Ginger Lemonade

Summer has arrived with full swing.Its terrible to step out of house in the afternoon but i have to go and pick my daughter at 1pm.Once we step inside the house me and my daughter gulp down a lot of water at once.Nowadays i prepare this lemonade and keep it in fridge and go to pick my daughter so that we can refresh with this cool drink when we are back home.

Lemonade is a lemon flavoured drink sweetened with sugar.In different places there are variations in the drink and its name.Here i  have tried ginger lemonade.

recipe for ginger lemonade

ingredients

1. lemon - 2
2. ginger - 1 medium piece
3. sugar - 5 tbsp
4. water - 3 cup

method

• squeeze the lemon and extract the juice
• crush ginger in a mortar n pestle and keep aside
• now in a vessel add the lemon extract, crushed ginger, sugar and water and mix well until sugar is dissolved
• now serve it in a glass with few ice cubes

Notes
adjust the quantity of water and sugar as per individual preference

Mixed Vegetable Kurma

The first time i made this absolutely delicious kurma, my husband raised this question when he stepped inside the house coming from office, "did u make chicken curry today?".The whole house was filled with wonderful aroma.So even before tasting the curry i knew its definitely going to be a hit....:)

This mixed vegetable kurma goes very well with rotis chapathis or even rice.I love that vegetable kurma we get with chapathis or parotta at hotels/restaurants.This curry tastes similar to that.Now i make this kurma very often and its liked by we all three:).My daughter have it with pooris though.We can add vegetables like potatoes ,carrot green peas,cauliflower,beans etc.In this recipe i have used only potatoes and carrots

recipe for mixed veg kurma
adapted from raks kitchen
ingredients

1. potato - 1 
2. carrot - 1 
3. beans,cauliflower,green peas - 1/4 cup of each
4. onion - 1
5. tomato - 1
6. ginger garlic paste - 2tsp
7. red chilli powder - 1tsp 
8. turmeric -1/8tsp
9. garam masala - 1/2tsp
10. curry leaves - 1 spring
11. corriander leaves - 3 tbsp
12. salt - to taste
13. cardomom - 1
14. clove - 1
15. cinnamon - one small piece
16. bayleaf - 1
17. cumin seeds - 1tsp
18. oil - 2 tbsp

To grind

1. coconut
2. pepper pods
3. cashewnuts - 5 or 6
4. fennel - 1tsp
5. khus khus - 1tsp(optional)

How to make

•  chop the vegetables finely and keep aside 

• grind the ingredients listed under "to temper" into a fine paste

• heat oil in a pressure cooker and add cardamom,clove,cinnamon,cumin seeds and bayleaf
• add currleaves and onion and saute for few minutes
• then add ginger galic paste and saute till raw smell leaves

• add tomato and salt and saute till tomato becomes soft and mushy

• add the ground paste followed by all the masala powders and saute till raw smell leaves

• add the chopped vegetables along with one cup of water.

• add more water if you want lose gravy

• pressure cook the curry for one whistle and after that simmer for five minutes
• once the pressure releases completely by itself open the lid and add the chopped corriander leaves and mix well
• serve with roti chapathi or rice.

Notes

you can adjust the quantity of water if you want more gravy

Watermelon Shaped Cookies

The moment i saw the video of making of these beauties i decided to make it.Look at them ..they are just beautiful.First i thought it will be a tedious job to do.But they are just easy to make. A basic butter cookie recipe with the addition of food colour and the time to set in the refrigerator.Its all done.

My first batch of watermelon cookies got burnt lightly.But they were soft and melted in mouth.My daughter had few of them even before they were cooled,so was me..:).She always love those freshly baked cookies,right from the oven;)...

Recipe for watermelon shaped cookies

ingredients

1. all purpose flour - 2 cups
2. baking powder - 1/2 tsp
3. salt - a pinch
4. butter - 3/4cup(1 1/2 stick)
5. sugar - 3/4 cup
6. vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
7. egg - 1
8. food colour(red and green) - as per needed
9. chocolate chips - as required

How to make

• in a small bowl mix flour baking powder and salt and keep aside
• in another bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy

                                          

• add in egg and vanilla essence and mix well

                                               

• add the flour mixture little by little and mix to form a soft dough

                                                  

• take one cup of dough and keep aside

                                                  

• with the rest of the dough add enough  red food colouring to tint the dough 

                                             

• mix well so that the dough is nicely tinted
• roll it into a long cylindrical log and wrap it in plastic wrap or cling film and keep in refrigerator for one hour.

                                                   

• divide one cup of reserved dough into two halves

                                        

• to one half add enough green colour to tint the dough .leave the remaining half of the dough plain.wrap each half of dough seperately in plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator for about one hour.

                                    

• on a floured surface roll plain dough into a rectangle shape just to fit the red log of dough in it.
• roll up and cover the red dough with the plain dough
• now take the green dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a rectangle .
• place the re/white log of dough along the short end of green dough.
• roll up and cover the red/white log with the green dough
• cover the whole log with a plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for atleast 2 hours

                                        

• take the dough ,unwrap it and cut into desired thickness in slices.
• cut the slices into two halves as shown in the pic
• lightly press the chocolate chips into each slice to resemble the watermelon seeds

                                              

• place them in a baking tray and bake for about 6-8 minutes or until the cookies are firm but not brown

                                                 

• allow the cookies to cool down completely.the cookies are soft while hot and they become firm when cooled.

