EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: SPICE MIX RECIPE: DOODH MASALA | MASALA MILK POWDER Doodh Masala | Masala Milk Powder is an Indian Spice Mixture made using nuts,seeds and warming spices. This spice mixture, Doodh Masala or Milk Spice Mixture is usually added to hot or warm milk. It is a comforting and nutritious drink to have during the cold season. It also is a beneficial drink for pregnant and lactating mums. Enjoy Masala Doodh or Masala Milk as a healthy dessert, or to fill up your tummy during fasting. Have it in place of coffee or tea in the mornings. Add sugar or enjoy it without it. Sometimes ready made doodh masala are loaded with cheaper nut powders like peanuts or sugar. I don’t…
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Continue ReadingEVENTS: SUNDAY FUNDAY & FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEMES: NATIONAL HOT CHOCOLATE DAY & MY BEGINNER RECIPE Mexican Hot Chocolate is so creamy, chocolatey, spicy and a comforting hot drink especially during the cold season. Usually authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate is made with tablets of rustic table chocolate. It is a tablet of dark cocoa and cinnamon. I hear that the Abuelita by Nestle is really good. Since I didn’t have the Mexican Chocolate at hand, I used Lindt 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate. Added cinnamon, cayenne powder, a bit of brown sugar and cream for a luscious, creamy dreamy hot chocolate. While Mexican Hot Chocolate is my all time favourite drink during the cold season, I sometimes like to enjoy hot chocolate without any cream. For those days, I…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: GORGEOUS GINGER RECIPE: GINGER & LEMONGRASS TEA Ginger & Lemongrass Tea is a soothing, comforting, invigorating and delicious way to enjoy tea. Aromatic and healthy, making this tea is so easy. With the cold season just round the corner, it is time to buy some fresh ginger and add to your tea. HEALTH BENEFITS OF GINGER & LEMONGRASS TEA Enjoying at least one cup or mug of Ginger & Lemongrass Tea a day has many health benefits: aids digestion relieves tummy cramps prevents nausea remedy for cols and coughs prevents bloating anti inflammatory properties WHAT IS GINGER? Ginger is not a new ingredient for me as it is widely used in the Indian Cuisine. In fact I use it on a…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: FEAR NOT THE BITTER RECIPE: AFFOGATO Affogato looks like a fancy dessert but is so easy to make and delicious. You’ll probably be left craving for some more especially if you’re a coffee lover like me. Affogato is a classy dessert that can easily be served in individual portions during a party. You just need some vanilla ice cream and strong brewed coffee or espresso. Affogato – Italian Dessert More traditionally known as affogato al caffe, it is a coffee based Italian dessert. Italians prefer to enjoy it as a dessert while many places outside Italy label is as a beverage. Hot espresso or strong brewed coffee is poured over scoops of ice cream. This results in the ice…
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Continue ReadingBlueberry & Grape Smoothie Blueberry & Grape Smoothie is creamy, refreshing, healthy and filling. Enjoy it for breakfast or as a snack.Using greek yogurt or thick yogurt makes this smoothie protein rich. It is recommended that one has a protein rich breakfast for good health and also so that one feels full for a longer period of time. Memories – Breakfast Time In Montreal with Blueberry & Grape Smoothie Woke up a bit late after tossing and turning half the night as it was pretty humid. Suddenly it has become very hot in Montreal. After doing a bit of housework, it was time for breakfast. Didn’t want to have toast, cereal or anything hot. Out came the yogurt and fruit. Instead of having everything on its…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Mango Falooda Mango Falooda is a delicious dessert drink made with fresh mango and ice cream. An easy to make summer Indian dessert, mango falooda is simply irresistible. Along with chopped ripe mango, mango puree, jelly(jello), vermicelli and basil seeds (sabja seeds) are added to chilled milk. Top it with chopped nuts and you have an Indian version of a sundae. The Origin Of Falooda or Faluda Falooda or Faluda is originally a Persian drink dessert brought to the Indian Sub Continent during the Mughal Era. And some say it was brought to the Indian Sub Continent by King Nader Shah, a Persian Ruler. Whichever way it came, it clearly was a dessert drink meant for the Royal Family. Over time the royal dessert…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: FOOD POETRY RECIPE: VEGAN THAI ICED TEA Vegan Thai Iced Tea is a creamy, refreshing and delicious beverage. What I like about this version of the authentic Thai Iced Tea is that it is not too sweet and is much lighter. Don’t get me wrong, I love the authentic one with sweetened condensed milk but cannot indulge in it on a regular basis. I’ve used coconut milk which adds a bit of the natural sweetness. As a result, the additional sweetener used is less. Street Food or rather Drink – Thai Iced Tea/ Cha Yen The Thai Iced Tea that is generally served on the streets of Thailand doesn’t have spices and usually is orangish in colour. The reason being…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER U RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MANGO SMOOTHIE – USING UNSWEETENED COCOA Chocolate Mango Smoothie, using unsweetened cocoa is a delicious, exotic, filling and healthy smoothie to enjoy as breakfast, as a snack or as a light meal. I made this as our Valentine’s Day treat, chocolatey but without any sugar or any other sweetener at all. So yes totally a healthy smoothie and diabetic friendly. Actually, didn’t need to add any sort of sweetener as the mango was sweet. What is Unsweetened Cocoa Quite often when I feel like having a chocolatey smoothie for breakfast I reach out for unsweetened cocoa. Cocoa powder as its mostly available, tends to be unsweetened, that is, no…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: CELEBRATE DAIRY RECIPE: FRESH TURMERIC CHAAS What is Fresh Turmeric Chaas? Fresh Turmeric Chaas is a refreshing yogurt drink with grated fresh turmeric added to it. Healthy, immunity boosting and delicious, hubby and I try and have this drink at least five times a week if not more. Difference Between Lassi and Chaas Though often both are interchanged, they basically are not the same. The similarity ends at yogurt. Chaas is usually made with added water and has no sugar. Lassi on the other hand is thick like a smoothie, may have a little added milk and may have sugar, honey or any other sweetener added to it. Sometimes lassi can be of the savory kind too, with salt added but…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #263 HERBAL AND HEALTH RECIPE: LAVENDER & FENNEL HERBAL TEA What is Lavender &Fennel Herbal Tea? Its a home made infused herbal tea whereby I’ve added culinary lavender buds, some fennel seeds, organic rose petals and mint to create a comforting and sleep inducing herbal tea. What is a Herbal Tea? Also known as tisane (pronounces as tee- zaen), herbal teas are beverages. The concoction or infusion is prepared by adding natural ingredients to hot water. In reality, Herbal Teas are not ‘true’ teas as no tea leaves, black, green or white are used to prepare it. However, these days we find that natural ingredients like flowers, herbs, spices, etc are paired with green tea and they are labelled as herbal tea.…
