Avacado or Butter fruit Milkshake

The first time I came across this simple and tasty fruit was in the hills of Kodaikanal. On a vacation to Kodai with my hubby, we went on a trek to a place called Dolphin Nose. The trek was amazing and proved to be a great calorie burner. The way back was tougher than the on-ward trek and we needed to take breaks in between to charge up ourselves! During one of these breaks, we stopped over for some tea at a small shop.

The shop had run out of tea powder just then and the lady in the shop offered to make us this butter fruit milk shake instead. We had no clue how it would taste and the look of it did'nt give us any great appeal either:-)! We trusted the lady and our guide and she scooped the pulp of the fruit into a bowl, added 2 cups of milk and some sugar and gave a it a beating with her spoon.... that's all she did...poured them on to two glasses and gave it to us with a spoon.....

Oh.....the taste of that yummy shake still lingers in me....I can't explain how good it was in words...u need to do that trek and then taste the fresh shake in the chill hilly atmosphere! Well, I wish I could do it every time...but of-course, that's not possible:-)! The next best option of-course is to bring it into your kitchen! From then, this milk shake has become a regular in our home and I discovered that butter fruit is available all through the year, so, no worries...beat it and eat it or drink it ....the way you like it!

Ingredients:

- 1 ripe butter fruit or avacado
- 4 cups chilled milk
- 2 tbsp sugar or as per choice

Prep time: 5 mins                    

- Cut the fruit around the center and twist open the fruit. Remove the seed from inside and scoop the pulp out.

- Add the pulp, milk and sugar into a blender and beat well until smooth.
- Pour into 4 glasses and serve chilled!

Foot note: If the milk shake is thick add more milk. The fruit does not taste sweet by itself, so going light on sugar will make it taste little plain!

Inji Sorasam - Indian Ginger Ale

Have you been experiencing loss of appetite? Do you need to make your stomach feel healthy and well? Have you got to prepare yourself for a brilliant feast spread? Or you just need to feel overhauled and feel like a clean system once more?...Well, the answer to all these questions and many more is in this simple ginger drink!

This used to be a regular during the days of my Great Grandma! She used to make this atleast twice a month.. Whenever she goes down with vertigo (giddiness) she would make up this drink and keep taking small portions through the whole day. Now, my MIL also makes this regularly and we love to drink it during the weekends and prepare ourselves for some sumptuous weekend feast!

The effect of this drink is best felt when had on an empty stomach. So, the best time is to have it early in the morning before breakfast! You will no doubt find it strong but you will also realise how refreshing it is once you drink it.

Ingredients:

- a good big piece of ginger - about 4-6 inches
- 2 tsp corinader seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 cups of water

Prep time: Overnight or a couple of hours

Preparation:

- Peel the ginger and chop into small pieces. Add some water and grind the ginger, coriander and jeera into a fine paste.
- Mix this paste to 2 cups of water and allow this to stand still for a couple of hours.

Just after grinding and mixing water

- As we usually drink it early morning, I make this in the night and let it stand over night. This will help the ingredients flavour to infuse in the water and also let them settle down at the bottom.

In the morning, after it has settled down

- After a couple of hours or in the morning, use a filter and strain the water to another bowl without letting the sediments mix up too much.
- In a bowl, add the sugar, honey and lemon juice. Adjust lemon and honey as per your preference.Stir it up well and mix the filtered ginger water. Mix everything well.

- Drink it up fresh:-) You definitely need to drink it to realise its goodness....

Sending to Cooking without Onion & Garlic event by Sreevalli of Ammajis Recipes

Apple- Red Banana Shake

Two fruits that never get taken up on my kitchen counter...Apples and Red Bananas but we never fail to buy them too:-)! With the double dip recession and all the uncertainty about job markets, it would be a crime, if i were to lavishly buy fruits and allow them to rot away to glory and be trashed! So, i decided to use up the one banana and apple that were waiting to be eaten and made a quick milkshake 

Ingredients:
1 Apple
1 Red Banana
2 tsp brown sugar/ white sugar
2 cups low fat cold milk
1/2 tsp honey (optional)
1/2 tsp chocolate syrup (optional for dressing)


Prep time: 5 mins


Preparation:


- Peel the skin, core the apple and cut into small cubes
- Peel the skin and cut the banana into small pieces
- Add the fruits, milk and sugar into the blender and whip well. Add honey too if u prefer.
- The Milkshake is ready to drink:-) 

Dressing:


- Pour the chocolate syrup by the sides of the serving glass and rotate it to spread it around.
- Now, pour the milkshake into the glass and serve. You could add some raisins for taste too.


Sending this recipe to ABC Series- A for Apple event hosted by Ramya's recipe

Mango-Peach Milkshake ..:-)

Don't wonder if am becoming a fatso by the day with the recipes am uploading! ha ha...am giving my body its due share of exercise everyday....alternating between swimming, yoga, dance and walking. So, its ok to binge on once in a while. After all its only healthy fruits and milk with a spoon of sugar....does it really matter?! Definitely not! You will agree when the drink traverses through your mouth too....;-) So, go on, give it a try...

Super simple peach mango milkshake. I had been thinking of using up the peach in my fridge to make a shake and around the same time, one of my dear friend suggested just the same recipe. Only, she gave me the diet way without any added sugar but i went the other way! We have always loved to break the rules ain't it?!

Prep time: 7 mins Drink time: Instantly!

Ingredients:

1 ripe peach

1 ripe mango

1 cup of cold milk

3/4 tbsp brown sugar ( can use normal sugar too)

couple of mint leaves for dressing

Preparation:

- Peel the skin of the peach and core it. Keep the pulp aside, while chopping just a few small pieces for dressing

- Peel the skin of the mango and cut the pulp from both sides of the fruit. Just chop a few small pieces for dressing

- In a blender, add both fruit pulps, milk and sugar and give it a beat

- In the juice glass, drop in a few pieces of both fruits and pour the shake over it. Add the remaining pieces of fruits on the top layer of the glass

- Your milk shake is ready

Additional dressing:

- Add a dollop of vanilla/peach ice-cream or vanilla/peach yogurt! I have used yogurt here and stick out the mint leaves at the center!