Orange spiced iced coffee (Serves 2)

Ingredients

1. Instant coffee powder 2 tsps
2. Ground cinnamon a few pinches
3. Ground nutmeg a few pinches
4. Ground cloves a pinch
5. Half and Half 4 TBSPs
6. Brown sugar 4 TBSPs packed
7. Orange liqueur 1 TBSP, optional
8. Water 2 1/2 cups
9. Orange slices 2 slices
Ice cubes

Directions

Boil water with orange slices and add the instant coffee powder. Stir in ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Mix well and add the half and half and brown sugar.  Remove from flame and add the orange liqueur if desired. Bring to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. Pour into tall glasses with ice cubes and additional orange slices, enjoy!

Published in October 2014 edition of Malayali magazine.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Watermelon Float (Serves 2)

Here is a great way to cool you off this summer..Something you crave for more and more…

Ingredients

Watermelon (peeled and seeded) 2 cups
Vanilla ice cream 2 scoops

Preparation

Juice the watermelon using a blender and pour into 2 tall glasses. Top with vanilla ice cream and keep refrigerated for 20 minutes. Mix well using a spoon and enjoy!!!!

Cheers!!!
Suji

Avocado Strawberry smoothie (Serves 3)

A great creamy and healthy breakfast smoothie and the combination is sure to die for. I had some strawberries and an avocado left in my fruit basket and was craving for something yummy yet healthy. Just tried to combine these two and was completely satisfied with the result. This can be served as itself or along side a meal. My toddler daughter had her portion too, so you can definitely include into your kid’s breakfast menu. Hope you all will enjoy!

Ingredients

1. Milk ¾ cup
2. Plain yogurt ½ cup
3. Avocado 1 medium, pitted
4. Fresh/Frozen strawberry 10-12 nos, chopped
5. Vanilla extract 1 tsp
6. Sugar 3 TBSP (optional)

Preparation

• Pour milk, yogurt and avocado into a blender and process till smooth (for 2 minutes or so).
• Add the strawberry, sugar and vanilla extract and blend again for 3 minutes until smooth.
• Pour into serving glasses and enjoy!

Notes:
Sugar is an optional ingredient and I prefer this smoothie without sugar as it is creamy and has a slight sweetness from the strawberries..

Cheers!!!
Suji

Tropical Guava Smoothie (Serves 2)

A great to coll off yourself from the scorching sun. Adding tropical flavors to guava makes it a crowd pleaser for sure, Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1. Red guava 1 cup, scoop out the flesh using a spoon
2. Banana 1 small
3. Coconut milk/regular milk 1 cup
4. Pineapple essence ¼ tsp
5. Sugar 2 TBSP
6. Ice cubes ½ cup

Preparation

Put everything into a blender and blend till smooth. Pour into tall glasses and serve immediately.

Cheers!!!
Suji

Creamy Nutella latte

Milk 1 ½ cups
Half and half ½ cup
Nutella 2 TBSP
Instant coffee 1 TBSP (I used Bru)
Whipping cream for topping, optional

Preparation

In a saucepan, add milk and half and half. Allow to come to boil in a medium flame. Once it starts to bubble, add the coffee and nutella. Continue boiling until everything dissolves completely. Switch off flame and strain into coffee mugs. Top with whip cream and enjoy…

Cheers!!!
Suji

Spiced up–GRAPE JUICE (Serves 6)

A perfect way to stay cool in this scorching heat. Regular grape juice spiced up with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger which perfectly balances each other. This recipe was shared by one of our good friend and well wisher, VIBHA and according to her, this is her uncle’s way of making grape juice which is always a big HIT at parties. Thanks to vibha and her uncle…

Red grapes 2 lbs (I used Welch’s red seedless grapes)
Water 1 liter/4 cups
Sugar 1 cup or use accordingly (use less if grapes are sweet)
Cinnamon sticks 1 one inch stick
Cardamom 2 nos
Ginger 1 TBSP, chopped

Preparation

Wash the grapes well and add into a pan. Mash the grapes slightly and add 1 liter/4 cups water. Allow this to come to a boil at medium high heat and once it starts to boil, leave it for 10 minutes. After this, add 1 cup sugar, cinnamon stick, cardamom and ginger and mix well. Lower the heat to SIM and keep it for another 15-20 minutes. Switch off flame and strain into a bowl. Once cooled, store it refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks. The juice itself will be a little concentrated, therefore, when ready to serve, fill half of the glass with the grape juice concentrate and fill the rest with ice. Allow ice to melt for sometime and ENJOY!!! Alternately you can mix equal amount of cold water and juice and serve..

Cheers!!!
Suji

Summer milkshakes..

Here are two mouth watering  chilled treats from us to keep you cool in these blistering hot and sunny days of summer. These are simple and easy to make recipes and would make the kids scream for more!!!

Banana mango milkshake (Serves 2)

Banana 1 no, cut to chunks
Mango puree ½ cup
Milk ½ cup
Sugar 2 TBSP
Ice cubes a few

Preparation

Blend everything together until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses and enjoy. Top with whip cream or ice cream for more taste.

Strawberry dates milkshake (Serves 2)

Strawberry 8-10 nos
Dates 8-10 nos
Chilled milk ½ cup
Sugar 1 TBSP (use according to your sugar preference level)

Preparation

Soak the dates in milk for about 30 minutes. Now add all the ingredients into a blender jar and blend till smooth.

Cheers!!!
Suji