Rose & WaterMelon Quencher / Juice - Heat Reducer

Know What You Eat:  We make a lot of fresh fruit/vegetable juices/ shakes, apart from that today I will share one of the very authentic Sharbat or charbat is the name applied to a variety of sweet soft drinks flavored with fruit juice or floral extracts, popular in the Middle East/India/Pakistan.. After all, "Poets have sung its praise. Medical scientists laud its therapeutic values. And the common man loves its refreshing goodness."The viscous concentrate smells like a typical rose perfume while in the bottle  With water or seltzer, a rose flavor dominates and it is sickeningly sweet. For an American palate, it's very intense. But its amazingly flavorful when mixed with cold milk/ watermelon quencher what I made here..Apart from the sweet smell it is also very beneficial to protect and treat Dehydration (water loss) Nutritional status of the body, Heat Exhaustion Proper functioning of the heart Heat stroke, to treat fever due to fresh heat exposure, Active Vomiting Energetic, Diarrhea, and Stomach ache..Still not guessd...? Its Rooh-Afza..

This year I got this opportunity, to pluck a lots and lots of fresh and sweet smelling roses, where..? Of course in my back yard, since now the plant is bearing lot of roses, I thought not to waste a single one and immediately asked my mom the recipe for this concentrate I made from rose. I plucked a bunch of these, removed the petals, washed it and boiled these petals along with water.

Ingredients:

Rose petals (i had beautiful red and pink colored) from about 10-15 roses

4 C Water

2 C Sugar

2-3 drops Rose Essence

Few pinches Red Food color (optional)

Directions:

Add 1 cup water along with rose petals, cover it with lid and boil it for about 3-5 mins, take off from the stove, an d let it cool.

2.. Strain it and use this water to make sugar syrup.

3. In another vessel take sugar and water and boil it until sugar dissolves, let it cool, then add rose essence and red food color. 

4. Store it in an air tight bottle to use whenever desired. Also keep it in refrigerator.

For watermelon quencher, I diced watermelon , added rose sugar syrup "Rooh-afza" in ice cold water and served with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. It is heavenly when consumed in hot sunny weather to avoid dehydration.

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Roasted Cumin Spiced Buttermilk - Digestive Tonic

Know What You Eat: Buttermilk | "Masala Chaas" is common accompaniment in most of the Indian diets..as is lower in fat than regular milk, because the fat has been removed to make butter. It is also high in potassium, vitamin B12, calcium, and riboflavin as well as a good source of phosphorus. There are lots of benefits drinking buttermilk to mention, here are few.

Gastrointestinal Benefits:
Those with digestive problems are often advised to drink buttermilk rather than milk, as it is more quickly digested. Buttermilk has more lactic acid than skim milk.

Gall Stone Treatment:
Buttermilk isn't a cure for gall stones in on its own, but a major part of gall stone treatment is eating the right diet. Fatty milks are to be avoided when treating gall stones, but they can be substituted by either skim milk or buttermilk, which both have an appropriately low fat content. This enables you to continue providing calcium to the body while limiting your fat intake.

How to make buttermilk?
Originally, Butter is produced by churning cream until the fats separate from the liquid (buttermilk) and the butter is in a semi-solid state. My mother still in today's date makes Ghee (clarified butter) with the same method. Blend in yogurt, water, cumin powder, ginger and salt ...addition of cumin is another benefit as it aids in digestion as well...But a tall glass of this healthy and tasty beverage on a hot summer day is a moment to look forward to....

  

Recipe: Roasted Cumin Flavored Buttermilk | Masala Chaas
Preparation time: 5 mins Cook time - N/A                                                               
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 C Yogurt, lowfat
• 1 3/4 C Water
• 1 Tbsp Cumin powder, roasted
• 1/4 inch Ginger, grated
• Cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
• Salt to taste 
• Crushed Ice

 Method

• Mix yogurt and water, cumin powder, grated ginger, salt and blend well. Add crushed ice.
• Pour into glasses and serve chilled.
  

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Watermelon Jalapeno Quencher - Happy 4th July 2011

Know What You Eat: Tired of  same old sweet watermelon juice with different fruit combinations????..try this watermelon quencher with a KICK...On a hot summer day if you find your watermelon did not turn out to be  sweet, hey no ugly faces, no worries...just blend in all with a kick(jalapeno) and see the difference, with a whole bunch of vitamins watermelon is packed with antioxidants and has an extremely high water content, approx. 92%, giving its flesh a crumbly and subtly crunchy texture and making it a favorite thirst quenching fruit, so next time when you are very berry thirsty after coming from a grilling sunny day...dont grab a gatorade, instead grab this easy breezy watermelon quencher..which will replenish lost fluids in your body...So guys have a HAPPY, HEALTHY and SAFE 4th July...OFF  FOR WHITE WATER RAFTING.... ANYBODY ???

Serving: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: NIL



Ingredients:
6 C Watermelon seedless, diced
1/4 tsp Jalapeno, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Sugar/Honey/Xylitol (only if the watermelon is not sweet)
1 Tbsp Mint/Cilantro, finely chopped
A pinch of salt
Few dashes of Black pepper pwd
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Ice 

Directions:

1.  Blend everything together until smooth, along with crushed ice, in your blender, strain it if you desire to remove that extra bulk in your juice..garnish with finely chopped mint / cilantro and jalapeno..

Good Note: This juice is just fantastic , but if even that seems like too much effort on a hot summer day, do what I did for lunch this afternoon. Slice up some watermelon, squeeze a juicy lime over it, and sprinkle it with a mixture of spicy chili powder and kosher salt. My mouth is still happy. 

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