Falooda

Ingredients:
Falooda sev – ½ cup
Basil seeds – 1 tablespoon
Milk – 5 cups
Sugar – ¼ cup (or as per taste)
Rose syrup – 6 tablespoons
Vanilla ice cream – 4 scoops

Garnishing:
Pistachios chopped
Almonds chopped

Method:Boil the milk and keep aside. Take one cup of milk and add one tablespoon of basil seeds to it .
Soak the seeds more than 30 minutes and chill
To the remaining boiled milk add ¼ cup of sugar and dissolve it. Chill it in the refrigerator.
Cut the sevs with kitchen scissors to about 1 ½ inch length.
Boil the water and add the sevs.
Sevs will take 3 to 4 minutes to be cooked.
Drain it in the strainer and show the strainer in the cold running water. Keep covered in the refrigerator till the serving time.

Serving time:
Take the soaking seeds in the milk (1 cup milk + seeds), pour it in the milk with sugar (4 cups milk+sugar) and mix all well.
Now add 6 tablespoons of rose syrup and mix well.
In a glass first add 1 tablespoon of cooked sev, then pour the milk mixture on the sev.
Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top.
Garnish it with chopped pistachios and almonds.

Note:
Falooda sev is made of corn flour. It's like spaghetti but unlike spaghetti, it is formed in circles. It's thin and yellow. If you want to use vermicelli, then there is no need to cut as they're already cut.

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Sandesh

Ingredients:
Whole milk – ½ gallon
Lime /lemon juice – 1 to 2 tablespoons
Powdered sugar – 1/2 cup or according to your taste
Cardamom powder – ¼ teaspoon
Rose essence – 2 to 3 drops
Pink colour – 2 to 4 drops
Milk - ½ teaspoon (to mix the food colour)
Saffron strands for garnishing.
Cheese cloth.
Strainer.



Method:
In a thick sauce pan add the milk.
Bring the milk to boil.
Add the lime /lemon juice in the middle.
Remove from heat when milk curdles.
Spread the cheese cloth in a strainer. Use a coarse woven cheese cloth and a strainer to get the malai (indian cottage cheese) .
To soften the cheese and to subdue the lime taste, hold the cheese on running water for a few seconds. Allow all the water to drip away.
Make a soft dough of the cheese by kneading it for 3-4 minutes or until soft.
Add the powdered sugar, rose essence, cardamom powder to the dough and knead.
Mix the food colour in ½ teaspoon of milk, sprinkle it on the cheese dough and knead.
In a pan add the cheese and cook in very low flame for 4 to 5 minutes.
Mix continuously with flat spatula.
When the cheese starts to leave the sides of pan, remove and shape into desired.
Garnish if you like.
Reference : http://keeptrying.wordpress.com/2006/05/04/kesar-sandeshlessons-learnt/

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White Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin is a squashy vegetable and also for carving Halloween faces. Of course, you can recognize those funny faces in Halloween ….. In my memory, I had seen many people use pumpkins for dhrishti and mess up the road. I don’t know if they still continue to do these activities nowadays. But white pumpkin…….grown in India, China, New England. They’re like the common yellow/orange pumpkins. Sometimes, they’re called ghost pumpkins. Their seeds are roasted and used in salads for diet.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/295698hound.chow.com/topics/295698

Ingredients:
White pumpkin – 1 medium sized (cut into cubes)
Onion – ¼ (diced)
Ginger – 1 inch (grated)
Carrot – 1 (diced)
Red capsicum – ½ (diced)
Olive oil as required for sautéing
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Chicken /vegetable broth or water – 2 cups
White pepper
Salt – little
Cream to garnish

Method:
Boil the pumpkins till tender, and puree them.
Add oil to the kadai. Toss in onions and sauté. Then throw ginger and again sauté.
Throw in the carrot and capsicum and pour little water.
When the carrot and capsicum are tender, puree them.
Mix (Kalakkunga, Kalakkunga, Kalakiktae Irunga!) all the pumpkin, carrot, capsicum purees and 2 cups of broth, stir well.
Add salt.
Include the coconut milk and remove from fire.
Spinkle the white pepper and garnish with cream.
Note: As we have added coconut milk, it should not be reheated and it's good to be consumed immediately.
You can also add equal parts of diced celery, carrot and little of capsicum.

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Strawberry Smoothie

I had plenty of strawberries in my back yard (in the last night's dream........hmmm!!! deep breath). I love the color of strawberry with green leaves combo.

Ingredients:
Strawberry – 10
Banana (frozen) – 1
Fresh orange juice – squeezed from one fruit
Vanilla flavored low fat yogurt – 2 tablespoon
Ice as required.

Method:
Toss the strawberries and frozen banana in a blender and blend.
Then add the orange juice, vanilla yogurt and ice.
Blend till smooth.
Pour it in a tall glass and have a healthy drink!

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Cantaloupe Smoothies

Just be sure that all fruits are ripe before making a smoothie!!!
Cantaloupe. It has Vitamin C.

Ingredients:
Cantaloupe - half fruit
Frozen banana (peeled) - 1

Method:
Cut the fruits into pieces.
Throw them in the blender.
Blend till smooth!

Here is another type of smoothie.
Use half fruit Cantaloupe, one frozen banana, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, ice and little honey. Blend them all and you will have a great drink!

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Water Melon Smoothie

This was a breakfast on a Sunday.

Ingredients:
Water Melon - ½ fruit
Vanilla Low Fat Yoghurt - ½ cup
Ice - as required.


Method:
Toss in everything in the blender and blend until smooth!

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