Cornflour Halwa

Cornflour halwa is also known as karachi halwa.During diwali,from my husband's office we get sweet boxes every year.I love those orange coloured halwa pieces in them.I was under the misconception that making halwa involves the addition of large amount of ghee.But in this halwa we add only 1 tbsp of ghee just to get that glossy  texture.still it tastes so good.

Cornflour halwa is available in different colours like orange,red,yellow and even green.I used yellow colour.Feel free to use your own colour preference:)

Recipe for cornflour halwa

ingredients

1. cornflour - 1/2 cup
2. sugar - 1 1/2 cup
3. ghee - 1tbsp
4. water - 2 1/2 cup
5. cashewnut - 1tbsp
6. cardomom powder - 1/4 tsp
7. yellow/orange foodcolour - a pinch

Method

• in a pan roast the cashewnuts in a teaspoon of ghee
• take a bowl and mix cornflour with 1 1/2 cup water and foodcolour
• mix well without any lumps
• in a nonstick pan add sugar and 1 cup water and bring to boil
• when the sugar gets dissolved ,reduce the flame to medium and add the cornflour mixture into it. 
• stir continously
• add 1 tbsp of ghee and stir continously withou forming lumps
• now add roasted cashewnuts and cardomom powder into it and mix well
• when the halwa starts leaving from the sides of the pan swith off the flame
• transfer the halwa into a greased plate which is kept ready
• cool down for about 2 hrs and cut into pieces or serve it in a bowl as such and enjoyy

Almond Cookies

Yesterday i was very lazy.I wanted to make  cinnamon rolls and some cookies which were bookmarked few days ago but didn't get that push from the inside.But when my little one came from school she kept asking for cookies.So i ended up making these gorgeous almond cookies:).

                                     I want to try the whole wheat version of these almond cookies.I often make oatmeal cookies.They are healthy and filling.For a change i tried these almond cookies and it was an instant hit.These almond cookies were mildly sweet, crisp and melted in mouth.My daughter absolutely loved them:)...

Recipe for Almond Cookies

ingredients

1. all purpose flour - 1 1/4 cup 
2. baking powder - 1/2 tsp
3. butter - 1/2 cup
4. sugar - 1/2 cup
5. almonds - 1/4 cup
6. vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp

How i made

• preheat oven at 180 degrees
• dry roast the almonds

•  when cooled grind them in a mixer into  powder

• sift together all purpose flour, baking powder and the powdered almonds and keep aside

• in a bowl mix butter and sugar until creamy

• then add the egg and vanilla essence and beat well

•      now add in the flour mixture little by little 

•          mix the flour to form a soft ball

• take a tablespoon full of dough and shape into cookies

• you can garnish with almonds on top of each cookies 
• bake for about 10-12 minutes .

Notes

• keep an eye on the cookies after 10 minutes so that they are not burnt.it depends on your oven
• you can use 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk to form the dough if needed.

Watermelon Mojito

Watermelon is one fruit which one can always find in my refrigerator ...A glass of watermelon juice or a slice ,i find them very filling.My husband love to have watermelon juice with a pinch of chaat masala after dinner almost everyday.

Traditionally mojito is a cocktail that uses rum,limejuice,sparkling water/sodawater alongwith mint.Here i have replaced rum with watermelon ;)...The combination of lime juice and mint complement the watermelon juice.

Recipe for watermelon mojito

ingredients

1. watermelon  - 1 cup sliced into cubes
2. mint leaves - a handful
3. lime juice - 3 tbsp
4. sugar - 1 tbsp
5. soda water/sparkling water - 1/4 cup
6. crushed icecubes - to fill the bottom of glass

how to make

• blend the watermelon cubes and sugar  using a mixer
• slightly crush the mint leaves using a pestle 
• now take a tall glass add crushed ice cubes
• pour the watermelon juice to the half of the glass
• add lime juice and crushed mint leaves
• then fill the glass with soda water
• now mix well using a spoon
• garnish with mint leaves and serve

Notes

• you can even sprinkle a pinch of chaat masala also
• sugar can be replaced with honey 
• you can omit soda water if you don't have 

Dates Tamarind Chutney/Sweet n Sour chutney

This sweet n sour chutney is must for chaat.I often make chaat at home.This sweet chutney has a pretty good shelf life of about one month also.You can make it in bulk and store in refrigerator.This chutney goes well with samosas, pakoras etc.

recipe for dates tamarind chutney

ingredients

1. dates - 1/2 cup
2. tamarind - small ball
3. roasted cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
4. red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
5. chaat masala - 1/2 tsp
6. jaggery - 3 tbsp
7. salt - to taste
8. water - 1/2 cup

method

• remove the seeds from dates and chop them
• in a pan add chopped dates, tamarind ,cumin powder, redchilli powder, jaggery, chaat masala and salt along with 1/2 cup water.
• cook covered in low heat for about 15 minutes or until thickened
• when cooled grind into a smooth paste using a mixer
• sweet n sour chutney is ready to serve