“If it could only be like this always — always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe.”
Evelyn Waugh
Mulberry Lime Cooler for times like these when the season changes, when spring meets summer. With a very short and ‘finger staining good’ mulberry season in progress, life is good. This is the best time of the year, yet this time it’s unseasonably warm for April. With temperatures already threatening to touch 40C in North India, mulberries are literally raining off trees. How better to use these foraged beauties than in a refreshing summer cooler!I have loads of mulberries in the fridge. This fruit is very perishable. There’s going to be just about 2-3 weeks of mulberry joy, and then alas, wait for next year. I’m constantly thinking of things to do with this precious fruit, other than cramming them into my mouth of course!That’s how we spent our childhood. Climbing up trees in the heat of summer, foraging fruit, coming home with our hands and clothes mulberry coloured and happy. Now I want to use the fruit in more fun ways. The simplest I thought was a variation on the lemonade or our native Nimbu Paani. There was that bottle of 100% pure maple syrup from Canada that was calling my name.With summer here, it’s best to hydrate the body with loads of seasonal refreshing things. It’s fun to make coolers with fruit in season, so that’s where I begun. This Mulberry Lime Cooler is as simple as that. Basic ingredients – freshly foraged mulberries, lime juice, maple syrup and fresh mint.Mulberries are filled with nutrients that are important for our body, including iron, riboflavin, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, phosphorous, and calcium, as well as a significant amount of dietary fiber and a variety of beneficial organic compounds. Paired with pure maple syrup, this Mulberry Lime Cooler is certain to refresh you. Takes a few tablespoons of maple syrup to add a soothing natural sweetness. Maple syrup is a healthier alternative to regular sweeteners and sugar, and is known to be an antioxidant, has anti inflammatory properties, and is a rich source of nutrients.I don’t like to cook down berries unless required because they lose their Vitamic C. So I thought it would be best to muddle them with a little maple syrup. Love the deep colour berries released. No more to the simple summer cooler. Muddle well, strain by pushing through as much juice as you can collect. Then add a generous glug of maple syrup to sweeten. Also lime juice, a few whole mulberries and mint leaves to the pitcher. Chill well before serving, else pour over ice. It’s refreshing!There is so much more you can do with maple syrup. I made this Breakfast Berry Smoothie Bowl using a batch of gluten free granola I made last week with the maple syrup. Mulberries here too! This is just the simple kind of goodness that you can treat yourself to. Use fruit in season to get maximum benefit!So many possibilities, so much fun. Am thinking of no bake energy bites next. Best to keep things quick and easy through summer!
Mulberry Lime Cooler for times like these when the season changes, when spring meets summer. With a very short and 'finger staining good' mulberry season in progress, life is good. How better to use these foraged beauties than in a refreshing summer cooler sweetened with 100% pure maple syrup from Canada!
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 5 minutesminutes
Servings 4glasses
Ingredients
1 1/4cupfresh mulberries {or similar seasonal berries}
4-6limes, juice of
1/2cup100% pure maple syrup from canada
1/4tsppink rock salt
3-4cupsof water as required
Few sprigs fresh mint
Instructions
Reserve 1/4 cup fresh mulberries for later.
Place 1 cup mulberries in a large glass bowl or glass with the pink rock salt and 2 tbsps of maple syrup. Muddle well, mashing the berries on the sides of the bowl to release as much juice as possible.
Strain into a pitcher by pushing through as much juice as you can collect. Add some water and strain again. {You can use the pulp in a smoothie later, or like me, just eat as it. It's quite delicious.}
Add water, lime juice and a generous glug of maple syrup to sweeten. Taste and adjust sweetness adjusting the lime juice and or maple syrup as required. Add a few whole mulberries and mint leaves. Chill well before serving, else pour over ice.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Michael Pollan
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser… when a ray of sunshine hits you in the morning, you know you are energised. How much better can a morning be to wake up to? These glasses have all the colour, loads of flavour and summer literally within. You do know how good fresh turmeric is for you, right? Combine it with milk, chia seeds and a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and the goodness comes together!So when you combine powerful ingredients that compliment each other, all the benefits come under one roof, or in one glass as the case might be.Here we have a superfood like turmeric well known for it’s antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties. It is also good for the control of diabetes and arthritis among other things. The turmeric latte has caught the world by storm over the past year. Just a peep at the vibrant sunshine colour will convince you of it’s goodness.To this, add liquid gold of a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and you’ve got magic. Just a few tablespoons of maple syrup are enough to add a soothing natural sweetness. Maple syrup is a healthier alternative to regular sweeteners and sugar. It shares similar properties with turmeric. Is known to be an antioxidant, has anti inflammatory properties, and is a rich source of nutrients.Do try making things as simple and good as this. They are fun to create. Use seasonal fruit, use fresh herbs from the garden, maybe edible flowers too. See how pretty a whole bouquet looks! And of course if you are short on time, you can always just do a very very simple and basic Fresh Turmeric Iced Latte for summer. Combine milk with fresh or dry turmeric powder {haldi} if you please, add a glug of earthy robust 100% pure maple syrup, chill and get energised for summer!
