I got introduced to this Watermelon-Rose syrup combo after my marriage. My MIL makes two types of these watermelon-rose drinks especially on the hot, sweltering summer days in India.

Tarbuj Rose Sharbat
Watermelon-Rose Syrup Drink
Ingredients
A small chunk of watermelon, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tsp rose syrup per glass
Ice-cold water

Method
1. Place bite sized watermelon pieces in tall serving glasses.
2. Pour Rose syrup per glass.
3. Pour ice cold water and stir.
4. Serve immediately with a tall spoon and a straw.

Note -
1. Garnish with mint if desired.
2. You can use a melon scooper to make small watermelon balls.

Source:  Enjoy Indian Food

Finally , the summer seems to be here and suddenly we are craving for cooler things. The two ideas, a smoothie and a yogurt posted today were prepared to beat yesterday's heat. They use the store bought granola bars and yogurt and suit my BM theme of "Food prepared using ready made stuff".
Check what the other marathoners are cooking during BM#17.

Ingredients: (2 - 3 servings)
1 cup or 6 oz strawberry yogurt / Plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup strawberries, halved
1 small banana
2 granola bars (I used Nature Valley' Oats n Honey bars.)
Sugar or any sweetener if using plain yogurt

Method:
* Place yogurt, milk, fruits, 3/4th of the granola bars and sweetener if using in a blender. Blend until smooth.
* Pour into glasses. Crumble the remaining bars and sprinkle in each glass. Garnish with strawberry slices if desired. Serve immediately.

Blueberry Yogurt

Another cool snack idea for these sultry days. Though I am not a yogurt - granola parfait eating person, a fruity yogurt sprinkled with a small quantity of nuts and crumbled granola bar is appealing to me. Here is blueberry Greek yogurt sprinkled with almond and crumbled granola.
Either get blueberry yogurt from the store or prepare your own. Using Greek yogurt is the shortcut version but straining the yogurt in the refrigerator for a few hours will also give the same results. For each cup of Greek yogurt, pulse about 2 Tbsp of blueberries coarsely. Add crushed berries and sweetener to the yogurt and stir. 4 - 6 fresh berries can be added as well. Sprinkle with nuts and granola bar pieces if desired and serve immediately.

Source: Veggie Platter 

As i told earlier, i prepare myself multigrain flours using barley,quinoa,pearl millet,oats and vice versa, last time when i prepared barley flour myself, there were some finely grounded barley meal which was sitting silently since few days in pantry to be cooked as anything.. Finally i prepared this wonderful looking, colourful pudding with those leftover over barley meal along cooked beets and condensed milk..Needless to say this pudding tastes super fabulous,yummy,healthy and simply catchy..We enjoyed having this delicious pudding warm, loved it..My teddies named this pudding as rose pudding, very perfect name na!...

Ingredients:

• 1/2cup Barleymeal or 1/4cup Whole barley
• 1cup Beets (cooked &chopped)
• 2cups Milk
• 1/2cup Condensed milk
• 1/2tsp Cardamom powder
• 1tbsp Ghee
• Few almond flakes

Method:
Cook the barley meal with milk until they get cooked completely,meanwhile grind the cooked beets along with the condensed milk as fine paste..Add the grounded paste to the cooking barleymeal, cook for few seconds, finally add the ghee,cardamom powder and put off the stove..

Serve warm topped with almond flakes..Enjoy..

Source : Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Nannari is a Summer Special herb from Nature. It Cools down the body heat. There are Plenty of Good things about this herb. It Reduces Pitta dosha from Your body. To Sum up, its best to have during Summer, as it avoids de-hydration. Nannari Syrup is available at all stores, i remember seeing it on Nilgris dept.store. I could have bought one bottle, but the challenge for the food blogger is to try it out, isnt it. Hubby got some Nannari root from Naatu Marunthu Kadai. Googling helped me to land on Jayasree's Recipe. i also referred few other recipe and tried it out.

Recipe for Nannari Syrup:

Ingredients:

• Nannari Root - 50 gms
• Water - 2 cups + 1 cup
• Jaggery / Vellam - 150 gms
  

Method:

Take a Stone Mortar and Pestle. Crush the roots with Pestle twice or thrice, the root will loosen up and you have to remove the inner part (white part) of the root.

After Removing, Take the roots in your mixie jar and grind them just for a second. its just to break the roots into small pieces.

Boil 2 cups of Water in a vessel, remove from flame and instantly add the grinded roots and close the vessel with its lid. Leave the Vessel un disturbed for 5 - 6 hours. dont open in between, as you may release the steam. Let the Roots infuse Water

After 6 hours, Strain the roots away. strain with a muslin cloth. Keep the water aside.

