Pimms and Virgin 'Pimms' - Berry Grape Lemonade

Pimms is a very popular drink served in England and is especially popular during the Wimbledon Season. It is a very refreshing drink to sip in Summer. So when the sun is shining, no doubt we also made some and enjoyed it this week. The original recipe used Lemonade that is fizzy. I do not like any fizzy drinks. So I have made this with Still Lemonade.

And why the Virgin? We had a few people who did not drink alcohol and I wanted to make something they will love, equally refreshing, similar looking and tasting. So what do you think of that version?

Watermelon Gingerade - Frozen Watermelon Ginger Lemonade - IFBM - Urban Dazzle Contest

Watermelon is an absolute treat to have in Summer. Nothing beats the summer heat like a bite into these sweet, watery fruit. And I am a big fan of juices made with it. Though I make juice with just watermelon or with lemon, I always crave for a Indian Street Drink. The Sugarcane juice with ginger is just out of the world. Something about that Ginger takes the juice to a whole new level. So today I have adopted that taste into my Watermelon.

Watermelon Margarita and Mojito - Cocktails and Mocktails - Watermelon Orange Juice

Summer is at it peak in India. Here in the UK, we are starting to get some warm days. How better to celebrate than with some cooling and refreshing juice. Summer in India is super duper hot (and getting worse by the year). Does that mean you sit at home and do nothing? Nope, life goes on. When we are out and about on a warm summer day, one of the things that we love eating is a watermelon. You will find vendors on the street selling these fresh fruit in piles. It is a site to watch a mountain of watermelon on the street. And then ofcourse the juice vendors who make your day! Why not make it at home and enjoy a summer picnic in your own backyard!

Rise and Shine Papaya Breakfast - Vegan

Papaya is a buttery sweet tropical fruit. I have developed this craze for the fruit lately. I made this awesome Tropical Detox Smoothie which is just amazing - super tasty and super healthy. Do give it a try. The next day I went ahead and made this for breakfast and it was just out of the world. Try it, you will love it. This is not so much a recipe, it is more a combination that I wanted to suggest you try :-)



Ingredients

Papaya 1 cup Chopped (used half a small papaya)
Flavoured Yogurt 1 cup (had pear yogurt, so used that) - use Vegan yogurt or Regular yogurt.
Granola 2 tbsp (Homemade Granola Recipe here. or use store bought)

Method of Preparation

1. Make a paste of papaya in a blender. Add sugar if needed. Mine was sweet and so I did not add any. Transfer to the cup.

2. Add a layer of the yogurt.

3. Top it with Granola. Make sure it has some fruits, nuts and seeds. It will give a nice crunch

4. Drizzle some honey/maple syrup or chocolate syrup if you like. Mine does not have any. Dig in!!

You can prepare this ahead of time in a jar and keep in fridge and grab as you run out of the door. Will make a super filling breakfast!

Neeragaram - Neer Choru - Pazham Choru - Spiced Rice and Buttermilk Porridge

When I think of simple village food (gramathu sappadu), the first thing that comes to my mind is the Pazham Choru. It is basically a way to eat up left over rice. In our homes, my mom used to add some water to the left over rice and leave it in the kitchen counter. Next morning, you can drain the water and make this Pazham Choru. Though in those days it was not considered as a fancy food, it has great cooling properties. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Why am I posting it now as summer is over. Well in India it is always summer enough for Neer Choru!



I saw a couple of bloggers (Sangee and Radhika) posting recipes similar to this with Oats (a modern twist to the traditional staple). I am yet to try with Oats. Will update once I do.

This is traditionally served in Man Chatti (earthen pots). It adds to the cooling properties of the buttermilk. You can add all of the below spices or just some. It will taste awesome just like that.

Ingredients (makes 2 cups)

Cooked Rice 1/3 cup packed
Yogurt 2-3 tbsp
Water 2 cups
Shallots 1 sliced (you can use onions if you don't have shallots)
Green chilli 1 finely chopped
Curry leaves few
Ginger a small piece finely chopped
Coriander leaves few
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Mash the rice finely.

2. Take the yogurt in a bowl. Add water to it and churn it. You can use a wire whisk for this. In India we use a wooden churner (called Mattu in tamil).

3. Add the salt, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves and shallots. Mix well.

4. Add this to the mashed rice. Mix well.

This works as a great dinner for the day when you had a heavy lunch or did I tell you a great food for dieting!

Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 
Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Priya M, Radhika, Priya S

Dreamy Mocha Frappe - Healthy, No Artificial Sugar - Just 4 ingredients - Vegan

Frozen Bananas! My new addiction. I made a resolution a couple of weeks ago that I will have a smoothie everyday. So being a very optimistic person, I ordered 1/2 dozen bananas. Well, little did I know that I will be delivered bananas double the usual size nor did I know that my resolution would not even last a day.

After a week of sitting on the shelf, the banana was turning brown, nearing black. My husband threatened to chuck them away. I was first thinking of baking something like the banana cake. But I cannot use up 6 monstrous bananas. Moreover we were going to be out for a few days. So what is the point of baking right?

That is when I remembered lot of ppl freezing cut banana and making things with it. I did not know what I wanted to make. But I knew I will freeze it. I pealed the bananas and cut them into 1 inch rounds. Layered them on a baking sheet, covered it with cling film and stuck it into the freezer. Once frozen, you can store them in a ziploc bag. If you add it directly, it will all be stuck together. If you freeze and then store, it will remain separate.

This is the first thing I made, I have another one coming soon. I am making so many combos, not able to click most of the time.



Ingredients

Frozen Banana 15 pieces
Milk 1/2 cup (use soy milk for vegan)
Cocoa Powder 2 tsp
Coffee 1 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. In a food processor or a blender pulse all the ingredients until just combined.

And oh, adjust depending on how much cocoa and coffee you like. It does not have a very banana kind of taste. it will taste more like a Mocha!

Papaya Smoothie - Tropical Detox Smoothie

Papaya is a sweet, buttery tropical fruit. When raw, it is used in India to make side dishes. Ripe fruit can be eaten as is, or as a salad or in the form of Juice or Smoothie. The combination of papaya, yogurt, ginger and mint make this smootie a wonderful Detox Smoothie. It is quite filling and is great for your digestive system.



I have not used any sugar or sweeteners cause my Papaya was super sweet. Add some if need be. You can also optionally add some ice cubes to this. My husband preferred it with very less mint, but I loved it with loads. So adjust to your taste.



Ingredients (Makes 2 cups)

Papaya pealed and chopped 1.5 cups
Milk 1/4 cup
Yogurt 1/4 cup
Ginger 1 tbsp chopped
Mint 1 tbsp chopped (use less for milder flavour)

Method of Preparation

1. Add the ginger and mint to a blender and grind it.

2. Add the papaya and blend again. You can blend into coarse or smooth as per your preference.

3. Add milk and yogurt and give it a final blend. 

Lemon Iced Tea - Refreshing Summer Drink

On a hot summer day, while hanging out at home with my dad and my little one I suddenly felt inspired. Yes yes, we do get hot summer days here in England. It may not be as hot as it gets in most parts of India or even US. But with weather for most part of the year under 20 C, most houses here do not have an A/C or even a fan. So when then the temperature touches 28-30 C (happens for a week in the whole year), we just open our windows and sit down and sip some Refreshing Iced Tea!



Ingredients (Makes 6 glasses)

Tea Bags 2
Water 6 cups
Sugar 6 tbsp
Lemon Juice 2 tbsp (or just slices of 1 lemon)
Ice Cubes to serve



Method of Preparation

1. Heat 1/2 cup (max 1 cup) of water in a pan. When it comes to a boil, switch off and add tea bags to it.

2. Let it sit for about 5 min. Check after a minute or 2. If you keep for long, it will be very strong and bitter.

3. Mix in the rest of the water and sugar. Let it cool.

4. Add the lemon juice and refrigerate. If you are not going to drink for atleast 30 min, just adding slices of lemon would do. It will impart a nice lemony taste to the tea. Do not forget to fish out the slices after a little while.

5. Fill tall glasses with ice. Pour Iced Tea over the Ice.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Mojito Mocktail - Strawberry Mint Lemonade - Happy Fourth of July!

Strawberries say summer here in UK as much as Mangoes say summer in India. Our son loves his strawberries and mangoes. So when it comes to making something with either of it, its quite hard. The box will be gone before I can think of what to make.



This week when I was ordering in Tesco (our local supermarket), I saw a nice big box of Strawberry. That gave me to the luxury to make this drink! Enjoyed it on a quite summer afternoon.

Red and Blue represent the colours from the US Flag. The stripes and stars quite beautifully represented with these colours. Though we do not live in US now, we have fond memories of all the celebrations we were part of. The firework displays in each and every town is so beautiful! My first outing in US was to NY a month after I landed in US. And I was lucky to see a beautiful display of fireworks with my friends.

Happy 4th of July Everyone!



