Lassi

 Lassi is a cooling and refreshing drink to have in the summers. It is a yogurt based drink and very popular in the northern parts of India. Lassi's are either sweet or savory.

Sweet Lassi is made by churning yogurt along with sugar, ground cardamom and saffron(extra richness).

Note:

1) Make sure the yogurt is not sour.(very important)

2) Water can be added to dilute the Lassi.(I have not added water as I wanted it to be thick)

3) Try to use hand mixer/whisk to churn the lassi as it provides a unique taste and frothy texture when compared to a blender.

Ingredients

1) Yogurt / Curd - 1/2 Cup

2) Sugar - 2 Tbsp (as per taste)

3) Ground Cardamom - 1/2 Tsp

4) Saffron/ Kesar - a pinch (optional)

5) Ice cubes

Method:

1) In a bowl, add the yogurt, sugar, ground cardamom, saffron and beat it using a hand mixer.

2) Then add ice cubes and beat it till turns frothy.

3) Pour it in a glass and sprinkle some saffron on top and serve.

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Mango Lassi

Lassi is a cooling and refreshing drink to have in the summers. It is a yogurt based drink and very popular in the northern parts of India. Lassis are either sweet or savory.

Mango Lassi is a sweet Lassi which is made by churning yogurt along with sugar, Saffron, cardamom and chopped ripe mango.

Ingredients

1) Yogurt / Curd - 1/2 Cup

2) Sugar - 2 Tbsp (as per taste)

3) Ground Cardamom - 1/2 Tsp

4) Saffron/ Kesar - a pinch

5) Chopped Ripe Mango - 1/4 Cup (frozen or fresh)

6) Ice cubes

7) Chopped Almond for garnish

Method:

1) Grind the chopped mango with 2 tsp of yogurt into a smooth paste in a blender.

1) In a bowl, add the mango paste, remaining yogurt, sugar, ground cardamom, saffron and beat it using a hand mixer.

2) Then add ice cubes and beat it till turns frothy.

3) Pour it in a glass and sprinkle some chopped almonds on top and serve.

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Turmeric Milk

Turmeric has been recognized by yogis and ayurvedic healers since ancient times for its manyhealing properties.

Grown mainly in India, the turmeric root is a close cousin to ginger root. It is dried and ground into a fine powder, brilliant gold in color, and used in many Indian recipes.Turmeric is considered highly auspicious in India and has been used extensively in various Indian ceremonies. Even today it is used in every part of India during wedding ceremonies and religious ceremonies.

Turmeric can be consumed as Turmeric Tea , Turmeric Milk, Turmeric smoothie etc.

Lets see how Turmeric Milk is made. 

Ingredients:

1) Turmeric Paste - 1/2 Tsp

2) Milk - 1 Cup

3) Ginger grated - Pinch

4) Cardamom powder - 1/8 Tsp

5) Ground Pepper - 1/8 Tsp

6) Palm Sugar - as per taste

7) Saffron - few strands

8) Water - little

Preparation:

* Place a pan on medium heat, add grated ginger and little water to boil (sometimes fresh ginger may curdle the milk.so I boil it in water to prevent that)

* Then add the milk, turmeric paste, ground cardamom, ground pepper and allow it boil.

* Then add palm sugar (panam karkandu) to it. once the palm sugar is dissolved strain it into a glass and top it of with saffron and serve.

Benefits:

* Milk and Turmeric provides bone health

* Powerful anti-oxidant

* Cure cough and cold

* Can treat diarrhea and indigestion

* Helps in blood purification and liver detox and much more

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Turmeric Paste

Turmeric has been recognized by yogis and ayurvedic healers since ancient times for its many healing properties.

Grown mainly in India, the turmeric root is a close cousin to ginger root. It is dried and ground into a fine powder, brilliant gold in color, and used in many Indian recipes.Turmeric is considered highly auspicious in India and has been used extensively in various Indian ceremonies. Even today it is used in every part of India during wedding ceremonies and religious ceremonies.

Turmeric can be consumed as Turmeric Tea , Turmeric Milk, Turmeric smoothie etc.
In all these drinks Turmeric Paste is used as a base.

Lets see how the Turmeric Paste is made 

Ingredients :

1) Turmeric powder - 1/4 Cup

2) Water - 1/2 Cup filtered water (Add more water if needed)

3) Ground pepper - 1/2 Tsp (optional)

4) Olive oil/ Almond oil/ Clarified butter - 1/2 Tsp (optional)

Preparation :

* Place a pan on medium heat and mix the turmeric powder and water.

* Cook till raw smell of the turmeric goes (add more water if needed)

* When the turmeric is completely cooked, add the pepper(optional) and clarified butter and remove from the heat.

* Transfer it to a air tight container and can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

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Whole Wheat Halwa

Whole Wheat Halwa is a very delicious and mouth watering dessert made out of the milk extracted from the whole wheat flour, clarified butter(ghee), sugar and nuts. 

Step 1: Ingredients

1) Whole Wheat Flour - 1 Cup

2) Clarified Butter (Ghee)  - 1/3 to 1/2 Cup

3) Sugar - 2 to 2 .5 Cups (increase or decrease as per taste)

4) Cardamom powder (elachi powder) - 1 Tsp

5) Nuts for garnish.

6) Water

Step 2: Extracting the milk from whole wheat flour

1) Knead the whole wheat flour into a soft dough by adding water little by little.(like a chapathi dough) 

2) Soak the kneaded whole wheat flour dough in 5 cups of water for a minimum of 3 hours.

3) The dough would have become very soft after soaking for 3 hours. Mix the soaked dough and water together.

4) Then filter the milk obtained through a mesh/filter.

5) The gluten will be strained out. discard the gluten and keep the whole wheat flour milk.

Step 3: Making the Whole wheat Halwa 

1) Place a non stick pan on medium heat and add 2 Tsp of clarified butter (ghee) and fry the nuts and remove keep it for garnish. 

2) In the same pan, add the extracted milk from the whole wheat flour and keep on mixing.

3) Within few minutes (5 -8 min) the milk will start to become thick in consistency.

4) Once it starts to thicken, add the sugar, cardamom powder.

5) Then keep adding ghee, 1 Tsp at a time till the halwa separates out from the vessel.
Thats when the halwa is done.

6)  Add the roasted nuts and transfer to a ghee greased plate.

Mouth watering whole wheat Halwa is ready  !!! Enjoy :) 

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