Add 1 cup of water to a Pan, Add Jaggery and melt the jaggery and filter it. now heat the filtered jaggery water. slowly add the root infused water to the jagger water and let it boil.

Boil for about 10 minutes in slow flame till they reach single string consistency. remove from flame and let the Nannari Syrup Cool Down.

Store the Nannari Syrup in a Sterlised Bottle and you can keep it in fridge and use it.

How to Use Nannari Syrup:

* You can make Nannari Sarbath
* You can mix the Syrup with Tender Coconut Water
* You can mix with Milk
* You can prepare Jigarthanda

Recipe for Nannari Sarbath

Ingredients:

• Lemon - 1
• Nannari Syrup - 3 tbsp's
• Chilled Water - 1 Cup
  

Method:

Extract Juice from the Lemon and mix with Water and add Nannari Syrup to and Mix well. Serve chilled. its better to take this sarbath in empty stomach.

Notes:

* The Roots can be put in Clay Pot of Drinking Water.
* With this Root, kuzhambu can also be prepared.
* Nannari leaves can be used for making thuvaiyal.

Soure about Nannari - My Domestic Helper. I Tell you what, She is Wikipedia for me and also the best Naturopathy doctor. to be noted, she never stepped school.

Minty Green Tea.

If using green tea leaves, they are added to hot water to release their flavor. Mint leaves are also added to hot water along with sweetener. Serve fresh minty green tea hot or cold.
Makes: 1 Cup of Minty Green Tea.

Ingredients:

• Dried Green Tea Leaves 1 Tbsp
• Fresh Mint Leaves 5 – 6
• Honey to Taste

Method of preparation:

Wash mint leaves under fresh water.
Tear mint leaves if they are very big.

Bring to boil around a big cup of water.
When water comes to boil, remove from heat.
Place mint leaves in serving cup.
Add green tea leaves in a strainer.
Place the strainer on top of serving cup.
Pour the hot water over the tea leaves and press the leaves a little to release its flavor.
Add honey to taste and stir well.
Serve minty green tea hot or cold.
Notes: Make sure to adjust mint leaves according to taste.

Source: Talimpu

I know its quite tricky to choose mangoes that too when its not a peek season for mangoes,just know i can see few mangoes in my favourite farmer's market, i did a big mistake by choosing green mangoes from Indian stores thinking that they will be sour,but once i tasted them after coming back to home, they were mildly sour and sweet at the same time..My H dont like sweet mangoes in sambhar or in kuzhambus, so finally i decided to turn them as spiced buttermilk with black salt,mint leaves,sugar and few chopped ginger..For my surprise even my kids enjoyed having this mango buttermilk chilled, they loved it..When served chilled, this buttermilk tastes delicious with mild mint and ginger flavour and quite a thirsty quencher, am gonna make this buttermilk quite often, a prefect drink for upcoming hot summer..Sending this buttermilk to PJ's Herbs & Flowers In My Platter & to Satya's JFI-ReRun Mango..

Ingredients:

• 1/2cup Mango chunks (chopped with their skin)
• 2cups Buttermilk
• 1tbsp Sugar
• 1/4tsp Black salt
• A pinch Pepper powder
• 1/4tsp Ginger (grated)
• Few mint leaves

Method:
Beat the mango chunks,buttermilk,pepper powder, grated ginger and mint leaves, strain the buttermilk and now add the sugar and black salt..Serve chilled..

Source: Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

The title kamlalebur kheer itself sounds so fancy. How does one describe it? Sinful, decadent and rich. Or "orange kheer" from West Bengal to put it in simple terms. The idea of sweet, succulent orange segments dunked in chilled, thick, creamy milk itself is mouth watering. This recipe do not need many ingredients and also the process is a simple one. It is a perfect dessert when you have company, especially during summer. I noticed it for the first time at Sharmi's blog and then at Sandeepa's and was bowled over. I could not put it together until now though planned it several times earlier. We thoroughly enjoyed it and I thought of sharing it.

