Pomegranate Litchi Lemon Juice | Summer Coolers

For the third summer cooler I am posting another refreshing juice which can be easily made at home.

Pomegranate is a very healthy fruit. Ofcourse it might be tiresome to some people to remove the delicious pearls and eat it. I love this fruit and will clean the pomegranate, and eat it along the way without sharing with anyone else. 

 In Malayalam poets compare lips of females with pomegranate, may be because of its color. Pomegranate has a lot of health benefits.  It is the most powerful anti-oxidant of all fruits, has potent anti-cancer and immune supporting effects; it can help to reduce heart attacks, strokes and embolic disease. It can also help in lowering cholesterol and reduce other cardiac risk factors, lower blood pressure and it is also shown to promote reversal of atherosclerotic plaque in human studies. It also helps or relives depression and osteoporosis.

Similarly litchi also has a lot of health benefits. I shall research and post it another post.Instead of using the litchi fruit, I used the litchi juice here. Lemon is a very good thirst-reliever. I actually found this recipe a perfect accompaniment for grilled entree.

Ingredients:

Pomegranate - 1/2 cup
Litchi juice - 1 glass
Lemon - 2
Water - 2 glass
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Ice cubes - as needed

Method:

• Extract juice out of the 2 lemons.
• In a blender add pomegranate pearls, sugar, little water and blend together to form a smooth consistency and strain through the strainer and set aside.
• Mix the strained liquid with litchi juice, lemon juice and remaining water. 
• Mix well and serve with ice cubes.

Enjoy this healthy drink!!!

Notes:

• We can use pomegranate juice also instead of the fruit.
• Adding ginger to this will make it an excellent detox drink.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Kesar Badam Kulfi | Summer Coolers

This is the first time I am trying a kulfi recipe. I had made sure I have to post either one of ice creams or one of kulfi recipes in this month's BM. So tried a very simple kulfi recipe. I loved the outcome. 

The making of this kulfis brought back some sweet memories from Bombay. In my childhood, the first kulfi that I tasted was from Bombay by the sides of Juhu beach. Those days it used to 50p per small stick and 1 rupee for a bigger one. 

I didn't have kulfi making moulds with me. I tried a different trick. I had some small glasses like containers with lid which I stocked from coffee day as part of buying chocolate mousse. I used these as kulfi moulds. And I used some tooth picks as kulfi sticks :). Nice idea right?

Almond is called as Badam in India. Kesar is saffron. This dessert is very easy to make and tastes delicious and is too tempting to resist. 

Ingredients:

Milk - 500 ml

Sugar - 200 grams

Badam - 200 grams

Custard Powder - 2 tsp

Saffron - 2 grams

Method:

• Soak the badam in water for about 2 hours. Peel the skin of the badam and make a paste of it.
• In a heavy bottomed vessel, boil the milk. 
• From the boiled milk, take 2 tsp of milk. Mix the saffron and keep aside.
• From the boiled milk, take another 4 tbsp of milk. Mix the custard powder, stir well and keep aside.
• To the remaining milk, add the sugar and mix well. Boil for another 5 minutes.
• Now add the badam paste. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Finally add the saffron milk and custard-powder milk. Stir well until the mixture thickens.
• Switch off the stove. Leave aside the mixture to cool for some time.
• Pour into kulfi molds Or desired molds. Freeze them upto 3 hours Or until firm.

Enjoy chilled kulfis!!!

Notes:

• To remove the kulfi from the moulds smoothly, take the kulfi moulds from freezer and show it in running water for about a minute. Then open the kulfi moulds and remove the kulfi.
• Dry badam powder can also be used instead of badam.
• Milk powder or condensed milk can also be added.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Mint Lemonade

I took a month's break from blogging after the month-long mega marathon. I hadn't planned to but the situation at home turned tensed with close-ones falling sick. So this break was quite refreshing for me and helped me get back with my normal routine.

This month's blogging marathon I am starting off with some summer coolers. Staying in the southern part of India, I have experienced very hot summers. And there are a lot of grandma recipes for summer coolers or cool drinks that I haven't yet blogged about. So when Valli announced "summer coolers" as one of the topics for this month's BM, I immediately chose this category.

The first post I am posting is a recipe that has been traditionally followed and made quite often in our households. It is the mint lemonade. This used to be made very frequently - I should say almost everyday since both mint and lemon was easily available. This is a very easy summer drink and quite healthy too.

Ingredients:

Lemon - 1

Mint leaves - handful

Sugar - 4 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Water - 2 cups

Ice cubes - few

Method:

• Squeeze the juice out of the lemon.
• In a juicer, add the lemon juice, mint leaves, salt, sugar and 1 glass of water.
• Pulse for 5-10 seconds.
• Strain the juice and remove the mint leaves. 
• Add another glass of water and mix well.
• Serve with ice cubes.

Notes:

• We can also add soda instead of water.
• Adding ginger to this drink will make it an excellent detox drink.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65