Roma's Space

This is one of the most refreshing drinks possible. Its an age old recipe handed down generations. Days when no soda or tang powders were available, these drinks were used to quench thirst and aid digestion alike. I happened to try this as a welcome drink at Made In India-1947. Its a restaurant on ring road (Bangalore) having a nice ambiance and great food. What strikes me about this place is the limited number of options they have in each category. If you want a cold beverage there are only 2-3 options. Same goes for soups, starters, etc; However, whatever they serve is really up to the mark. Another thing thats note worthy is that the place is always on high demand although its completely vegetarian! Yes, very few such pure veg restaurants in Bangalore which are running well. The first one that comes to mind is of course MTR! Read the rest of this entry »

I was instantly hooked up by the tag ‘Traditional Sindhi Cool Drink’. It caught my attention and didnt let go for several seconds. I logged into Avisha’s blog not knowing what to expect. There it was – a tall glass with a chilled red beverage in it. I was thirsty the second I saw it. To my delight I realized that I had all the required ingredients – a watermelon, rose syrup (Roohafza – my all time fave) and ice. I thought I’ll blend these sometime to check out what the result would taste like. Like all other Sindhi delicacies I was sure this one would be good too.

Read the rest of this entry »

About a few weeks ago Mayank planned a party with his friends. He asked me if I would be interested in making a welcome drink for the party and I agreed. The best drink to beat the heat these days is a chilled lemonade, flavored with fresh mint leaves and ginger juice.

Mayank asked me the ingredients required for the drink and I gave him a list. He ran the errand rather promptly and in an hours time our house was fragrant with a whole lot of mint leaves. In the evening he told me that there was a change in plans. We wont have to make the beverage as an arrangement had already been made. Hmmmm….. what was I to do with the mint leaves, ginger and whole lot of lemon that was chilling in my fridge?

Mint leaves are versatile and can be used to make pudina chutney and pulao. So that wasnt a problem and thankfully ginger also has a rather long shelf but lemon doesnt survive that way and how long can you eat tangy food in order to finish the lime juice? A week went by and every time I opened the fridge 12 angry big lemons would stare at me and I would look away, promising myself that someday I would put them to good use.

At this point my mom came up with a good solution. She asked me to make lemon squash so in the upcoming summer months we can drink refreshing lemonade whenever we want.

The procedure was simple. I bought a lemon squeezer so it would hasten the process. Once the squash was ready I added PMS to give it a shelf life of one year! Unlike the market-made squash it doesnt contain essence and food color. It has the flavor of freshly squeezed lime juice in every glass. Now I am happy that managed to preserve my 12 angry lemons for one year without really putting them in a pickle

Glass Painted the Squash Bottle

Glass Paint dried up, awaiting the Squash

Lets start Cooking. Besides the ingredients mentioned in the picture below please make sure you have a lemon squeezer and a funnel (to pour the squash into a bottle).

Procedure :

1. Heat sugar with water in a heavy bottom pan till it boils.
2. Turn off the heat and add citric acid. If you find froth on the surface extract and discard it. Thats the impurity in sugar that citric acid helps to collect.
3. Once the sugar syrup is cool add the lime juice, PMS and mix well.
4. Store in clean, dry bottle. 
5. When you want to have a glass of lemonade mix the syrup with the desired quantity of water and enjoy it with ice. If you find the sweetness to be less you can add sugar to the syrup even after its made.

Variation

You can add strands of kesar to the squash once its ready. This will add kesar flavor and color to the lemonade.

You can mix this syrup in ice tea or fuzzy apple drink to get delicious mocktails.

Virgin Pinacolada

Being a person who has never tasted an alcoholic drink upto date I always wondered what the cocktails must taste like. One day I ran into a Mocktail counter at a food court and realized that people who dont drink liqueur also have delicious options. I had a Virgin Pinacolada and it was delicious! Since then whenever I got a chance I ordered this drink. The sweetness in the coconut milk perfectly balances the sourness in the pineapple juice. Every milky sip of this tropical fruit drink leaves your taste buds wondering whats tasting so good.

In Spanish, Pina Colada means ‘Strained Pineapple’. In 1978 it was such a popular drink in Puerto Rico that it was declared the National drink of the country. A very interesting summer mocktail indeed.

The best Virgin Pinacolada I ever had was a couple of months ago on our wedding anniversary. We had been to this fancy place called Memories of China. The Colada there was just too perfect. I hoped the glass would never finish. The texture was creamy and temperature of the drink was perfect.

I tried to recreate some of the magic. Lets see if it matches up! This is my entry to the Fun ‘n’ Sun Event hosted by EasyCrafts.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 glass of pineapple juice
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon of coconut milk
• Sugar syrup (as per taste)

Procedure :

1. Mix the above ingredients in a glass or shaker.
2. Serve chilled with bananas or fruit of your choice.

Please NOTE :

1. The temperature of this drink is important. We dont usually add ice to it so use chilled ingredients.
2. Serve in a thin, tall glass. I didnt have a thin one so I went with the closest one available.
3. Dont use a mixie to blend the drink as the cream could split.

Watermelon On the Rocks

Ingredients :

• 2 teaspoons Ice tea powder
• 1/2 glass Watermelon juice
• Lime juice
• Sugar
• Ice

Procedure :

1. Add water to the ice tea powder and stir well so there are no lumps.
2. Mix in the water melon juice, lime juice and sugar. Shake well.
3. Place ice cubes in a tall glass. Pour in the blend and serve chilled.

Variation

You can try out the same recipe with apple juice and honey instead of watermelon juice and sugar.

Please NOTE :

You need to check the sugar content in your ice tea powder and alter the water/sugar content accordingly. I used Nestea and was satisfied with the drink.