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 2 cups milk
• 7 oz / 200 gm condensed milk (1/2 can condensed milk)
• 2 Tbsp sugar or as per taste (if using unsweetened condensed milk, adjust the quantity)
• 2-3 oranges (any sweet variety)
  

Method:
1. Bring the milk to boil in a nonstick pan. Then simmer on low flame till it reduces to half the original quantity, stirring intermittently. Using a nonstick pan and stirring is to avoid scorching.
2. Add the condensed milk and sugar to the pan and stir well. At this point you can continue boiling till the milk thickens attaining a creamy hue. Or for more convenience, add this mixture of milk and condensed milk to a microwave safe bowl and put it in the microwave for 2 -3 minutes, checking in between to avoid spilling. The final product should be a very thick, smooth mixture. Let cool.
3. In the meantime, get those oranges out of the refrigerator. Peel them and separate the segments. Remove the thin film clinging to those segments and cut each segment into two or three pieces.
4. Stir in the orange pieces to the cold milk in step 2 and refrigerate it for 3 -4 hours.
5. Serve chilled.

Source:Veggie Platter

Never thought until i try this juice that mint leaves and kiwi both together works out wonder, its quite a refreshing juice and completely its sugarfree coz i used maple syrup for making this simple juice...Addition of mint leaves gives a beautiful flavour to this simple kiwi juice, just add some ice cubes and enjoy while its hot..Definitely a refreshing juice to enjoy..Sending to Pj's Herbs & Flowers In My Platter..

Ingredients:

• 2cups Kiwi (peeled & chopped)
• 1sprig Mint leaves
• Maple syrup as per need
• Water

Method:

Blend the kiwi flesh with mint leaves and maple syrup with enough water, don't strain the juice and serve immediately..Enjoy!!

Source: Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Orange juice is said to contain a high percentage of VITAMIN C which our body really needs to build the immune system. I came to know one more important thing while searching for its health benefits, is that, it helps lower both cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels.. Isn't that awesome ..? I'm on a mission not to eat sweets , cheese as I feel some changes in my system and do feel I've put on some weight. While talking to my mom last day , she asked me to follow a particular and a regular diet from now on.. Hope, I'll follow my mom's word ,atleast ,lemme try .. Thinking of starting my diet with some fresh juice..Howz that sound guys !!!

Ingredients :

• Orange -- 3 nos.
• Honey -- a tbsp
• Sugar -- 1 to 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice -- few drops (optional)

Method :

First microwave the orange for 7 to 10 secs to get more juice. But this step is totally optional. Else, u may smack the oranges on the counter . Cut each orange into half and squeeze out the juice.. U may add the orange slice in ur blender after removing the seeds, if there is any, and blend till it's smooth. Pour the juice into the serving tall glass and add few drops of lemon juice, if u wish, and add thehoney and the sugar. Mix well. U may keep this in the fridge for few minutes and serve chill with a slice of orange inserted on the glass side.

Sending this to Dish name starts with F event by Akila

Also sending this to cooking with fruits event going on in Taste Buds













Note : Akila, Hope u've received my mail..

Happy eating guys !!!

Source: Kitchen Secrets

This Vietnamese shake was sitting in my draft since a long, this shake goes for easy ingredients and very quick to prepare..This avocado shake will be very thick,creamy and rich suits prefectly to enjoy for breakfast or else for dessert after having a heavy lunch y not for a quick brunch on lazy days...Just scoop out the avocado flesh and beat along with milk and sweetened condensed milk,thats all the shake is ready, u can add ice cubes as u desire else this thick shake tastes great without icecubes too..

Visit Srivalli,Reva,Monika,PJ,PriyaVaasu,Jay,Azeema,Ayeesha,Veena,Soumya,Usha & Gayathri wat they are cooking for blogging marathon as we guys are running for this whole month..

Ingredients:

• 1no Avocado
• 1cup Milk
• 1/2cup Sweetened condensed milk
• Ice cubes

Method:
Scoop the flesh of the avocado carefully, take the avocado flesh,sweetened condensed milk,milk in a blender, blend until they turns as a smooth and thick shake..

Serve in glasses with a spoon along with ice cubes if u desire..

Source: Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Apple Milk Shake.

Apples are peeled and ground into smooth paste along with milk, honey and cardamom powder. The milk shake is then poured into serving glasses and garnished with freshly ground pistachios. Serve apple milk shake immediately.
Makes: around 2 Servings of Apple Milk Shake.

Ingredients:

• Apple 2
• Milk 1 1/2 Cups
• Honey to Taste
• Pistachios 1 Tbsp
• Green Cardamom Powder a Pinch

Method of preparation:

Peel and roughly chop apple.
Grind pistachios into coarse powder and keep aside.