Groovy Gourmets are making Summer Drinks this month from FoodGawker. I browsed thru a lot of recipes and found all the photos sooo inviting. Decided to make this cause of that box of Strawberry I had in the house.



Ingredients (Serves 6)

Strawberry 20
Mint 12 leaves
Lemon Juice 4 tbsp
Sugar as required
A pinch of salt
Water 4 cups



Method of Preparation

1. Make a puree of Strawberry and mint. I wanted to add some blueberries as well. The box got emptied in the morning :-)

2. Filter thru a sieve. I used one with a little bigger holes so that only the seeds get separated. If you want clear juice, use a sieve with tiny holes.

3. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt and water. Mix everything together.

4. Fill a glass with ice. Pour juice over ice.



This can be made into a cocktail as well by adding some Rum to it. 

Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie - Vegan Option

There are some days when you are sitting on your computer and you find something that has to be made then and there. This is one such recipe. I saw this posted by my friend Priya. And I just went to the kitchen and made it before I commented on her post. Totally loved it. I always love Banana with Peanut Butter.  But never drank the combo as a Smoothie.

Quick and Easy, Super Healthy, Filling!!



Ingredients

Banana 1
Cold Milk 1 cup (Or Soy Milk for Vegan Drink)
Peanut Butter 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation

1. Roughly cut the bananas and add to to blender.

2. Add Peanut Butter. Grind to a paste.

3. Add Milk and blend again. Make it Vegan by using Soy Milk instead of Milk.

Serve Chilled! 

Rava Kanji - Semolina Porridge - Vegan Option - Healthy Breakfast Porridge

Rava Kanji or Semolina Porridge has a reputation of being food for the sick people. That is quite not right, though it does work as a filling meal when you do not have the taste for other stuff. It makes an amazing breakfast porridge



In an era where Oats where not that popular, my mom used to make this porridge for us. We used to love drinking it. Some days when we had a very heavy lunch and did not feel like eating a heavy dinner, my mom used to make a very thin version of this porridge for us to drink.



This recipe makes about 3-4 big bowl (cereal bowl) of very thick porridge. If you are looking for thinner porridge, just reduce the quantity of rava/semolina



Ingredients

Rava/Semolina - 3/4 cup
Water 2 cups
Soy Milk / Or regular milk 3 cups
Cardamom 1/2 tsp
Raisins to serve (optional)

Method of Preparation

1. In a pan, dry roast the rava for a couple of minutes and set aside.

2. Add water to the pan. Bring it to a boil. Simmer it and add the rava. Give it a stir.

3. Cook till all the water is absorbed and rava is cooked.

4. Mix in the milk/soy milk and cardamom. My soy milk is sweetened. You can add a little sugar if needed to taste.

5. Serve topped with some raisins. 

Panakam - Panagam - Spiced Jaggery Lemon Cooler

Panakam or Panagam is a cooling drink made with lemon juice, sweetened with jaggery and spiced with ginger and cardamom. Perfect summer drink, don't you agree?



Our ancestors were genius. If you look at all our festive recipes, they all match the season. Many items included in the feast are good digestives. It never fails to amaze me. This drink is a typical example. Panagam is prepared during Rama Navami and Tamil New Year. It falls in April, the hot summer month.



This brings back childhood memories for me. I used to have it at the times of poojas like Bhagavathi Sevai. Its been ages since I drank this. This month, a lot of bloggers posted this recipe during Rama Navami and I was reminded of this. I knew I had to make it.. It tasted exactly as I remember it. You can adjust the sweetness and spices according to your taste.



Ingredients (Makes 5-6 glasses)

Water 5 cups
Jaggery 1 cup
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Ginger powder 1 tsp
Lemon Juice 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation

1. Take water in a bowl. Add Jaggery. Let it sit for 10 minutes till it is dissolved. Filter out any impurities.

2. Add the cardamom powder, ginger powder and lemon juice. Mix well.

3. Filter again to remove all the big bits.

4. Serve Chilled! 

Vegan Chocolate Banana Oatshake

Breaky Shaky is theme for this weeks AGC. We decided to pick this just because we all fell in love with the name Priya suggested :-)

Though I enjoy milk shakes and yogurt based shakes, I rarely make it for breakfast. I feel it will not fill me up as a bowl of oats or a bowl of cereal will.

