Raspberry Lassi

Ingredients :

Raspberries - 1 cup

Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2-3 tblsp

Water - 1/2 cup

Mint Leaves - 2 or 3

Black Pepper - a pinch

Salt - a pinch

Preparation Method :

1. Blend all the above ingredients in a blender until it becomes creamy and frothy.

2. Garnish with fresh mint leaves, fresh raspberries and serve chilled.

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Pineapple Coconut Smoothie

Ingredients :

Pineapple Juice - 2 cups 

Cream of Coconut - 1 cup 

Crushed Ice Cubes - 1 cup

Preparation Method :

1. Blend all the ingredients in a mixie/blender to a smoothie.

2. Add little sugar if you like it sweeter

3. Pour into glasses, garnish with a pineapple wedge or a cherry and serve.

Tips :

- Use heavy cream if you cant find coconut cream.

- To make life easier, just buy a can each of 'Coconut Cream' and 'pineapple juice' and blend together instead of making fresh juice

- The original recipe of pina colada calls for adding 2 spoons of Rum to the above mixture.

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Spicy Butter Milk

Sambharam, spiced and flavoured buttermlk, is a famous Kerala drink which was traditionally served to guests. It is also served as part of the Kerala Sadya. It is a cool and refreshing drink for hot summer days as well as aids digestion.

It has many variations in many parts of India like the masala mor (thalicha mor) from Tamil Nadu, spicy lassi from Punjab, chaas (chaach) from Gujarat and Rajasthan etc. 

Ingredients :

Curd (Yogurt) - 1 cup 

Water - 2 cups (to make buttermilk)

(You could also use store bought buttermilk/yogurt)

Green Chillies - 2-3

Ginger - 1" piece

Cilantro - 2-3 stems

Curry Leaves - 5-6 leaves

Preparation Method :

1. Crush the green chillies, ginger and cilantro using a mortar and pestle or using the pulse mode of the mixie.

2. Beat the curd nicely using a fork and add the water to it. 

3. Mix the curd-water mixture nicely using a hand blender or with a spoon.

4. Add the crushed mixture, torn curry leaves and required salt and mix everything together.

5. Serve on a hot summer day as a refreshing drink or have with some plain rice.

Variations :

- Make a seasoning of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and some curry leaves and add to the sambharam. This adds nice flavour to the sambharam.

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Cherry Lassi

Lassi is a traditional drink in India made by blending yogurt with water, salt/sugar and other flavouring until it is frothy. It originated in Punjab and soon became famous throughout the country. It is usually served as a chill and refreshing drink with a meal or just as such. The different variations of sweet lassi are honey lassi, mango lassi, saffron lassi, rose water lassi etc. Spices can also be added to lassi like cumin, black pepper, grated ginger, black salt etc. Fresh herbs are also often added to the salted lassis like mint, cilantro, basil etc. Different lassi flavours can be made with any fresh fruits. Here i've given the recipe for a sweet lassi made with sweet cherries.

Ingredients : 

Yogurt - 1 cup 

Water/milk - 1/2 cup 

Sweet Cherries (or any other fresh fruit) - 1 cup (deseeded) 

Sugar - 2-3 tblsp (or to taste) 

Preparation Method : 

1. Blend together the cherries, yogurt, water/milk and sugar in a blender till it becomes frothy. 

2. Pour into individual glasses and garnish with some fresh cherries. 

3. Chill and serve. This can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. 

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Sweet Lassi

Lassi is a healthy beverage that originated in Punjab but is popular all over India. It is made by blending yogurt and water with some other flavourings until it is frothy. Flavourings can be savory or sweet. Here I've given the recipe of a simple sweet lassi. Other variations of lassi can be made by adding suitable flavourings eg :- Mango Lassi (Mango Pulp is blended along with the other ingredients.), Strawberry Lassi , Kesar lassi (with saffron strands) etc.

Ingredients :

Yogurt - 1 cup

Cold Water - 1 cup

Sugar - as needed

Rose water - 1 tsp

Cardomon Powder - a pinch

Preparation Method :

1. Blend together all the above ingredients together using a hand mixer or a mixie until it becomes frothy.

2. Garnish with fresh mint leaves, pistachios and serve as a cool, healthy and refreshing drink.

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Mango Lassi

Ingredients :
 
Mango (ripe) - 1 (sliced)
Yogurt - 4 tblsp
Whipping Cream - 2 tsp
Sugar - 4 tblsp
Saffron - few strands (boiled in 2 tsp milk)
Ice crushed - optional

 

Method :

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender and blend it. Serve chilled.  

2. If you are using crushed ice, serve immediately.

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