Thursday 14 July 2016

Plum Iced Green Tea

Scorching hot summer weather calls for a cold glass of tea or lemonade. This plum iced green tea is superb for the summer months, plus it’s simple and gives a nice twist to your typical iced teas. Drop the chopped plums into the same teapot, and then just wait for the tea to cool enough to be placed in the fridge. I kept this iced tea more on the tart side as I really like it that way, but feel free to add more sugar (or a liquid sweetener if you prefer) if you’d like a sweeter tea. The green tea with the mint and plum was so refreshing.Find more interesting recipes regarding Beverages here.
Prep time
Total time
Serves
5 mins
15 mins
4 persons
Cuisine: American
Recipe Category: Drinks

Ingredients
  • Green tea bags -4
  • Water -5 cups
  • Ice cubes –as needed
  • Lemon zest -2 tsp
  • Ripe plums -5 -6 no’s
  • Mint leaves -3 sprigs
  • Lemons -2 no’s (juiced)
  • Honey -1/4 cup
  • Sugar -1/2 cup

Method:
1. In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat, add the tea bags, and let steep for 10 minutes. Discard the bags and allow the tea to cool to room temperature. Add the lemon zest and mint leaves and leave to sit for 5 minutes. 
2. On stove top in a medium pan, add in the plum fruit, honey and water. Bring to a boil then turn heat down to low leaving it to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove fruit from heat and Pour the cooled plum mixture through a fine sieve to separate juices from pulp and skins. 
3. Add the juice from the lemons and plums.Leave to chill in the fridge for an hour and then serve with sliced lemon and mint leaves.
 Served with
Ice cubes, lemon wedge, and fresh plum slices.

Monday 11 July 2016

Dill leaves(Sabsige Soppu) Dal –Karnataka recipes

Dill leaves are otherwise known as Sabsige Soppu in Kannada which has a special place in the special diet and is a rich source of calcium. These leaves come from the healthy green vegetables family, but are not as popular as the other greens because of the strong pungent smell. The masala's when combined with toor dal  make this North Karnataka dish an intoxicating combo with rice or roti.
 
Prep time
Cook time
Serves
15 mins
20 mins
4 people
Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Dal varieties

Ingredients
  • Toor dal -1/2 cup
  • Chopped Dill greens -1 ½ cups
  • Onions -1/2 cup
  • Tomatoes -1/2 cup
  • Chilli powder -1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder -1 tsp
  • Dhania powder -1 tsp
  • Black pepper powder -1 tsp(Optional)
  • Green chillies -2 nos (Slited)
  • Garlic pods -6 to 8 cloves
  • Salt – to taste
  • Oil- 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1tsp
  • Cumin seeds -1 tsp
  • Hing - pinch

Method
1. Pressure cook toor dal, dill, a pinch of turmeric  and  2 cups of water till just soft and don’t cook it mushy.Wash and cop dill discarding the thick fibrous stalks.
2. Heat oil in a vessel and add the mustard seed. When the mustard starts dancing around, add cumin seeds, garlic and hing.
3. Add the chopped onion, a pinch of turmeric and some salt. Cook till onion turns soft.When done, add chopped tomatoes.  
4. When it gets mushed up, add chopped onions and required quantity of salt to it and fry till done. Now add chilli powder, dhania-jeera powder and turmeric powder and just give a stir.
5. Add chopped dill leaves and cook  on simmering the flame till done. Add in the cooked dal to the dill mixture  and pour some amount of water to it and bring to a boil.  Check for salt.  
5. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice and also with roti/chapati.
Serve with
Roti or rice.
Beetroot poriyal
Notes
Fry cumin seeds and curry leaves in a little ghee and add it to the dal.


Linking to Srivalli's CCC Challenge Group

Saturday 9 July 2016

Jal Jeera Drink- Indian Flavoured Lemonade



Jal Jeera is an Indian spicy appetizer drink mostly enjoyed in summers. The best part about this healthy drink is that it can have numerous tasty and healthier versions based on your taste buds and preferences or even based on the availability of the ingredients .Jal jeera translates literally to cumin water, in Hindi.
On a scorching sunny day, drink something cool and good for digestion i.e. Jaljeera. We get jaljeera powder also in stores. We can mix it with chilled water and serve immediately. This one is very easy and healthy drink, when you want to change the taste and get rid of summer thirst then try this drink.There are many ways to make Jaljeera and usually it is served before the meal as an appetizer.
Many restaurants which have full thali meal on their menus, serve Jaljeera at the beginning, as it aids digestion. Jaljeera or Cumin based drink effectively quenches your thirst along with increasing their appetite. It even combats Sunstroke, indigestion and dehydration because of its cooling effects.

Prep time
Total time
Serves
15 mins
20 mins
4 persons

Cuisine: North Indian
Recipe Category: Beverages

Ingredients
 Roast and grind:
  • Cumin seeds -4 tbsp.
  • Pepper seeds -2 tbsp.
  • Asafoestica(Hing) -1/2 tsp
 For the concentrated green syrup:
  • Pudina( Mint leaves) –1/2 cup
  • Coriander leaves -1 cup
  • Spice mixes (Homemade) -1/4 cup
  • Black salt -1/4 tbsp.
  • Dry mango powder (Amchur powder) -1 tsp
  • Grated ginger -3 “
  • Tamarind pulp -2 tbsp.
  • Lemon juice -1/2 cup
  • Sugar -1/2 tbsp.
 For the Jal Jeera mix:
  • Chilled Water or soda -1 litre
  • Ice cubes -2 trays of ice
  • Eastern Jal Jeera Powder -4 tbsp.
  • Eastern cumin powder -3 tbsp.
  • Salt – to taste
  • Black pepper powder -1/4 tsp
  • Grated Lemon zest -1 tsp
For garnishing
  • Unsalted Boondhi –handful
  • Few mint sprigs




Method

1. Dry roast the asafetida for a few seconds till fragrant. Roast the cumin seeds and pepper seeds on a hot tawa until golden brown, remove and crush it into powder. 

2. Pluck the coriander leaves and mint leaves from their stems. Wash them thoroughly. Blend all the ingredients except lemon juice in blender jar.

3. Grind the mint leaves,coriander leaves,grated ginger,roasted cuimn powder,tamarind extract with sufficient water into a smooth paste.


4. Soak tamarind into water for half an hour, and then mash it. Add few tablespoon of water in the rest of the pulp and squeeze the pulp. Keep aside.

5. Take a big bowl and add this mixture in water and add lemon juice. Now one tray of ice cubes with sufficient amount of chilled water or soda, black salt, rock salt, salt, mango powder, sugar and cumin powder.Enjoy your drink.
Served as
Garnish with boondi balls, mint leaves and lemon wedges, sprinkle some chaat masala for added flavour.
Notes
We can store this for further use also.
You can chill the whole drink in refrigerator for couple of hours or have it with ice cubes.
 

Apricot Milkshake