Blend together apple, milk, honey, cardamom powder into smooth juice.
Remove the shake onto a serving glasses with ice cubes.
Garnish with ground pistachios and serve apple milk shake immediately.
Notes: Choose apples that are on a sweeter note.

via Talimpu

I cant start my day without my cup of coffee and am an addict to the iced coffee, while am searching for some Vietnamese dishes, i got hooked with this iced coffee and i tried out today eventhough its super cold here...This iced coffee goes for simple ingredients and gets ready in very less minutes, just need some sweetened condensed milk, a thick coffee decoction and some ice cubes, thats all..We enjoyed having this iced coffee and am an addict to this iced coffee now..Sending this super delicious iced coffee to AWED-Vietnam guest hosted by Priya, event by DK..

Ingredients:

• 2tbsp Sweetened condensed milk
• 1cup Thick coffee decoction
• Ice cubes

Method:
Take the sweetened condensed milk in a glass, add the ice cubes to the sweetened condensed milk..finally add the coffee decoction, give a stir and enjoy...

via Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Pineapple Banana Shrikand.

Srikhand is a flavored creamy Indian dessert made of plain yogurt. Here, yogurt is hung to make it thick. It is then whisked with pineapple juice and mixed with fruits and nuts. Serve pineapple banana shrikand immediately or chilled.
Makes: One Serving of Pineapple Banana Shrikand.

Ingredients:

• Plain Yogurt 1 1/4 Cups
• Pineapple Juice 3 – 4 Tbsps
• Banana 1 Small
• Walnuts 4

Method of preparation:

Roughly chop the walnuts.
Peel and chop the banana into small pieces.

Tie plain yogurt in a clean muslin cloth and hang it in refrigerator (tie the ends of cloth to the rack) for 6 – 8 hours with a bowl underneath to collect the whey.
The yogurt thickens to a very good extent.
Remove the yogurt into a bowl, add pineapple juice and whisk well.
Stir in chopped banana and walnuts.
Garnish the shrikhand with walnuts and pineapple juice.
Serve pineapple banana shrikand immediately.
Notes: Make sure to strain the yogurt well for pineapple juice to be incorporated.

Via Talimpu

Actually i was pulled to prepare this thick smoothie coz of some leftover seedless dates and some leftover fruits salad prepared by my hubby sterday..Am a person who never trashed anything that much easily, so i wanted to turn those leftover fruits as a thick smoothie using yogurt, this smoothie is completely sugar free,filling, delicious which suits prefectly for breakfast to start a hectic day with some bread toasts or for dieting people as this smoothie is quite a complete energy booster...Just add some ice cubes to this thick smoothie to serve them as a thin juice, u have so many choices to enjoy this healthy smoothie..

Ingredients:

• 10nos Dated (soaked in hot water for an hour)
• 2cups Mixed fruits (kiwi, banana, apple,orange,peaches etc)
• Water
• 1cup Yogurt

Method:
Blend the soaked dates with enough water as thick paste, add the remaining water, mixed fruits, yogurt and blend everything together as thick smoothie, enjoy immediately or with ice cubes..

via Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Fresh juice prepared from freshly chopped bittergourd suits prefectly for diabetic peoples, its adviced to drink this fresh bittergourd juice atleast twice a week for everyone apart from kids, its a healthy drink which helps to deduce the sugar level.. Bitter gourd juice is also a powerful natural diuretic and helps in decreasing weight naturally. It is interesting to note that bitter melon contains two times the beta-carotene of broccoli, two times the calcium of spinach, and two times the potassium of bananas. This juice contains vitamins B1, vitamin B3, vitamin C, phosphorus, and is rich in dietary fiber and therefore has been recommended as a natural herbal supplement.So needless to say more about this green catchy juice eventhough its hard to drink...Sending this juice to Vegetable Marathon - Bittergourd guest hosted by Nithu, event by Anita..

Ingredients:

• 1cup Bittergourd (chopped finely)
• 1tsp Ginger (grated)
• Salt
• 1tsp Lemon juice
• 2pinches of chaat masala
• Pinch of pepper powder

Method:

Blend the chopped bittergourd, ginger and salt with enough water, strain this juice and add the lemon juice per need..Serve this juice topped with chaat masala and pepper powder..

