as it is or chilled and rejuvenate yourself!

Sending this to EP series-Cilantro-cumin @ErivumPuliyum



I would like to thank Hema of Aromatic Cooking and Julie of Erivum Puliyum for giving me thie 'Versatile Blogger" Award.She has been generous with her encouraging words to my blog.

The rules for accepting this award are:
1. Add the Versatile Blogger Award.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
4. Include this set of rules.
5. Forward this award to 15 fellow bloggers, and inform them with a comment on each of their blogs.


So coming to the 7 random tidbits about me:
-  I started to cook after my graduation and it was always sambar and tri-color sabji during those starting days.
- When it comes to making special meals for special people i can spend hours in the kitchen.
- I feel planning what to cook for a meal is more tedious than the actual cooking bit.
- I love baking especially cupcakes.
- I would love to master bread making with yeast-the monster!
- I love to crochet :)
- I can't stay away from the blog even for a day...i'm addicted to it :)


I would love to pass this award onto a few of my good blogger friends who continue to amaze me with their kitchen experiments!
1.Surabhi Nayak @ My cook Book
2.Usha Rani @ Maha's Lovely Home
3.Simran @ LAzy Cook's kitchen
4.Vimitha Anand @ My culinary Trial room
5.Faseela @ Good Food ends with good talk
6.Julie @ Erivum Puliyum
7.Anisha @ Flavours for u
8. Sobha @ Good Food
9.Kavitha @ Edible Entertainment
10.Rasi @ Vegetarian food & Me
11.Poonam Borkar @ Kande Pohe
12.Asiya@Samaythu Asathalam
13.Vidya@Cook Like Zany
14.Sonali@Only Fish recipes
15.Sangee Vijay@SpicyTreats

Cucumber mint cooler & Awards

The summer is fast approaching and anything cool would do good to our thirsty souls.

Spiced Almond milk-Magic Mingle

Magic mingle time again!I was waiting for 3 weeks to hear what the next set of magic ingredients would be, and I must congratulate Kalyani for coming up with such a magical event each month, which has definitely got some of us to don our thinking caps!

When i read this month's ingredients-almonds and ginger, first thought,yes cookies but then I don't know why I don't feel like making anything sweet lately.So I had a vague idea and looked up a few places and decided on this easy drink.

Almond milk is a rich and nutritious drink for the kids and adults alike.I have spiced it with ginger candy and dates.If you are thinking how that would taste, it was sweet and the taste of almonds lingered in my mouth for a long time.I made just one mistake of having a nice glassful which left me full for a long time.Like i said its a wonderful drink for the kiddies!

To make this..
Preparation time: 10 minutes.
Makes 2 large cups of almond milk.

You need

Almonds 10
Ginger candy 2 pieces
Dates de-seeded 2
Water 3 cups

- Boil the almonds in some water for 2 minutes and cool it.This is to help peel off the almonds.
- In a blender add the almonds,dates and ginger candy with the 3 cups of water and blend until all is mixed well.
- Filter the contents using a fine sieve or muslin cloth.
- The clear liquid is ready to be served as it is or stored in the refrigerator.

- Serve chilled.

Tips:
- i have used ginger candy,you can use fresh ginger an inch sized piece with honey or sugar for sweetness.
- i didn;t need to add anything for sweetness as the ginger candy did this for me.
- you will get some good amount of almond pulp which can be used for cookies.i'm still trying to use my pulp which i have frozen(since i didn't want to throw it away)

Sending this to Magic Mingle #2@ Sizzling Tastebuds



and to Just 4 fun @ Good food

Spiced Almond milk-Magic Mingle

Magic mingle time again!I was waiting for 3 weeks to hear what the next set of magic ingredients would be, and I must congratulate Kalyani for coming up with such a magical event each month, which has definitely got some of us to don our thinking caps!

Mint Masala Buttermilk/Lassi

Lassi/ Moru/ buttermilk is a very common thirst quencher/heat buster in India.Its the end of September and I can't believe the heat. I just want to go and dunk my head in a bucket of cold water. This cool lassi would do a great deal to cool your body. In south india, moru is even served as an accompaniment in the veg thaali ( meals).

To make one glass full

Half cup of thick yogurt
One tiny piece of Ginger chopped
Few sprigs of mint
Green chilli 1/4 of one big one ( I do not like it too spicy)

Salt to taste
Water half cup

• Blend all the above and serve in a tall glass.

• Serve chilled or normal temperature.

Mint Masala Buttermilk/Lassi

Lassi/ Moru/ buttermilk is a very common thirst quencher/heat buster in India.Its the end of September and I can't believe the heat. I just want to go and dunk my head in a bucket of cold water. This cool lassi would do a great deal to cool your body. In south india, moru is even served as an accompaniment in the veg thaali ( meals).

Pomegranate Lassi

Fruits day in school-LM had to take a pomegranate(anar)!She had some and the remaining was lying around!Just as I was wondering what to do(rather than just eat it) with those beautiful lil pinky pearls :) blink blink-Idea!

Lassi is a popular cooler/drink in Northern India- a yogurt based sweet/salty shake.

In this sweltering heat, I detest the idea of having my otherwise favorite tea!I thought let me make a cool refreshing lassi :) My thoughts "why not a pomegranate lassi?" I know pomegranate lassi doesn't sound too typical like the mango lassi, but this was really rejuvenating!

Pinky pearls with lovely spices!

You need
[to make 1 glass of lassi]
Yogurt 1 cup
Sugar/Honey to taste
Pomegranate seeds 2-3 tablespoons
Pistachios few shredded
Clove,cardamom one each

- You just need to blitz all of the above in a mixer and run it until the yogurt gets nice and frothy!You can add water if you want.

- Serve it in a tall glass and ready to cool you down :)