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser... when a ray of sunshine hits you in the morning, you know you are energised. Wake up to a good morning. These glasses have all the colour, loads of flavour and summer literally within. You do know how good fresh turmeric is for you, right? Combine it with milk, chia seeds and a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and all the goodness comes together!
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 2people
Ingredients
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser
200mlmilk
1inch piecefresh turmeric, grated fine
2-3tbsp100% pure maple syrup
3tbspchia seeds
To top
Cape gooseberries/physallis
Pomegranate
Fresh mint
Organic fresh rose petals
Instructions
Bring the milk to a boil, take off heat and add the fresh grated turmeric to it. Let it steep for 30 minutes, then strain and sweeten with 100% pure maple syrup.
Stir in the chia seeds, allow to cool, stirring a few times to distribute the chia seeds.
Add halved cape gooseberries to serving glasses and pour over the fresh turmeric chia milk once it cools.
Allow to stand in glasses in the fridge overnight.
Top with more cape gooseberries, pomegranate pearls, fresh mint and organic rose petals.
Serve chilled
Note: This can be served as only Fresh Turmeric Chia Latte too. Increase the milk for this version, and or decrease the amount of chia seeds. Alternatively, skip the chia seeds, and pour the steeped strained fresh turmeric milk with maple syrup over ice cubes. This will offer a very refreshing delicious iced latte!
“I’m a man of simple tastes. I’m always satisfied with the best.”
Oscar Wilde
When the Tropical Collection from Chumbak comes knocking at your door, how can you not fall in love with it? It’s fresh, it’s tropical, it’s everything you can celebrate spring with, a line you can usher summer in with as well! It’s an inspiring line, and immediately nudged me to do something fun. Take a look….
I played with the collection endlessly. It brings alive the child in you. You can’t take us Indians out of the our beloved tropics {for long at least}and you can’t take tropical out of India, so the collection is a sure win. I love the crisp, colourful feel, the energy it shares, the vibrancy it spills. The collection is inspired by tropical elements like palm leaves, pineapples, flamingos and the like.Here’s what I was inspired to do – Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl. When we were young, my dad scooped or rather balled out watermelons and musk melons on our birthdays, then served the fruit chilled in fruit bowls. For some reason, just looking at the collection took me right back there, and before I knew it I was carving a fruit bowl. It’s the funnest thing to do for a pool party, kids birthdays, an evening pick me up in summer, or an anytime fresh healthy snack.I used kiwi stars, halved gooseberries and watermelon balls. I thought I’d throw in strawberry hearts too but forgot the in the fridge. Gah! Summer will see stone fruit galore, so the fun will double. You could do a stone fruit and berry inspired bowl. Or maybe set a watermelon granita in the melon bowl, freeze, slice and serve! No dearth of ideas when your life is flooded with inspiration.