Enjoy this bitter juice for better health..

via Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

To sum up, badam payasam or kheer is an enticing dessert to guests, a nutritious one for kids, a delectable one for the sweet toothed and a simple one to prepare. I happen to prepare kheers frequently for neivedyam and this week, it was badam payasam. A sure treat for bhagwan :)) and our taste buds.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 & 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup almonds (about 30)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads soaked in a Tbsp of milk (optional)
• 1 Tbsp slivered almonds for garnish

Method:
* Boil the milk on low flame till it reduces to 3/4th the original quantity. Keep stirring in between to avoid the milk getting burnt and using a non-stick pan / thick-bottomed pan is recommended. To skip this step altogether, substitute half & half for milk.
* Meanwhile, place the almonds with a little water in a microwave for 2 -3 minutes. Remove from the MW and skin the almonds. Or soak the almonds in 1/2 cup of water for about 20 -30 minutes and remove the skins. Grind the almonds with little milk into a fine paste.
* Add this almond paste, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron to the thick milk and stir. Let it boil for five more minutes till the sugar dissolves and turn off the stove.
* Garnish with slivered almonds and serve chilled or warm.

via Veggie Platter

I have prepared this very refreshing rose coloured shake few months back and it was sitting in my draft since a long, its time for me to reveal this beautiful looking shake with u all..This shake goes for a quick,simple, easy preparation and this shake tastes fabulous when served with ice cubes..Actually i prepared this shake coz of the sweetless watermelon chunks, since i dont want to trash them i prepared this refreshing shake with store bought coconut milk and maple syrup..Needless to say that none said no to this coconut flavoured shake..We loved it..Quite a refreshing shake to enjoy while its hot..

Ingredients:

• 2cups Watermelon chunks
• 1cup Coconut milk
• 1cup Water
• Maple syrup as per need
• Ice cubes

Method:
Blend together the watemelon chunks, coconut milk, water and maple syrup until they turns as juice, dont strain the juice, serve immediately with ice cubes..

Enjoy !!

via Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Qahwa Arabeya, the Arabic coffee is a symbol of hospitality, this coffee is never prepared with milk or sugar and its usually served with dates, fruits or any other sweets, the ritual of serving coffee in Arabic countries is sign of welcoming their guests..This coffee is served as black coffee prepared with coarsely grounded cardamom, saffron and rose water with coffee powder..It has a special coffee pot called dallah and the coffee cups are small but with no handle. The portions are very small, covering the bottom of the cup. It is served in houses and in good restaurants,also offered at most social events like weddings and funerals...I loved this perfumed black coffee and enjoyed with dates..Sending to AWED-Saudi Arabia guest hosted by Niloufer, event by DK..

Ingredients:

• 3tbsps Coffee powder
• 2cups Water
• 1tsp Cardamom powder
• 1/2tsp Rose water
• 1/4tsp Saffron strands

Method:
Boil the water in a pan, add the coffee and let it boil in simmer for few minutes,put the cardamom powder, saffron strands and rose water in a pot, strain the coffee to the pot and keep aside for few minutes..

Serve warm with dates..

There are many good juice centers around Mumbai. Everybody has their favorites. Mine is Haji Ali Juice Center. I decided to make this quick and easy juice after buying a juicy watermelon.
Just make the juice and garnish with chopped watermelons and a pinch of chaat masala.

Watermelon Juice
Ingredients
Few big pieces of watermelon (preferably fridge-cold)

Garnish
1 tbsp chopped watermelon pieces per serving glass
A pinch of chaat masala per serving glass.

Method
1. Grind watermelon pieces without adding water.
2. Garnish with chopped watermelon and chaat masala.
3. Serve chilled with a long spoon & straw.

Note -
1. You can add some crushed ice along with the watermelon pieces if you like. But serve immediately else it will dilute the juice.

Turkish Apple tea was introduced to the local markets especially for tourists few years ago, this tea have nothing when compared to the traditional Turkish Black tea, this tea is caffeine free, slightly sweetened with mild apple flavour..I found this apple tea here and Binnur, the author of Turkish Cook Book says that Apple tea speeds up metabolism increases the amount of urine, as this tea is prepared by boiling apples and oranges with its skins, the orange skins have citric acid and this citric acid helps for losing weight and the mineral salts found in this apple tea acts as urine remover and blood cleaner..Apple tea also strengthens both the heart and stomach, this apple tea get ready easily and this tea goes for simple ingredients..Sending this apple tea to AWED-Turkey guest hosted by Saveur, event by DK..

Ingredients:

• 2nos Red apples
• 1no Orange
• 1no Cinnamon stick
• 2nos Whole cloves
• 4cups Water
• Honey as per need

Method:
Dont peel the apples and dont remove the seeds, just slice them as 4pieces, dont peel the orange and slice them as 4pieces..Take the sliced fruits, cinnamon stick, cloves and water in a saucepan, bring everything to boil, put the flame in simmer and cook until the fruits get cooked..Strain the cooked water in a bowl by pushing gently the cooked fruits with a back of spoon to remove the liquid completely..

Pour in tea glasses and add honey as per ur need..Enjoy the warm apple tea..