Holi Recipe - Thandai - A healthy and refreshing Indian Drink

Holi is one of the major and colorful festival of India celebrated in grand manner in many parts of the country. It is known as the Festival of Love, signifies the victory of Good over the Evil.It also denotes the arrival of spring, end of winter. Its a day to meet our near and dear ones, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships, and is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. It is celebrated on a Full Moon Day in the month of March. Its a colorful day with people pouring colour water and color powders on each other and have fun. Holi also brings in lot of goodies to be shared and cherished with our friends and relatives. Sharing here an delicious and traditional recipe to celebrate Holi.

Check out the other traditional recipe for Holi - Malpuas  and a healthy version of Millet Malpua 

Thandai 

A refreshing drink that is made during Holi and is very flavourful and rich. It is made with Nuts, Poppy Seeds, Fennel, Rose Petals and Milk.

The Thandai Masala can be made and stored in air tight container for a week in refrigerator. It can be mixed with boiled and cooled milk, with sugar when needed and serve chilled.

The Ingredients

The Recipe 

Happy Holi :) May the festival brings in lot of love and happiness :) 

Mango Tender Coconut Smoothie

A tasty and delicious smoothie that is made with Sweet Luscious Organically Grown Mangoes and Mineral rich natural Coolant Tender Coconut. This is one great way to relish the Mangoes during the season. This combo is loaded with Vitamins A, C and important minerals and a bountiful mount of dietary fiber. I tried various combinations of Mango and this one turned out really good one to indulge in.

Would love to hear feed backs :) A best drink for kids. 

Plum Lemonade - A Refreshing Summer Cooler

Plums belong to drupaceous fruits having sweet and tangy taste. They are loaded with Vitamins and essential minerals. They are very low in calories with no saturated fats. It is rich in antioxidants and helps to boost up our immune system. Intake of Plums helps in production and absorption of Iron in our body and aids in red blood cell formation.

Due to the great amount of Potassium presence in helps in regulating the function of heart. It keeps blood pressure under check and prevents the risk of heart stroke to a great levels. The Anthocyanin pigment that is present in Plums acts as an anticancerous agent.

Consumption of plums also helps in better digestion due to the presence of good amount of dietary fibres.

Here I am with a refreshing Lemonade made with Plums to relish. A perfect drink to harness the benefits of Plums. I have made this as a perfect electrolyte with Salt and Organic Cane Sugar. Hope you enjoy this :)

Mango Lemonade - Summer Cooler

I ensured that this season I use the Organically Grown Mangoes that we got from a known farm in every other possible way. One of the delicious recipe is the Mango Lemonade which is a real refresher with the sweetness of Mango and tanginess of Lemon. A very simple and easy to make recipe that is loved by kids and can be a refresher in home parties. No need to mention that it is loaded with Vitamin A and C and Organic Sugar I added here increases the health quotient. 

Hope you enjoy this simple delicacy :) 

Mangosteen Lemonade / Mangosteen Lemon Cooler

Mangosteen, a healthy and unique fruit which is called the queen or tropical fruits. It is known for the health benefits that it promotes due to the great amounts of Antioxidants and micronutrients. It is a rich source of natural fibre, energy and protein. The fruit is of tennis ball size with a green stalk and a purple coloured rind. Inside the tough and leathery purple rind lies the sweet white fleshy fruit which is edible and the seeds are highly bitter and not edible. The Fleshy white portion is what consumed as smoothies and juices or as such.

It has enormous medicinal properties, no wonder it is crowned as Queen of Tropical Fruits. To list a few, the Mangosteen Fruits are,

- Antibiotic (prevents bacterial infections)
- Anti Atherosclerotic (prevents blockage of arteries)
- Anti Fugal (prevents fungal infections)
- Anti Lipidemic (Lowers Lipid Levels)
- Anti Inflammatory
- Anti Ageing
- Anti Carcinogenic
-Anti Viral
- Improves Skin Health and Oral Hygiene
and the list goes on....

An interesting and refreshing cooler that I made this summer is a real delish and quite flavorful too. Mangosteen Lemonade :)

Welcome your feed backs :) 

  

Watermelon Agua Fresca / Watermelon Honey Cooler

Can we imagine a Summer without Watermelon? Obviously..No.
Watermelon is one incredible fruit that offers enormous health benefits apart from being a excellent hydrating agent. It has 92% water along with enormous amounts of vitamin and minerals that help in healing various ailments of body in summer.Not only the fruit, the rind and seeds are also edible.It promotes Cardio Vascular and bone health. The fruit is known to boost up the immune system, heals muscle soreness after a heavy workout.  
Make sure to pick the ripe fruits as it has the richest amount of Phenolic compounds which has antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties. The pretty pink colour of the flesh is due to the presence of lycopene (which is present in tomatoes as well) a  powerful carotenoid antioxidant.
Citrulline, an amino acid present in watermelon helps in reducing the accumulation of fat in our body cells. It is also a natural diuretic which helps in free flow of urine without straining the kidneys.
Watermelon is a rich source of Beta Carotene which is converted to Vitamin A that is crucial for Eye Health. It prevents Age Related Macular Degeneration of the Retinal Cells of the Eye and also promotes healthy skin. Vitamin C that is in abundance in this fruit helps in healing of wounds and healthy gums and teeth.

