Watermelon Agua Fresca

A perfect drink for hot summer day…Agua fresca is of Mexican origin made with puréed fruit, water, and sugar. Usually strawberry and watermelon are popular flavors, but you can certainly try it with any other fruit of your choice.

Ingredienets:

4-5 cups watermenlon (cubed, seeded and chilled)

½ -1 cup water

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

Ice cubes (or use crushed ice

Method:

Puree the water melon along with water, sugar, salt and lemon juice until smooth. Now you have two options, you can either serve it as it is OR you can pour mixture through a strainer, forcing through most of the pulp. Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve with or without ice cubes.

Note:

 To choose a watermelon, look for one that is firm, heavy for its size, free of bruises and cuts and creamy yellow on the side that sat on the ground as it grew. Cut watermelon can be stored, covered, in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

 The amount of sweetener needed will vary depending on the sweetness of the fruit you are using. Some may not require any at all.  You can use sugar substitutes to reduce calories further.

Cherry Smoothie

Who wouldn't love cherries? Apart from tasting really good, they are very low in calorie yet very rich in vitamins, minerals and other antioxidants. The health benefits of cherry include a boost to eye care, a stronger immune system,  relief from infections, anti-aging properties, and improved digestion. I am going to share a quick cherry smoothie recipe with only a few ingredients used.  I have only used cherries in this particular smoothie, however you can add bananas, strawberries or any fruit of your choice... oh and one more thing.. there is a slight color variation in both pictures, that's because i took both the pictures on different days and time ;)

 Ingredients: 

1&1/2 cup pitted cherries

1 & 1/2 cup chilled yogurt (or you can use ½ cup chilled yogurt and ½ cup chilled milk)

1-2 tbsp sugar (or use honey)

Ice cubes

Method:

blend the cherries with sugar and 2-3 tbsp of yoghurt till smooth, then add in the rest of the yogurt  and ice cubes and blend for 30 seconds, that’s it, pour it in to two glasses and enjoy every sip of smoothie.

Doodh Soda

A tasty and delicious traditional Punjabi beverage to beat the summer heat. A much liked drink to have at iftaar during Ramadan. It’s a combination of milk and soda water in 1:1 ratio.  As a child whenever we went to spend the summer vacations at my grandmother’s house, at night time the whole family used to be served with this cool and refreshing drink before going to sleep. The only thing which made me excited about going to my grandmothers house was the fact the I will be getting a chance to enjoy dodh soda, unfortunately in late 80’s and early 90’s we didn’t have those typical red colored soda bottles available in Islamabad.  I also like to add rooh afza in doodh soda, if you don’t like it or have it u can make it without it and it would still taste wonderful…

Ingredients:

500 ml milk (chilled)

500 ml 7up/sprite (chilled)

4 -5 tbsp rooh afza (optional, you can also add 2tbsp sugar instead of rooh afza)

Ice cubes:

Method:

Mix every thing together either in a blender or a jug, pour in to glasses and serve. 

Strawberry Smoothie

As soon as spring season starts you will find fruit hawkers selling strawberries. Earlier,  only well off people were able to purchase this fruit which was imported from India in small boxes, but now Pakistan has started to produce its own strawberries and the fruit is available from late February till May. So the first thing I thought of making with strawberries was “Strawberry Smoothie”. Its healthy, full of vitamin C and above all is quick and easy to make, so here's what you do....

 Ingredients:

1&1/2 cup strawberries (washed and hulled)

1 cup yogurt (I used home made Plain yogurt, but you can also you strawberry yogurt to enhance the flavor) 

2 tbsp honey

Method:

I like to put the strawberries in freezer for 30 minutes before making the smoothie, if you want to make the smoothie without putting the strawberries in freezer even then it’s fine. First blend the strawberries with honey and 2 tbsp of yoghurt till smooth, then add in the rest of the yogurt and blend for 30 seconds, that’s it, pour it in to two glasses and enjoy every sip of smoothie. 

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is a coffee drink topped with foamed milk, and is loved by a majority of people during the cold winter season. It's  so easy to make a perfect cup of cappuccino right in your kitchen in hardly less then 10 minutes.

 Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 tsp instant coffee

1 tsp sugar (or to taste)

Water

Cocoa Powder/ cinnamon powder to garnish (optional)

Method:

Pour milk in a saucepan and heat on low flame. Mean while put the coffee and sugar, add 1 tbsp of water in a cup and stir vigorously with a spoon. Beat it until the colour changes to light brown. If it becomes too stiff to beat you can add a tsp of water, make sure that the coffee mixture stays a thick consistency. Once done fill ¼ p with hot water. You can also use and electric mixer to beat the coffee is making more then 2 or 3 cups.

