Showing posts with label Beverages and Drinks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beverages and Drinks. Show all posts

Grape Juice – home-made


The sweltering heat is here now after the spell of rain and tornadoes. There are a few local shops in Mysore, where I hail from, which sell ice-cold grape juice that’s refreshing to the last drop. I had quite forgotten about it until a batch of sour grapes had me wondering what to do to make them more ‘edible’. Grape juice came to my mind and a quick call to mom to confirm the method had me whipping up grape juice in no time. The method is extremely simple and something you can make with a non-sour batch of grapes too.


Hot summer months back home meant fruit and vegetable juices day in and day out to quench our thirst. We had the luxury of savoring juices, made fresh, unlike now where everything is either canned or bottled.This juice is as fresh as it can get! 

You will need:

1 lb seedless red grapes, washed and drained
Water
½-1 cup Sugar

Place the washed grapes in a deep pan. Add water until the grapes are barely immersed. Bring to a boil on medium heat and simmer until the grapes begin to burst. Don’t overcook. Drain and reserve the liquid. 


Blend the boiled grapes. Strain using a sieve to extract the juice and discard the pulp. Add the reserved liquid and extracted juice to a pan; add sugar to taste. If the grapes are sour they require more sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, until thickened. This is the grape juice concentrate.Store in an air-tight container, refrigerate.

To serve: Dilute one part concentrate with two parts chilled water. You can add more concentrate to your taste. 


It is important to use seedless grapes to make this juice. Sipping on this juice took me right back to my college days when a lot of us spent hours together chatting over grape juice.

Raspberry Lemon Sparklers

The flavour of raspberries has been a favourite for as long as I can remember. These red berries aren't easily available in India so I hadn't actually eaten a raspberry but one way we always got to enjoy the flavour of this fruit was in the Raspberry Duet ice cream bar of Joy Ice creams. A Vanilla ice cream bar with a raspberry coating...slurp!

With the temperatures slowly climbing and the heat kicking in, Summer is finally here. What better way to cool off than with a cold refreshing drink. I decided to make something with my favourite flavour....no points for guessing which flavour :-D

Raspberry Lemon Sparklers:

You will need:

1 ½ Cup Raspberries (fresh/frozen)
1/2 Sugar
1 tbsp Lemon juice
Ice
Plain Soda or Sprite
Mint Sprigs for garnish

In a medium bowl, mash the raspberries with the sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup water, then strain into a jug, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract all of the liquid. Stir in the lemon juice and add 2 cups more water.

Fill glasses halfway with ice, pour the extracted juice over the ice and top off with little bit of the soda. Garnish with mint sprigs and a few fresh raspberries (if you are using fresh).

Raspberry Lemon Sparklers is my entry to AFAM: Raspberry hosted by Dee of Ammalu's Kitchen. Thanks Dee for the lovely pick :)

MBP- Banana Latte Smoothie:

When Sig urged us to get drunk on cocktails and drinks from other blogs (well, she didn't say that exactly :P), I couldn’t fall behind and pass up this opportunity:-D I was high on another kind of drink over at The Budding Cook.

I used the original recipe except skipped the vanilla.

You will need:

2 Bananas

1 Cup Coffee (1 cup Milk+ 1 ½ tsps instant Coffee powder)

1 Cup Cold Milk

2 tbsps Yoghurt

Sugar as required


Blend all ingredients till smooth. Chill and serve.


We agree T, it surely can't get simpler than this :) We loved the smoothie!!!



This is off to “Monthly Blog Patrol – Mixed Drinks”, an event started by Coffee of the Spice CafĂ© and hosted by lovely Sig of Live to Eat.

AFAM & Fresh Produce of the Month :Grapes all the way!

This month’s Fruit is the juicy Grapes…fresh or dried its hard to resist grabbing a handful. I love grapes and always have some at home when its in season.

Green Goddess

Nah I’m not talking about any goddess, that's the name of my drink..don't ask me why :)

You will need

1 ½ cups Green grapes (seedless)
½ cup Milk
1 ½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp Cardamom powder

Place all of the above in a blender and give a good whizz. The grapes should be blended well and you should be left with a semi-thick mixture. Pour into glasses, chill and serve.


When my granny first made this she had us guessing what was in it. We’ve all tasted Black grapes juice, which is very common, but this was the first with green grapes. It tastes just as delicious and a great treat on a hot day!

Grape Chaat

Not all grapes are sweet and the sour ones just make me pucker. I really am not for tart stuff so when I come across sour grapes, I have a good way to eat them.

You will need:

1 cup Grapes (Black and Green)
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Chaat Masala powder
1/4 tsp Salt


Half the grapes, toss them with a salt ,red chilli powder and Chaat Masala you have some great tasting Grape chaat, and the sourness…all gone!

The salt actually helps cut the sourness and you won’t have to fret on not having sweet grapes. This salad can be made with sweet grapes too, the grapes just get better!


Raisins (Onadrakshi) Gojju

In one of my previous posts I had mentioned Pineapple Gojju. Following the same recipe you can substitute Pineapples with soaked boiled Dry grapes (Raisins) and you have Raisins Gojju, a popular dish served at almost every wedding in South Karnataka..

I’m posting the recipe here again.

You will need

1 cup raisins
8-10 Byadagi dry red chillies
2 tbsps Corriander seeds
½ tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
¼ tsp Hing
1 tbsp Urad dhal
1 tbsp Chana dhal (kadlebele)
4 tbsps dry coconut gratings
Salt to taste
Oil and ghee
100 gms Jaggery
100 gms Tamarind (soak in water and extract the juice)










Soak the raisins and boil them in hot water.Keep aside. Roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad and chana dhal, and coconut gratings each separately in little ghee till fragrant. Grind the roasted ingredients with water, tamarind juice and jaggery to form a rough paste. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and hing. Now add the boiled pineapple chunks. Add the ground paste, salt, tamarind juice and jaggery, bring to a boil. Add water if required to make a gravy like consistency. Serve with hot steamed white rice and ghee.


These are my entries to "Fresh Produce of the Month:Grapes" at Martha's and A Fruit A Month (AFAM) hosted by Swapna of Swad

Berrynanalicious ..!!! Yummy goodness!


No, I’m not talking about a weird fruit or vegetable but a drink or rather a name for a drink I concocted in my kitchen...hehe!
Berrynanalicious is a combination of Strawberries and Banana with milk, sugar and a dash of fresh cream. A tasty delight on a hot summer day!

You will need: (Serves: 2)

12 large Strawberries (preferrably fresh)
1 1/2 Bananas
5 tbsps. Sugar
½ cup Fresh cream
1 ½ cups Milk


Place all of the above in a blender and blend till smooth.


Garnish with strawberries. Chill and serve. Guzzle away..! :)


This is my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle "Liquid Dreams"



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