Monsoon Magic (Ramadan special drink)

Ramazan is the ninth month of the Islamic calender and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillers of Islam (source : Wikipedia)
So when I saw my fellow blogger friend Shaheen Ali from Spoonforkandfood Ramzan special post I fell in love with the rituals performed during this holy month.....fasting from dawn until sunset, performing prayers together, discipline, self control, charity and everything that makes you a better human being :)
And that inspired me to do a Ramazan special post ( heartfelt thanks to Muzammil Shaikh for answering all my queries patiently:) )
So these long fasting hours especially during Indian Summers dehydrates your body, and the need of having plenty of liquids, drinks and juices at the time of Sehri and Iftari becomes all the more important.
Here's my Monsoon Magic.....when the tanginess of mangoes blend with the sweetness of litchi, it certainly creates a magic :) A perfect thirst quencher and ideal during fasting days.

Special thanks to my friends Manot Kaur and Sumeet Verma for the beautiful images :)
Ingredients:

• 3-4 Raw mangoes
• 2-3 tsp roasted cumin powder
• 2 tsp black salt
• Back pepper powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup Sugar or to taste
• 15-20 crushed mint leaves
• 2 cups water

Other ingredients:

• 3 packs of litchi juice
• 2-3 Tbsp soaked basil seeds
• Few mint leaves
• Lemon slices

Preparation time: 15-20 mins
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Kitchen equipments required: Pressure cooker, sauce pan, mixing spoons
Yields: 5 servings.

Directions:

• Wash mangoes and pressure cook till 2-3 whistles.
• Remove the peel and take out the pulp
• In a saucepan add water, mango pulp and cook along with sugar and spices for 5-6 minutes.
• Add mint leaves and switch off the flame.
• Let the mixture cool.( This is a basic Aam panna recipe, if you want to be more experimental with flavours do check my Aam panna and Kala khatta granita recipe here)

Assembling:
Add 2-3 tbsp of panna concentrate in a glass, next add a tbsp of soaked basil seeds and fill the glass with some litchi juice,stir well and add some ice cubes.
Garnish with mint leaves and a lemon slice.
Serve chilled.

Caramel mochasicles

Happiness is, blending your icy treat with tons of Caramel!
Here's one more reason to enjoy caramel and embrace the summers with more appetite...

Ingredients
For the popsicles:

• 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 3-4 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup full cream milk
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

Directions:

• Add coffee powder, milk, cream, water, cocoa and sugar in a blender.
• Blend till smooth and frothy.
• Pour the mixture into the popsicles moulds, insert the sticks and cover it with an aluminium foil.
• Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• For demoulding, run hot water over the mould and carefully take out the popsicles.
  

For mocha caramel sauce:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp butter( unsalted)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• In a medium sized bowl whisk together cream, cocoa and coffee powder with a wired whisk, keep aside.
• Combine sugar and water in a heavy bottom pan.
• Cook over medium- high heat, until mixture comes to boil.
• Continue to boil, without stirring, for 7-10 minutes, tilting pan occasionally to keep colour even until mixture turns a deep amber colour.
• Remove from heat and pour in cream mixture.
• Add butter and vanilla extract and whisk till everything is combined.
  

(You can store this sauce for 2-3 weeks in fridge, reheat for few seconds every time you want to use it)

Dunk the popsicles in the caramel sauce.....lick :) :) enjoy!!!

Faluda Ice cream sundae

Faluda ice cream Sundae:
Desserts in Summer suppers have been made mandate by my lil sonny! Thought of giving him some taste from our childhood sundae, the Faluda ice cream!

Ingredients:

• 4-5 tbsp rose syrup
• 2 tbsp faluda sev
• 5-6 basil seeds jelly nuggets (see recipe here)
• 2-3 tbsp sweet basil seeds
• 1 cup chilled milk ( sweetened)
• 2 scoops vanilla ice-cream
• Handful chopped pistachio nuts

 Ingredients for faluda sev:

• 1/2 cup cornflour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Few saffron strands
• 11/4 cup water
• A bowl of  ice cold water
  

Directions: 

• In a mixing bowl add cornflour, saffron strands and sugar, pour water and mix till the batter becomes smooth and lump free.
• Cook this mixture on medium flame till it becomes thick and translucent.
• Turn off the flame and put this hot mixture into the greased kitchen press.
• Use a kitchen towel or gloves to hold the press and press the sev directly over ice cold water and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• Soak basil seeds for at least 30 minutes and drain the excess water.

