Watermelon mint cooler

Watermelon is mainly used as a thirst quencher. Vendors with small carts filled with water melons and few glasses under a tree's shade is a common sight during summer. The vendor would scoop the sweet, juicy melon into a glass. He will add some crushed ice and slightly whisk with a spoon. Sipping a glass of iced melons on a hot summer afternoon is purely heaven.

Watermelon is loaded with vitamins too. It is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A and vitamin B6. In addition, watermelon it contains thiamin, potassium and magnesium.

I have the memories of my hostel days in college associated with watermelon. The summers were unbearable. In the hostel premises, watermelons and tender coconuts were sold. March being the last month of the semester,many of us felt the cash crunch. We would have spent most of our money in arranging farewell for our roommates, buying gifts, developing photos etc. None of our parents gave money for spending lavishly. We all were given just the amount needed for hostel fees and other normal expenses. So we had to save every penny for the farewell parties and gifts. Apart from that, we had to find money for watermelons. Those were the simple pleasures we enjoyed. In my room, we were 8 of us. We took turns in buying watermelon. So everyday one melon will be brought and we will cut in the evening. And it was my duty to cut it and I enjoyed doing it. Those days one watermelon would cost around Rs.8. It will be big enough that all of us would get a fairly big slice. Even now, whenever I cut watermelons, those memories rush back like it was yesterday.

I prefer to eat watermelons as it is. But my husband prefers juice. So I make this. There isn't any fixed recipe for this. Taking the cue, you can make as you like.

You will need
Watermelon cubes - 4 cup
fresh/dried mint - 1 tspn
honey - 1 tablespoon
lime juice - 1 tspn
Few pieces of watermelon for garnish.

Method

Liquidize the watermelon cubes, mint,honey and lime juice in a mixer grinder or a juicer. Pour into a glass. Garnish with bite sized cubes and sprinkle mint if desired. This yields two glasses of juice.

This is my rose entry to FIC-Pink/Rose hosted by Priya, an event started by Sunshinemom.

Spicy Garlic Chutney

How many of you love garlic as much as I do? I have come across people that either loves it or hates it. Is there anyone in between the two? When I saw this garlic chutney at adlak's kitchen, I was sure of trying it out. The recipe cannot be any simpler. I enjoyed the chutney with rotis. Thanks Adlak for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:
Garlic-12 pods
Onion-1(medium)
Tomato-1
Hing-1/4 tsp
Red chillies-7(if you want it less spicy, use 5)
Salt
Mustard seeds-3/4 tsp
Oil-1/4 cup
Tamarind-2 inch piece

Method:
Grind all the above ingredients(without adding water) except oil and mustard seeds.
Heat oil in a pan. Tamper mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the ground paste. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add little water if required. Simmer and close with a lid. Cook until oil starts to float on top. It will take at least 45 minutes to an hour.
The chutney goes well with dosas, rotis, curd rice.

Note: If you don't like the smell of ground onion, substitute it with another tomato. You can also fry the above ingredients one after another and then grind.

So many of you have showered me with cute awards. I totally lost track of those who passed me the awards. A quick search in my google reader saved me. Friends, I am so glad you thought about me. I have created a collage of awards and added it to my awards page. If you would like to display it in your blog, please feel free to do so(click "awards" tab on the header). I love all my blogger friends. So I dedicate this award collage to you all!

Praline Chocolate Ice Cream

After my first attempt on chocolate tofu mousse recipe, I'm quite curious about tofu desserts recently. This time I'm going to make ice cream which is without cream but tofu, again :P

Well, I've got this recipe through chocolate peanut butter ice cream, I changed the recipe to praline chocolate ice cream.

I've made a cup of praline paste using hazelnut with caramel sugar. I feel that Hazalnut and chocoalte always go very well. You'll hardly get the beany taste from the ice cream as I added vanilla extract and the praline already won over the beany taste.

This ice cream couldn't compare with those Häagen-Dazs ice cream as it didn't contains egg yolks and cream, so it's definately not as rich as Häagen-Dazs. But, it's no different compare to those ice cream box selling in the supermarket with the smooth and creamy texture, and nutty flavour. This is something good for those who afraid of fatness but craving for ice cream.

Recipe for praline paste:

1. Heat the 150g sugar in a pan (non-stick pan would be good). Make sure the sugar dissolves and the colour is a nice caramel (the praline can taste bitter if it colours too much). Pour the 100g hazelnut (halves) into the caramel and stir quickly.


2. Pour the mixture onto a non-stick mat or onto a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray to cool. Spread the praline out to a thickness of about 1cm.


3. When the praline has set, lightly crush with a rolling pin then place into a bag. Using the rolling pin to punch until praline become the size of rock salt.


4. Place it into a food processor and blend until it become a thick paste.

Recipe for the ice cream:

1. Blend all these ingredients in a food processor (12oz silken tofu, 1 cup praline paste, 3/4 cup pure maple syrup, 1 cup soy milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract)


2. Melt 1 cup of dark chocolate in a double boiler. Add the melted chocolate to the tofu mixture (1).


3. Chill the mixture in the fridge for 2 hours then process in the ice cream machine.


4. Freeze in the freezer for couple of hour. Enjoy!