Apple Berry Milkshake

It feels wonderful to be back after a long break. How have all of you been?
Before we knew it, winter turned to summer in Bangalore. With exams on, and summer heat in full force, we are constantly searching for chilling, refreshing drinks. Surely, staying cool and hydrated has to include delicious and inviting options, correct?
This apple berry milkshake has been the answer to such heated discussions about the best drink in summer. The sudden jump in season from winter to summer made plenty of winter produce like apples and strawberries still available in the market. So, we are making the best use of it.
Made with only 3-4 ingredients, this milkshake can be blended in no time, but tastes best when chilled. So make sure you stock up on chilled milk in your fridge! We are exploring many more liquid deliciousness at our home. Stay tuned for more such chilling posts!

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Contains lactose. People with lactose intolerance can substitute coconut milk or almond milk in place of dairy milk.
• Does NOT contain gluten, yeast, soya, nuts, corn, eggs.

Preparation time – 10 minutes, Cooking time – nil. Chilling time – 2 hours, Serves - 2
YOU NEED
COOKWARE – Blender, peeler, knife, glasses to serve
INGREDIENTS -

1. 1 Red Delicious or Fuji apple
2. 4-5 strawberries
3. 400 ml chilled skim milk
4. 1 drop vanilla extract
5. 1-2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

METHOD

1. Rinse the fruits thoroughly. Peel and core the apple. Hull the strawberries. Chop the fruits up roughly.
2. Add the chopped fruits to a blender, pour in half the chilled milk, vanilla extract and blend to super smooth and frothy milk shake. Top up with rest of milk and blend in too.
3. Taste and add sugar only if needed. Blend for another minute if you are using sugar.
4. Serve in tall glasses. Top with ice cubes if you wish to.

Happy Onam with Nendra Pazham Nurukku

Wishing all Keralites across the globe a very happy Onam. The very mention of the festival sends happy shivers down the spine. The excitement of meeting relatives, the rustle of new clothes, the joy of decorating the house with flowers, fills everyone with gleeful anticipation. Cooking the special Onam Sadya, the house smelling festive with the heady combination of curry leaves, coconut milk, simmering vegetables, with the inviting aroma of Payasam, with the fragrance of Nendra Pazham that lovingly follows you to every nook of the house.
That brings me to my much loved fruit – Nendra Pazham. A variety of banana grown extensively in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it is longer than the usual Robusta or Dole variety and has a different unique flavour. It takes pride of place in Malayalee cuisine.
Ask any one from Kerala, and Nendra Pazham will count as one of their favourite fruits. Ask anyone from outside Kerala, the answer may not be the same. it could take some time to get used to. Fortunately, everyone in my family likes this special banana.
At our home, we wait patiently for it to ripen just so. It could then get plonked into the microwave for a quick steam bath, or into the sauna of a fry pan with jaggery to sweeten the deal, or if in a ‘lavish mood’ get batter fried for that crisp outside, soft, sweet, melting inside Pazham Pori. Each of these methods of enjoying the Nendra Pazham merits its own post. For now, I’ll confine my gushing to the jaggery sweetened, gooey, syrupy golden blobs called Nendra Pazham Nurukku. This is often served as part of the festive Onam breakfast menu.
Whether you celebrate Onam or not, this is a good chance to indulge in this simple sublime dessert. It fits the bill for a quick healthy snack, a solution for any time hunger pangs as much as part of an elaborate festive meal or as dessert after a spicy meal.

Here is how I go about making it.
Allergy Information

• Does NOT contain gluten, egg, soya, corn, peanuts, tree nuts.
• Suitable for gluten intolerant or lactose intolerant people.

Preparation Time – 10 minutes, Cooking Time – 15 minutes, Serves – 5-6
You Need
Knife, Kadai / Frying pan.
Ingredients

1. 1 kg (usually 4-5 bananas) Just ripe Nendran banana
2. 1/2 cup Jaggery OR Brown Sugar. Can take 3/4 cup if you prefer more sweetness.
3. 1/4 cup water
4. 1/2 tsp ghee (clarified butter) – optional

Method

1. Rinse the bananas, peel and slice into 2 inch chunks.
2. Combine the bananas, jaggery and water together in a kadai and set it over flame.
3. Keep stirring once it comes to a boil. Lower flame if you find the corners browning.
4. The bananas are done when they get a glaze and look translucent. This should come about in 7-10 minutes depending on flame and quantity cooked.
5. Top with 1/2 tsp ghee if using, mix well and remove from fire.
6. Serve when warm.