Chumbak had a #spotthepineapple fun campaign to launch the collection. How can you be tropical and not have pineapple? So I figured I’d do a pineapple strawberry smoothie too. I freeze both strawberries and pineapple chunks, so this smoothie is the easiest thing ever. Throw in a cup of each, a cup or two of water, some sweetener, a dash of lime juice into the blender. Whirrrrrrrr it up and you’re good to go.That’s what the coming summer is going to ask for. Quick fresh foods that will keep the spirit light and happy. See how beautifully they paired with the Chumbak Tropical in the light of the afternoon setting sun? Such pretty hues that go so beautifully with the bougainvillea too. Same colours, tropical feel, and I am all set! There’s plenty of choice…
With a range of cushion covers that explode in bright colours, I think this is the best time for a summer makeover! Vibrant, vibrant, vibrant is all I think! Pineapples, flamingoes, elephants, flowers, geometric patterns {♥♥♥}, I want to redo my place! Oh and the sweet little owl too stepped out from a smitten golden ex Diwali into a rustic rainbow coloured creature. Can you imagine that the ullu {owl in hindi} went tropical too? I fell in love with this little fellow, toes and all!The other thing I really liked are the cookie jars. Spacious, clean lines, good quality airtight jars, and beautifully patterned, the counter tops will never be the same again. Even though I am not a gold person, I really like the golden cookie jar too. It fits in so well with the rest. And of course there is PLENTY MORE to the collection. I just picked a few.My all time favourite is of course the palm leaf pattern line. That has my name written all over it. It is fresh, understated, almost like each piece has been hand painted. The teacups are a generous size and stand tall. The pitcher is a winner and I would LOVE for it to sit on my counter. It pours well, it’s easy to clean and is an ideal size for milk or juice. Heck, it even doubles up as a stunning flower vase! It’s lovely to begin the day with for breakfast. Quick granola and fruit parfaits, omelette, toast, a glug of milk from the jug, coffeeeeeee … the leaf pattern is my kind of pattern. For salads too. The interesting bit is that the leaf pattern fits in to every time of the day, every meal too. From a crisp beginning in the morning for breakfast, to a soothing, lilting sun-downer feel, with calming, soothing hues.
Even the coordinated leaf platters are darling. I just find the leaf pattern very very refreshing, something anyone would love to own, serve on, put out for guests, hang on their wall as part of a plate collection. I shot with it a lot as you might notice.You can see I shot it the most. With flowers {poppies} for breakfast, with milk for breakfast too, with onion flowers just like that, then with the Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl . That’s how versatile and handy it is. The great thing is that it pairs with almost every colour and meal. I’m thinking chilled lemonade through summer!
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies, and a Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl are quick, inspired, no cook, tropical fruit based recipes for summer! Inspired by the Tropical Collection from Chumbak.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 15 minutesminutes
Servings 3people
Ingredients
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
1 1/2cupfrozen strawberries
1 1/2cupfrozen pineapple chunks
2cupschilled water
Raw sugar as required
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
1small watermelon
1kiwi
1cupcape gooseberries
Fresh mint to garnish
Instructions
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
Place all ingredients in jar of blender and process until smooth. taste and adjust seasoning adding more sugar if required.
Garnish with slices of fresh strawberries.
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
With a melon baller, scoop out balls of watermelon. gently remove any remaining flesh to take a bowl out of the skin. Carve the edges with a sharp fruit knife if you like.
Peel and slice the kiwi. Stamp out stars with a small cookie cutter.
Halve the cape gooseberries.
Toss them all and put into the watermelon bowl. Chill. Scatter fresh mint over it. Serve chilled.
Note
Run the left over watermelon and kiwi in a blender to make watermelon juice. Add a dash of honey, fresh lime and rock salt. Serve chilled.
Thandai Indian Rice Kheer, my version of serving up Thandai in an Indian rice pudding, or kheer as locally called. Flavoured delicately, this indulgent rice pudding hits all the right notes. Sweetened gently with jaggery, the flavours of almond, cardamom and saffron just shine. The texture of broken simmered rice is what adds body to this delectable kheer or pudding.The underlying inspiration comes from Dolphia who inspired, coerced and pushed me to shoot saffron. That’s one of the reasons this kheer came to be. The other reason of course was that the better half has bitterly complained over the last few days that I haven’t made a kheer in years! As much as I love stirring a good kheer, for some reason it hadn’t happened yet…
Then yet another trip into Old Delhi, some Kashmir saffron bought to please Dolphia and the hub {in no particular order of course} meant that the kheer was simmering away gently quite soon. The recipe of course inspired by the season, all the Thandai kind of stuff I make at this time of the year. Thandai is a spice and nut blend, with ingredients that include almonds, melon seeds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, green cardamom, saffron, rose petals, sometimes whole pepper too. It is popularly served up as a milk cooler, often with a local bhaang or intoxicant, on Holi. There are a million versions, every household laying claim to their recipe. Mine changes all the time!
Sometimes, a theme helps me find direction, and this time around the prettiness of the colours got to me. Spring is like that, and so is every visit into the heart of Old Delhi!