Watermelons are great to be consumed as a fruit as such and as fresh juices. Here I have given a simple recipe " Watermelon Agua Fresca" a real refresher during hot summer. Agua Fresca is a spanish word for the beverages made out of pureed fruits along with fresh water and some natural sweeteners. You need only three ingredients to prepare this refreshing summer cooler.

This will be a great welcome drink in parties :) 

Ice Apple Sarsaparilla Sherbet / Nungu Nannari Sherbet

Summer is the season where we get lot of delicious fruits and the nature by itself has ensured that it gives us natural coolants to beat the heat. One such wonder fruit is the fruit of Palmyra Trees (Panai Maram in Tamil). The fruit is called as Ice Apple or Palm Fruit (Nungu in Tamil). The benefits of this fruit is huge and it act as an excellent hydrating agent.

This fruit is loaded with Vitamins A, B and more amount of Vitamin C (100 gms Flesh has 5 mg of Vitamin C). It is rich in essential minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Phosphorous which are prime most for teeth and bone health. It also aids in weight loss, improves digestion and prevents constipation in Pregnant women.

Ice Apple is available during the months of May to August and the fruit can be eaten raw (eating along with the skin is highly recommended to harness the complete health benefits) or it can be made into delicious Coolers or Desserts. This season I made four different recipes to try with this cool Ice Apples.

Check out for the other three recipes here :

Ice Apple Milk Dessert / Nungu Paal
Ice Apple Rose Milk
Ice Apple Mango Dessert

In this Sherbet recipe, I have combined three great cooling agents, Ice Apple, Sarsaparilla and Basil Seeds. This is a Unique Blend to beat the scorching summer heat and this prevent heat strokes. A must try during this season.

Hope you will enjoy this tasty and delicious sherbet :) Welcome your feed backs :) 

Summer Coolers - Tulsi / Holy Basil Sherbet

Aahhhaa... It has been a while I compiled a post here, even though I have been regularly posting in my FB page, blame my hectic work schedule [of course I need to do justice to the profession which I have taken ;)]
Summer means the seasonal fruits and the coolers that comes into mind and not even a single day at our home go without some juices. Family prefers to live on some chilled home made drinks. I always ensure that I make use of the herbs of our own and give them some healthy coolers to balance the minerals that is lost due to dehydration and sweating which is very common in hot summer days. This time I wanted to make a record of all the coolers that I experimented, learnt and researched. And Yes...I did achieved making 50 coolers in a month and I will be posting the recipes of the all the coolers that are made with health aspects in mind.

Please do check my FB Page for the array of the 50 + Coolers : Summer Coolers 2016 

Cooler 1: Tulsi / Holy Basil Sherbet 

Tulsi or Holy Basil (Botanical Name: Ocimum sanctum ) is a herb belonging to Mint Family. It is used in almost every other Indian Home as a home remedy for Fever, Sore Throat and Cold. Its a miraculous herb with lots and loads of medicinal benefits. Owing to its anti fungal, anti viral and anti bacterial properties, it is used in treating many of the deadlier infections too. It acts as an excellent detoxifying agent and a blood purifier. Tulsi consumption also strengthens immune system. 

Studies have proven that it also act as stress reduction agent. It lowers the blood cholesterol levels and hence useful for treating heart diseases. It also promotes Oral health. Acts as a great mouth freshener. We can keep listing the innumerable benefits of Tulsi. Having a Tulsi Plant at home helps you in preventing many body ailments. 

I tried making a Sherbet with this excellent herb which itself is rich in antioxidants, Vitamin A and C along with Lemon which is a great cooler for this season even for kids. Added Almond Gum (the edible gum got from Almond Tree, which is a natural coolant). This was a big hit at home for the unique color and flavour. I have used Palm Candy for added Health Benefits.

Recipe..Here you go...

Have a Cool and Healthy Day :) 

Green Guava Smoothie With Honey

Guava Smoothie?? May sound a little weird but it turned out to be a great recipe with a unique flavor. The health benefits of guavas are enormous. Guavas are loaded with Vitamin A which is very good for vision health. It is known to slow down cataracts and AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration). 

It has a large amount of anti oxidants and are found to slow down the metastasis (rapid multiplication) of cancerous cells. Vitamin C content in guavas are four times higher than the levels in Oranges and therefore it helps in preventing cough and cold. It is rich in fibre content and hence it helps in cleansing the digestive system and aids in free bowel movement. 

The Potassium content in guava balances the body blood pressure levels...and we can keep counting on the in numerous benefits this fruit offers..

Here you go...the delicious way of adding guava to your diet..