Made this Vegan Breakfast shake and we all enjoyed an indulgent breakfast. To be honest neither my husband nor I are still sure if we can swap this for our regular breakfast :-)



Ingredients (makes 2 cups)

Oats 1 cup
Soy Milk (or regular milk) 2 cups
Boost (or cocoa powder) 2 tbsp
Cardamom 1/4 tsp
Banana 1 big

Method of Preparation

1. Mix oats, soy milk, boost and cardamom powder and keep in fridge overnight.

2. Add banana pieces to a mixie and pulse to make paste.

3. Add the oats mix and pulse again.

Enjoy a healthy breaky shaky!!

Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 
Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Priya M, Radhika, Veena, Priya S

Sambharam - Spiced Buttermilk - Moru Vellam

People from Kerala do not eat curd rice. That is a huge difference from the neighbouring states. But that does not mean that curd does not feature in their menu. Lot of dishes have yogurt base. Moru Kari, Pulisheri etc used as kozhambu are yogurt based dishes. Kichadi made with Okra, Pavakka, Beetroot use yogurt base. Some people also just add curd as a side while eating sambar and rice. But the crown of the best use of curd goes to Sambharam.



My husband was asking why not just call it Moru (like tamilians), why the fancy name. Well Moru is just plain buttermilk. Sambharam is spiced buttermilk.

On a hot sunny day nothing quenches the thirst like this good old drink. The best taste of this is when you drink it from earthen vessels. But these days (and in the country that I am in) there is no scope for earthen pots. So I have to make do with glasses. And the sad part is the weather is never too warm for me to crave this favourite drink of mine.

When I lived in Chennai a long time ago, when we are out and about (window shopping) in the hot Chennai sun we used to buy packets of this spiced buttermilk and used to drink right out of the packet. It used to just feel divine. Last week we were in Saravana Bhavan and I was eating my favourite there - Kothu Barota. I really felt like having this to compliment the heat from the dish. It was divine, but for the cost. £3 for a glass of moru is too much. I mean I can make around 30 glasses for around a £1 at home.

Ingredients (Makes 3-4 glasses)

Curd 4 tbsp
Water 3 cups
Green Chilli 1
Curry Leaves few
Ginger a very small bit
Salt

Method of Preparation

1. Finely chop green chilli, curry leaf and ginger.

2. Take curd in a vessel. Add the water and salt. Mix well.

3. Add the chopped chillies, curry leaves and ginger.

4. Leave it for sometime before serving. You can remove the herbs before serving or just leave it in. It is upto the person drinking. The buttermilk will be flavoured even if you remove the herbs.

Note:
1. Adjust spice per your taste.
2. If serving for kids, you may want to avoid chillies
3. You can add a little hing for added taste



Linking this to Onam Special @ Sharan's Samayalarai

Very Berry Milkshake

Made this Berry drink for breakfast. It is a not a regular milkshake as in it does not have any icecream. This is just plain goodness. Blueberries and Strawberries are filled with so much nutrition and the calcium from the milk make it a perfect guilt free drink.



Ingredients

Blueberry 1/2 cup
Strawberry 4
Milk 1/2 cup



Method of Preparation

1. In a mixie/blender, run the blueberries and strawberries. I like them chunky. So I just pulsed it a little bit.

2. Add in the milk and pulse one more time.

Transfer to a glass and enjoy. You can optionally add some sugar as well.

Linking this to Lets Cook - Kids Special

Badam Sharjah

Being a Keralite, I have been in love with this drink. Yes yes - I am not talking about the Emitire, part of UAE. I am talking about the popular milkshake available here called Sharjah.

This month I am glad to be back with another installment of Blog Hop Wednesday. This time, I am not doing an exact recreation. I decided to make Sharjah after I saw the recipe for ABC Smoothie in Riddhima's site.

Sharjah is basically a drink made from frozen milk. Different variations are available. The traditional recipe uses frozen milk, banana and some peanuts along with some sugar.



Ingredients

Frozen milk - I used 1 1/2 litre packet that you get in India.
Almonds/Badam - 10
Small Banana - 2
Badam Powder - 4-5 tbsp
Sugar - if needed

Method of Preparation

1. Soak and peal the Almonds.

2. In a mixie, coarsely grind the almonds. Add the bananas and run the blender again.

3. I used for badam powder for flavour. You can skip this and add some more almonds and then add some cardamom and saffron as well if you want.

4. Add the powder, sugar (if using, I used 1 tsp) and the frozen milk. Blend it all together.

5. Do not overblend. The milk should have its frozen to creamy texture (not watery).

6. Sevre in tall glasses. Top it with some sliced almonds.

Submitting this to Blog Hop Wednesday and Kerala Kitchen hosted by Prathibha