Borhani

This is a very traditional and popular curd base drink from Bangladesh served in parties, weddings or on special occasions. I had this drink at Fakhruddin in Singapore. I must say it's an amazing drink. This drink helps in digesting the heavy food. The curd is blended with the other ingredients and it's served cold. The drink has the flavor of mint and it's bit spicy as green chilli, ginger, pepper corn and mustard seeds are some of the ingredients added in the drink. The sugar is added as per the requirement and taste you want. 

I have added mustard oil to enhance the flavor of the drink. 

For the Green Fresh Juice

Ingredients 

1/4 cup Mint Leaves 

2 tbsp Coriander Leaves 

1 Green Chilli

1 small piece of Ginger 

8 Pepper Corn 

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

Method 

Grind all the ingredients in a grinder. Add 1/4 cup water and grind further into a smooth paste. Strain the paste into a bowl. 
Watch the video here 👇🏼

https://youtu.be/XTcQr0JVxvo

For the Drink 

Ingredients

200 grams Curd

Green Fresh Juice

1 tsp Black Salt

1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin seeds powder 

5 tsp Sugar or as per the requirement 

6 Mint Leaves and some Mint for garnishing 

1/4 tsp Mustard Oil

2 cups Water 

Ice cubes 

Method 

Add the curd, sugar, black salt, roasted cumin seed powder, mint leaves, green juice, mustard oil, some ice cubes and 1/2 cup of water in a blender and blend the ingredients well. Pour the remaining water in a jug. Add some more ice. Pour the curd drink into the jug and add mint leaves for garnishing. Pour it into a glass and enjoy the Borhani. 

Yogurt Cheesy Mint Sauce

Yogurt Cheesy Mint Sauce

It's cheesy, minty and tangy in taste can be used as dips... 

Ingredients 

1 cup Yogurt beaten 

1/4 cup Cream 

1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese 

4 tbsp Milk

2 tbsp Mint chopped 

Salt to taste

Method 

Take a pot, heat the cream. Add salt and cheese. Stir and cook until it thickens up. Add the cheese and the mint in the yogurt and mix it. Add milk. Mix and keep it aside.

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour,soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts.

   In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with soda bicarbonate and cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Polish cuisine, Britain and Ireland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses soda bicarbonate. 

Whole wheat soda bread  is known as wheaten bread in parts of Ireland and Polish flat soda bread is known as Proziaki.

Net Resouce.... 

I wanted to cook up something quick for my hungry caterpillar who was going to come back from the school picnic... The door bell would ring any moment.. While I was thinking, the recipe of soda bread ran in my mind. It had to be of her liking... So gave a twist to it and here is my version of soda bread... 

Ingredients

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Milk powder

1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips

Few Mint leaves broken

8 Sweet Pepper Chillies whole or 1 fresh Red Chilli sliced

1 tsp Baking powder

2 Pinches of Salt

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

2 tbsp Melted Butter

3/4 cup Butter Milk

1/4 cup Club Soda

P. S. You can use 1 tsp soda bicarbonate instead club soda and increase the butter milk quantity by 1/4 cup. 

Method

Take a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, milk powder and caster sugar. Mix it. Add salt and baking powder. Mix it. Make a well in between. Add butter milk, mix it. Add club soda. Mix it. Add the chocolate chips, chillies and mint. Mix it. The dough will be a bit sticky. Brush an iron pan or any baking tray with butter. Add the bread dough, spread it. Bake it for 40 minutes or till done at 180 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Cool a bit and the remove the bread from the pan. Cool it completely before cutting it.

Strawberry Mojito (Mocktail)

Strawberry Mojito (Mocktail)

Absolutely refreshing drinks to beat the Summer Heat... 

Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball.

Traditionally, a mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water, and mint. The original Cuban recipe uses spearmint or yerba buena, a mint variety very popular. It is a combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus, and mint flavors is intended to complement the potent kick of the rum, and has made this a popular summer drink.The cocktail has a relatively low alcohol content. When preparing a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils and should not be shredded.Then rum is added and the mixture is briefly stirred to dissolve the sugar and to lift the mint leaves up from the bottom for better presentation. The drink is finally topped with crushed ice and sparkling soda water. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass.

Net Resource 

Here I have made a Mocktail Fruity Strawberry Mojito... Absolutely refreshing... 

Ingredients

4 Frozen Strawberries slices

Handful of Mint Leaves  

1 Lime cut into slices 

4 tbsp Sugar + 1/2 glass water mixed

1 tsp Chat Masala

Chilled Club Soda

Method 

Take a tall glass, add the sugar syrup, strawberries, 2 lime slices ( keeping the centre pieces for garnishing), few mint leaves (keep few for garnishing) and chat masala. Mash the mixture with the muddler. Take 2 tall glasses, pour 1/2 the mixture in one glass and the rest into another glass. Pour the club soda, take few mint leaves and add it in the drink and garnish with lime slices.

Pudina Aloo Namkeen Sev

Pudina Aloo Namkeen Sev

Got fresh Pudina (Mint) from the Balcony garden.... The aroma of fresh mint was all over the house. 

Couldn't resist myself from making this dish with Pudina purée. It goes well with a cup of hot Chai... 

Ingredients 

4 Potatoes boiled and mashed 

4 cups Gram flour 

2 cups Rice flour 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tsp Chilli powder 

1/2 tsp Cumin powder 

1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder 

1/2 tsp Dry Mango powder 

2 pinch Asafoetida powder 

1/2 cup Pudina puree

2 tbsp Oil 

Oil for frying

Method 

Take a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except oil for frying. Mix it well and form a soft dough. Heat oil for frying. Take a sev maker and add the dough in it. Press and add the sev in hot oil. Fry on medium high heat till crispy. Drain the excess oil on an absorbent paper. When cool, store it in an air tight container and enjoy...

Frozen Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Crust Pie

Frozen Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Crust Pie 

To make the Chocolate Crust

Ingredients 

1 bowl of Chocolate Cookie 

3 tbsp Melted Butter 

Method 

Add the chocolate cookies and the butter in a grinder and grind it into powder. Add the crumbs  into bottom of a 9" pie tin. Spread and press the crumbs evenly. Bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Let cool. Add the pie filling.

For the Pie filling 

Ingredients

10 Strawberries cut into slices

5 whole Strawberries cleaned 

Few Mint leaves 
 2 cups Cottage Cheese Crumbs 

1/4 cup Cream

1/2 cup Condensed Milk 

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence 

1/2 kg Vanilla Icecream  

Method 

In a blender, add the cottage cheese, vanilla essence, cream, whole strawberries and condensed milk. Blend it till smooth. Pour the mixture on the crust and spread it evenly. Scoop the vanilla Icecream on the top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spread it evenly. Decorated the top with sliced strawberries and mint leaves. Chill it in the freezer for 4 hours. Before cutting keep it out for 2 minutes.