Assembling:

• Take 2 glasses, pour some rose syrup at the bottom, next add faluda sev.
• Then add some basil jellies and top it with some soaked basil seeds.
• Pour some chilled milk and next add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Garnish with some extra rose syrup and chopped pistachio nuts.
• Serve chilled.
  
  
  
  
  

Enjoy!!!

Basil seeds jelly nuggets

Jelly has been more of a fantasy than just another confectionery item.. Imagining a home-made jelly was definitely a challenge, though I gave it a shot. Syrupy and spongy, these little jelly nuggets are now falling in fancy dessert range!!

Refreshing Basil seeds jelly....with rose & khus flavours

Ingredients:

• 8 gms agar agar strands
• 250 ml water plus 3-4 tbsp hot water
• Sugar to taste
• 2-3 tbsp rose syrup
• 2-3 tbsp khus syrup
• 1 tbsp sweet basil seeds (cleaned and soaked in 1/2 cup of water for 15-20 min)

 Preparation time: 15- 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes plus 3-4 hours refrigeration
Yields: 30-32 small jellies
Kitchen equipments required: A saucepan, 3 small mixing bowls, mixing spoons, jello moulds or baking tray, Kitchen scissors

Directions:

• Cut  agar agar strands into small pieces with the help of kitchen scissors, add into the saucepan and pour hot water over it and soak for 10- 15 minutes till the strands become soft.
• Now put that pan on the flame and add the remaining water, and stir frequently till the strands dissolve completely, this will take around 15 minutes.
• Add in sugar and stir well.
• Now remove from flame and divide the liquid into two equal portions.
• Add khus syrup and half of the soaked basil seeds in one portion and rose and basil seeds in the other, stir really well.
• Next pour the liquid into the moulds and keep aside until it cools down completely then refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours till the jelly gets firm.
• De mould and serve chilled. 
  

Donut ice cream sandwich

Who can resist the classic vanilla ice cream or  a donut. And here comes the twist ; DONUT ICE CREAM SANDWICH coated with lots of dark chocolate. Ignore the guilt this weekend, let's indulge.

Ingredients:

For donuts:

• All Purpose Flour / Maida - 1 1/2 cup
• Yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
• Warm Milk -1 /2 cup + more as needed
• Powdered Sugar - 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1tsp
• Butter / Oil - 1 tbsp melted
• Baking powder - 2tsp

Method:

• Take yeast, 1tsp sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water in a bowl and let it sit for 5 mins till it foams up.
• Now take milk, vanilla and melted butter or oil in a bowl and mix well.
• Now take flour, powdered sugar, baking powder in a large mixing bowl and mix that well.
• Pour in the yeast mixture and milk mixture in this and make a smooth dough.
• Grease a large bowl with oil and transfer this dough into that, cover that with a plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 1 hour or till it doubles in size.
• Now punch down the dough and roll it into thick circles.
• Now using a large cutter and a small cutter cut out the donuts
• Leave that to rest for 10 mins.
• Now heat oil for deep frying on a medium heat.
• Drop the doughnuts and fry them carefully till they turn golden on each side. This will take around 2 to 3 mins. Fry the dough holes as well.
• Drain them in a paper towel

For glaze :

• 150 gms sugar
• 2-3 tbsp milk
• vanilla extract

Method :

• Cook this on medium flame till it becomes a thick glaze, dip donuts in the glaze.
  

For sandwich:

• Donuts
• Ice cream vanilla flavoured
• Melted dark chocolate

Method :

• Place a big scoop of ice cream on a donut, flatten it slightly and cover it with another donut or you can use single donut for this, carefully slice in half in the middle, on one half place a scoop of ice cream and cover with the other half and temporarily keep it in freezer.
• Melt chocolate in a doble boiler.
• Take out sandwich from freezer and coat with melted chocolate.

Your donut ice cream sandwich is ready :)

Happy Weekend!