No Guilt No Bake Mango Cheesecake

 

In an Indian summer, mangoes enter our lives in a big way. At our home, we never tire of eating mangoes, of any variety, shape or ripeness. Any mangoes that escape being devoured, find it’s way into special dishes.

If it were possible to make this fragrant fruit any more delicious, it has to be in the avatar of  this cheesecake! But wait, how about the guilt from the extra calories? The extra sugar, cream, and so on? Well, what if you could indulge in a ‘cheesecake’ without any cream or cheese or extra sugar? What if I told you this dessert is richer in protein and vitamins than fat or carbs? What if we have just discovered the best guilt-free dessert for quite some time to come? If you are interested, read on….

Without much ado, I want to share with all you lovely people, this simple, guilt free, low sugar, low fat, no bake, gelatine-free, mango cheesecake! An indulgence that is easy on your girth as well as on your wallet. Can be made with mango pulp when fresh in season or using canned mango pulp or home-frozen mango pulp when these divine fruits are not in season too. Totally invoking the spirit of summer, come and fall in love with mangoes all over again this season!

Preparation Time – 30 minutes+8 hours setting time; Cooking Time – 10 minutes; Serves – 4

Allergy Information – Does NOT contain egg, soya, peanuts, corn. Contains gluten. May have traces of lactose.

You Need

Cookware – Mixer/Food Processor, Cheese cloth, String to tie, a vessel of approx. 1 litre capacity, Shot glasses/Glass Dessert bowls – 4-5, Sauce pans –2, Heat proof strainer – 1.

Ingredients

1. Marie biscuits – 10-12
2. Melted Butter – 20 gms (And the recipe said low fat! So Butter? Do read Notes )
3. Any ripe mango – 1 large or 2 small
4. Skim milk yoghurt – 400 gms OR Skim milk Greek yoghurt – 250 gms
5. Agar Agar strands – 10 gms
6. Sugar – 2 tbsp (Optional)

To Assemble

1. Tie the cheesecloth around the mouth (use elastic band or string to secure) of the 1 litre vessel, pour the skim milk curd into the cloth, and leave the whole assembly inside the fridge* undisturbed for 4 hours. The whey water will drip from the yoghurt into the vessel, leaving thick cheesy curd in the cloth. Drink the whey water separately.
2. Crush the biscuits in a mixer to a sandy  coarse powder. Drizzle the butter in,(easier in a food processor) pulse the mixer again until you find the mixture looking like wet sand.
3. Rinse and wipe dry the shot glasses you will be using. Layer the biscuit base at the bottom  of the glass. Divide the mixture equally between the glasses and press with back of spoon to level this ‘cheesecake base’. Leave the glasses in the fridge until needed.
4. To 1/2 cup of warm water, add agar agar and leave to soak in a sauce pan.
5. Peel the mango, remove pulp and puree in the mixer. Place the pulp in a sauce pan over a medium flame, stir briskly until just hot.           
6. Return the sauce pan with soaked agar –agar to heat, keep stirring briskly over a medium flame until it is fully dissolved. Add some water, a tbsp at a time if needed to dissolve the agar-agar well. Strain this hot liquid into the simmering mango puree, combine well, and switch off the flame.
7. Mix 3/4th of the above mango liquid, with the cheesy curd and whip well in the mixer. Divide this mixture into the prepared shot glasses. Tap on countertop to level and leave in fridge to set for half an hour.
8. After half an hour, warm up the 1/4th leftover mango puree+agar-agar mixture gently to loosen it, pour over as topping over the set curd, leave to set undisturbed in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Overnight would be a better idea!
9. Enjoy chilled after a long, hot day!

Notes

• At 4-5 gms butter per serving, this dessert allows for an ‘acceptable’ fat content, within the RDA range for most people.
• Using skim milk curd in this recipe ensures you consume less than 3 gms of fat, vs 25 gms if you were to use cream cheese! ( Read 8 minutes vs 1 hour of treadmill). Now is that good or what?
• *Set the curd ‘to hang’ inside the fridge to avoid it getting sour.