smoothies N coolers

Lychee-blueberry smoothie

| Rekha Vengalil


And finally the sky has cleared up and the haze has reduced. So is me back to feeling better! 

Well on that note here’s a refreshingly delicious smoothie. 

You need –

  • Fresh lychee – peeled and de-seeded, 1 cup
  • Fresh blueberries – 1/2 cup
  • Condensed milk – 1/4 cup ( or adjust to your taste)
  • Water – 1 cup
  • Ice cubes – 5 nos
How to-

Put all ingredients into the bender and blend till smooth.

Pour into serving glasses and serve chilled.

 

Mango-saffron kulfi

| Rekha Vengalil
I can’t get enough of the Mangoes… Well most of the time we end up eating fresh mangoes and don’t want to make anything of it or rather I have no patience. The other day I happened to find some Indian kesar Mangoes. Picked up a few to make kulfis.
 
The recipe is from one of my cook books. It was creamy and the nutty flavor was just so perfect to bring back the memories of my childhood in Bangalore where I grew up.   There was a guy who would pop-up during the summer selling kulfi’s and we friends feasted on them. I still remember he would come on bicycle with huge clay pot sitting at the back of the cycle and covered with a red cloth all through summer and once the season was over we never saw until the year.
 
Well cherished memories… Something you never want to let go off!
Over to the recipe, I have used steel glasses as I didn’t have the traditional kulfi molds. I was keen on getting the cylindrical shape so the steel glass was perfect. But you can use the regular popsicle molds.
You need –
  • Mango puree – 2 cups ( I used 3 big mangoes)
  • Canned evaporated milk – 400 grams
  • Single cream – 200 mls
  • Saffron strands – 1 teaspoon
  • Ground almonds – 25 grams
  • Granulated sugar – 75 grams or as per your taste
  • Freshly ground cardamom seeds – ¼ teaspoon
  • Roasted pistachio nuts to garnish
How to – 
 
Puree the mangoes in a blender and pass through the sieve. Set aside. 
 
In heavy bottom sauce pan, pour the evaporated milk, cream and stir well. Put over a medium heat. In a bowl mix the almonds, sugar and add to the milk and cream mixture. Cook stirring constantly for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture thickens slightly. Turn of the heat add the saffron strands and allow the mixture to cool completely, stirring frequently 
ensuring no skin if formed. Once cooled completely add the Mango puree, ground cardamom  and mix well.
 
 
Pour the mixture into the molds and cover with cling wrap. Freeze for 5-6 hours or overnight. Transfer the kulfi to the refrigerator for 30 minutes then invert onto a serving dish. 
Garnish with crushed pistachios and serve.
Sending this recipe to Giveaway Summer ’13 Drinks & Desserts by Gurus Cooking
Summer Drinks and Desserts Giveaway

Blueberry and yogurt Popsicle – Celebrating mother’s day and my 150th post..:-)

| Rekha Vengalil
 
My daughter and I seem to have similar tastes in life, with food particularly. So when I decided to make popsicles; we were equally excited. Well the only thing is she was sitting by the clock to constantly check the time, so the popsicles would be ready.  It wasn’t easy to patiently answer her only Q –“is it time for the popsicle?!!”, whole of last evening and through this morning. Its maddening at times but yet I have learned to be polite to my best and the person who has taken by complete surprise of this change in me is obviously my Mom.  Well MOM’s the word 🙂
 
 
This morning I come-up with an idea but didn’t realize handing Saana a popsicle and asking her to do a photo-shoot for my post wasn’t as easy as I thought.. It ended with a statement “MOM! You are not my friend anymore” 🙂
 
Moving to the recipe, I like this healthy Popsicle  Greek yogurt and berries is sure a thing to boast off.  So go ahead and beat the heat with his healthy and delicious pops. It was  bright and wonderful this morning, that I couldn’t stop clicking pictures hence little more pictures 🙂
 
 You need –
  • Greek yogurt – 1 ½ cups
  • Blueberries – 150 grams
  • Sugar – ¼ cup or as per your taste
  • Vanilla essence – ½ teaspoon
How to –
 
In a blender, blend the sugar and blueberries till smooth. In a blow beat the yogurt and vanilla essence.
Add the blueberry mixture and mix well till well combined. Pour  into the molds and freeze for at least 5 hours or till set.