Once the milk starts to boil, take a ladle and fill it with milk, bring the spoon to a height of about 6 – 8 inches from the milk surface and pour it bake into the saucepan. Do this for a couple minutes. You will get a smooth and lovely froth on the milk, or you can also whisk it with a whisker vigorously. Pour the milk into the cup in a thin stream into the beaten coffee mixture from a height of 2 inches. The frothed milk and coffee mixture will create a lovely froth over the cup. Pour milk until the froth is just near the rim of the mug, or you can also hold back the froth with a large spoon while pouring the milk in to the cup and  then finish it off by topping it with the froth. Sprinkle some cocoa powder on the froth and serve immediately.

Authentic Kashmiri Tea

A few days back I shared a quick way of making kashmiri tea, today I am posting the authentic way of making kashmiri chai, although sugar is not added but you can always add it to suit your taste buds. The authenctic way of making tea takes around hour and a half to get ready, off course you don’t need to stand in front of the stove for the whole time, just put the pan on medium low heat and carry on with your chores …..

Ingredients:

4 cups of water

3 tsp kashmiri tea leaves/green tea leaves

2-3 green cardamom pods (roughly crushed)

1 inch piece of cinnamon stick

1 flower of  star anis  (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

Sugar (as per taste)

Milk as required

1-2 tsp of ground pistachios and almonds to garnish (optional)

 Method:

1) Add the green tea leaves, cinnamon stick, star anis flower and cardamoms with 4 cups of  water in a saucepan and let it boil on medium-low flame for about 45 minutes to an hour or until it is reduced to half. 

2) Add in 2 cups of cold water and let it boil again till the water is reduced to half again, add in 2 more cups of water, ½ tsp of salt and whisk the tea vigorously, you should have lovely burgundy color to your tea by now.

3) To check for the desired pink colour you can add a few drops of tea in a bit of milk. if the desired pink color is not achived then try adding in more tea leaves and whisking it vigorously, strain the tea and use it as required. 

4) The ratio of milk to tea depends on your own preference, you can use 25% tea and 75%milk or, half  a cup of  tea added to half a cup of milk. 

5) To prepare your perfect cup of kashmiri chai put your desired amount of milk in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil, then add in the desired amount of kehwa and sugar,  let it boil for 5 minutes., whisk the tea to achieve a slight froth, you will have lovely pink color to your tea by now, pour it in to cups and enjoy ;)

Note: If you are unable to get the pink color, the 3^rd time when you add water, take a ladle, fill it with the tea and pour it back to the pan from a little height. Doing it at least ten to twenty times will give the final dark maroon/ burgundy color. You can keep the left over strained tea in fridge for 2-3 days for later use. 

Kashmiri Pink Tea (1)

Kashmiri pink chai also know as gulabi chai is liked by a lot of Pakistani people during the winters. The recipe I am sharing with you is a quick and improvised way of making kashmiri tea and will make about 2-3 cups of tea...

Ingredients:

2 cups of water

2 cups of milk

1 ½ -2 tsp kashmiri tea leaves/green tea leaves

2-3 green cardamom pods (roughly crushed)

1/4-1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

Sugar (as per taste)

1-2 tsp of ground pistachios and almonds to garnish (I only used pistachios)

 Method:

Add the tea and crushed cardamoms with about 1 & ½ cups of the water in a saucepan and bring to boil, once the water starts to boil add the bicarbonate of soda let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes and then add the rest of the water and boil until the pink color comes out. Now bring the heat down to medium low and add the milk, salt, sugar and let it boil for 5 minutes. Whisk the tea to achieve a slight froth, you will have lovely pink color to your tea by now, if you prefer to have a lighter color you can always add in more milk, choice is yours. Pour in to cups and sprinkle with crushed pistachios and almonds and enjoy your tea on cold wintry evening. 

Masala Chai

Masla Chai is spiced version of milk tea made in Pakistan and India and there are different ways of making masala chai. There is no fixed recipe or method for masala chai and many families have their own versions of the tea, here's how i like my masala chai to be... 

 For 2 cups of Masala Chai

Bring 1 ½ cups water to a boil, add 1 ½ teaspoons of loose tea or 2 teabags and sugar (as per your taste) add a Cinnamon bark stick, 1 Green Cardamom pod, 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds.  Let the tea boil for 5 minutes, this allows the flavors to infuse. Add 1 cup of milk and allow the tea to come to a boil. Once the tea begins to rise, turn the heat down and allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. 

Well actually I made dodh patti (only 2-1/2 cups milk, no water) so I added all ingredients plus milk in saucepan and let it come to boil then simmered for 5 minutes. You can add in a piece of ginger if you like, I don’t like it hence I omitted it.