Amla Limonade

Summer is yet to come here, but some healthy summer drinks are always welcome at home.Here we start again a week of blogging marathon with seasonal as theme. Obviously Amla aka gooseberries are seasonal here and they have so many health values.Indian gooseberries are eaten as raw, and also cooked in many other ways, the most famous is the amla pickles.

We get rarely amlas here and its quite expensive here when compared to India, obviously i get rarely and use them immediately.This time without any hesitation i tried making a summer drink with fresh amlas. This lemonade is definitely a thristy quencher, body cooler and definitely a healthy drink. If you get amlas abundantly dont forget to give a try to this refreshing lemonade.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27.

3nos Gooseberries
1/2cup Sugar
2nos Limes
Water as per need
Ice cubes

Remove the seeds from the gooseberries and grind as fine paste with enough water.

Extract the juice from the grounded amla paste.

Meanwhile squeeze out the juice from the lime and mix the lime juice, amla juice together in a vessel.

Add sugar and enough water to the juice.

Add icecubes and serve immediately.

Zarda - Sweet Saffron Rice

I need to give a break to my traditional Rajasthani dishes i have been showcasing since a week in my space for  blogging marathon. For the last day of blogging marathon with traditional dishes as theme, am posting here a delicious traditional Kashmiri sweet dish with rice. This Zarda is a sweet saffron rice dessert in which rice is cooked with sugar syrup,milk,saffron and nuts. Muslim community named it as Zarda eventhough this dish is well known as Meethe chawal in North India.

Obviously this dish is a fantabulous and royal treat for peoples whoever loves sweet rice.Srivalli challenged this Zarda for this month's Indian Cooking Challenge and this dish is suggested by Vaishali.Thanks to both, seriously i loved this flavourful dessert and a prefect feast for my sweet tooth. If you are bored of usual sweet rice, dont forget to give a trial to this rich Zarda, am sure you will definitely love this.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27.

2cup Basmati rice (even long grain rice works wonder)
1cup Sugar
1/2cup Milk
3nos Cloves
2inch Cinnamon stick
3nos Green cardamoms
3tsp Ghee
6nos Pistachios
6nos Almonds
Saffron strands (few)
Pinch yellow food colour
Handful of tutti fruity (i skipped it)

Wash and soak the rice for 15minutes..

In a pan,make a sugar syrup with sugar covered with enough water.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the ghee, add the cinnamon,cloves and cardamom, fry for few minutes.

Add immediately the drained rice and 2cups of water..

Once the water starts drying add the sugar syrup,milk,yellow food colour and saffron strands, cover and cook in simmer.

Heat a tsp of ghee and roast half of the nuts, add it to the cooking rice.

Once the rice is cooked, put off the stove.

Garnish it with remaining nuts and serve.

Rajasthani Aloo Sabji

You all know that am running a week of blogging marathon with traditional dishes as theme for this week and i chosed Rajasthani cuisine, already i have posted few numbers of delicious dishes from this cuisine. Seriously am amazed the variety of foods this cuisine have and each and every dish is simply awesome and definitely healthy as well as quick when compared to most of the South Indian dishes.

My today's Rajasthani dish is this aloo sabji, this is one among my recent favourite and it takes hardly less  time to get ready and goes prefectly as side dish with rotis.I prepared this sabji yesterday and serve with pulkhas. Both works wonder and we had a filling and satisfying lunch sterday. The original recipe is from Madhuri's space.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27.

3nos Potatoes (cooked & cubed)
1cup Yogurt
1tbsp Gram flour
1tsp Chilly powder
1tsp Coriander powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
Salt
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Fennel seeds
1/2tsp Onion seeds/Kalonji
2nos Cloves
1inch Cinnamon stick
1no Bay leaf
Oil
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder

Add the gram flour in yogurt and give a mix..

Heat enough oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, let it splutters.

Now add the cumin seeds,fennel seeds,kalonji,cloves,cinnamon,bay leaf and asafoetida powder, fry for few minutes.

Add now the gramflour-yogurt mixture and bring it to boil.

Add the cubed potatoes,salt, mix well, add a cup of water and cook in simmer for few minutes.

Put off the stove and serve with rotis.

Sago Palm Jaggery Kheer

                            Happy Tamil New Year/Iniya Thamizh Puthandu Nal Vazhuthukkal

14th April is Tamilian's New Year and every year we will definitely celebrate this special day without an hesitation eventhough sometime it will fall on a working day. Obviously am wishing you all a happy new year,may this year bring you more happiness, health and wealth. Its going to be a feast at home tomorrow, am busy in cleaning and getting ready for new year celebration at home.

For the celebration, am sharing here a different kheer with sago aka sabudana cooked along with palm jaggery as kheer. This kheer is definitely healthy coz of palm jaggery. Palm jaggery is usually used in South Indian cooking.Palm jaggerys is quite less calorific sweetner when compared to the usual sweetners.Adding plam jaggery will definitely gives a wonderful colour to this delicious kheer and prefect for the celebration.

1cup Sago/Sabudana
2cups Milk
3/4cup Palm Jaggery (grated)
1/2tsp Cardamom
Few cashews
1tbsp Ghee
Few cucumber seeds for topping

Soak the sago for 10 minutes and drain it, this will help for quick cooking,if its a small variety no need to soak and cook directly.

Heat the ghee, fry the cashews until it turns brown and remove it.

In the same vessel, fry the soaked sago for few seconds, add now 2 cups of water and let it cook for few minites.

Meanwhile make a thick syrup with palm jaggery with enough water.

Now add the palm jaggery syrup,milk to the cooking sago and cook until the sago gets well cooked.

Finally add the cardamom powder and fried cashews to the kheer.

Serve topped with some cucumber seeds.