 

 

To un-mold, run the molds in warm water for a few seconds while gently pulling the popsicle stick.

 

Mango lemonade

| Rekha Vengalil
 
 
 
I am also working on designing my web page. A dear friend is helping me on the technical front. A big shout… Yes I am designing my page!!! It’s looking good so far. But not in a hurry to go live anytime soon as I have it planned for the second half of the year… It’s a date thingy 😉
 
Over to the recipe, with some mango juice in the fridge I decided to make Mango Lemonade. This is easy and a real thirst cruncher.
You Need –
  • Mango juice – 2 cups
  • Lemon juice – ¼ cup
  • Water – ½ cup
  • Sugar – as required
  • Ice cubes – 5-6
How to –
In a microwavable dish, put the sugar and water and microwave till the sugar has completely dissolved.
In a jar, stir in the Mango, lemon juice, sugar water. Mix well.
Pour into serving glasses with ice cubes and serve chilled.  
 
 

Blueberry-Oreo blast

| Rekha Vengalil
Ah! another beautiful day and I am happy I have been able to get some nice shots… Playing with colors was fun. Fresh flowers are a delight indeed. They don’t just add a character to your home but every time you look at them, they bring a smile on your face. #Life is beautiful.
On the food photography front its a happy me again. Shobha who is a vegetarian left a lovely comment for my shrimp pickle post. She said she loved the pictures. I am glad I have tried to make my food look appetizing.:)

Over to the recipe. I had promised my daughter that I will make her a drink with ice cream. Decided I will make a milk shake for her with her favorites; blueberries, Oreo and vanilla ice cream and called it blueberry-Oreo blast :), it was indeed a blast! We loved it… 

You need –
  • Fresh blueberries – 125 grams
  • Oreo biscuits – 6 (I used blueberry flavour) + 2 for garnishing
  • Milk – 1 ½ cups
  • Vanilla ice-cream – 2 scoops
  • Ice cubes – 4-5
How to –

Blend all the ingredients in a blender till smooth..

 
Pour into a serving glass and garnish with Oreo biscuits.
 
 
Serve chilled 
 
 

Grape and orange smoothie

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Orange – 3
  • Seedless black grapes – 2 cups
  • Cold milk – ½ cup
  • Thick cream – ½ cup
  • Sugar as required
  • Ice cubes – 5

How to –

Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Pass through a sieve.



Into a serving glass and serve chilled. 


Tomato and celery juice

| Rekha Vengalil
Say yes to this healthy sip…



You need –
  • Tomatoes – 2 (I used buffalo tomatoes)
  • Celery – 1 stick
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Lemon grass – 1 stalk, remove the outer layer and roughly chopped
  • Honey/sugar as required
  • Water – ½ cup
  • Ice cubes – 6 nos + extra for serving

How to –

Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Pass through a sieve.


Into a serving glass with ice and serve chilled.


Green tea- orange cooler

| Rekha Vengalil
You need – 
  • Green tea bags – 2
  • Jucie of 2 oranges
  • Small piece of ginger, crushed
  • Sugar/honey – as required
  • Hot water – 1.5 cups
  • Ice cubes – 5-6 plus extra for serving
How to –
 
Place the tea bags and ginger in teapot; pour the hot water. Steep for 5 minutes.
 
 
Remove the tea bag; In a blender put the peeled oranges, tea , ice cubes , sugar/honey and blend well. Pass through a sieve. 
 
Pour into glass with ice-cubes and serve chilled.

Coconut and lime lassi

| Rekha Vengalil



You need –

  • Coconut milk – 200 ml
  • Yoghurt – 200 ml
  • Lime juice – 2 tablespoon
  • Sugar – 3 tablespoons or as required (else use honey)
  • Ice cubes – 6-8

How to-

Blend together the coconut milk, yoghurt, lime juice, sugar and ice cubes until well combined and the ice cubes are well crushed.

Pour into serving glasses, garnish with lemon zest and serve chilled.