First I did a Saffron Almond Chia Thandai for Olive Tree Trading and that really set the mood. So much colourful prettiness and so much inspiration. That’s just how this time of the year is. I’ve dried loads of organic rose petals, so you’ll see me using those a lot.And so to cut a loooong story short, I finally made the Thandai Indian Rice Kheer. And it came out finger licking good. It’s a quick one, one I figured out as I went along. It’s the first time I’ve ground almonds with rice {an earlier version had the Thandai nut mix}. For some reason, I loved this simpler version. Here it is, the Thandai Indian Rice Kheer.
Flavoured gently, this indulgent Thandai Indian Rice Kheer hits all the right notes. Sweetened gently with jaggery, the flavours of almond, cardamom and saffron just shine. The texture of broken simmered rice is what adds body to this delectable kheer or pudding.
Saffron strands, almond slivers, pistachio bits, rose petals etc.
Instructions
Dry grind rice and almonds to a coarse breadcrumb like texture in a coffee grinder. You can add the cardamom seeds here if you like.Stir the above into cold milk with the jaggery, cardamom seeds and cream if using.
Put over low heat and cook for about 25-30 minutes, STIRRING OFTEN, until the rice is cooked and the kheer thick.
Taste and adjust sweetness if required. Take off heat and add a generous pinch of saffron. Stir well.
The kheer will continue to thicken as it cools. You might need to add a little milk as the absorption quality of rice differs. Once it gets to room temperature, ladle into earthenware bowls, individual serving bowls etc to set. Garnish with saffron strands, almond slivers, pistachio bits, rose petals etc.
Serve chilled.
Note: Rinse, drain and dry the rice overnight, else dry in microwave for 1 minute.
“The oat is the Horatio Alger of cereals, which progressed, if not from rags to riches, at least from weed to health food.”
Waverley Root
Date Walnut Orange Flapjacks … squares of goodness that come together in minutes. Not sure why, but ever since I began making granola again {read every Sunday}, I’ve had flapjacks on my mind. It’s a very strange thought as it crept in without prior notice, and yesterday for some reason that’s all I wanted to bake. Every time I got up to bake cookies, I pulled out the bag of oats. Guess these were meant to be. And so was this naughtiness that crept into my frames…Little Bambi, our newest little family member who we adopted recently, had an absolute field day. She loves photobombing whenever I try and shoot. You might see here here on PAB now and then!What are flapjacks you might ask.Well ‘a flapjack, muesli bar, cereal bar, or granola bar is a sweet tray-baked oat bar made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup‘ and looks like this fits in quite well with my whole grain breakfast granola sort of a theme. I guess I could have just added some granola I made this morning into a bowl, tossed it in with some other stuff, pushed it together, let it set and made granola bars.But my granola is very precious these days. It’s much in demand in parfaits so I figured it would be a shame to use it so easily cheaply. Then again the net is overflowing with recipes of flapjack and this recipe fromFood52 won me over. The ease of the recipe, the beauty of ingredients, the pantry staples all made it seem so simple.Too simple I might add. You might have caught how easy these were to make on my instastories on my Instagram handle. In any case, this is the easiest ‘stir the wet mix into dry’ procedure. And it tasted drop dead delicious with ‘toffee’ good flavours, a sweetness which soothes the soul, and a load of oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds! Oh and a burst of orange flavour!Too much of a good thing and a new way to use quick cooking oats.Ever since I began using jumbo oats in my granola, the regular bag of quick cooking oats just sits and stares at me. No longer I guess. This is another fantastic way to use quick cooking oats . I adapted the recipe to use things that I had on hand so my flapjacks had walnuts and dates. Also the zest of an orange as it was just sitting on the counter and added freshness to the otherwise monochrome palette.
Buttery & nutty with a burst of orange, sweetly comforting and quite indulgent, these Date Walnut Orange Flapjacks are going to be showing up quite often. A recipe minimally adapted from one @food52 , it comes together in a matter of minutes.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 16squares
Ingredients
Wet mix
125gunsalted butter
100gbrown sugar
90ghoney
Dry Mix
200gquick cooking oats
50gdateschopped
50gwalnutschopped
35gsunflower seeds
Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
Line a 8 X 8" square tin with parchment. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the butter, brown sugar and honey in a heatproof bowl and microwave for a minute until the butter has melted. Whisk well until you get a toffee like mixture.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add all the remaining ingredients and stir to mix.
Pour over the toffee mixture and stir well to mix.Transfer to prepared tin, pat down into place with an offset spatula or butter knife.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes until light golden brown on the edges but still soft in the centre.
Comfort food … food that reassures is different things to different people.” David Tanis
Crudites with Creamy Garlic Dip and Seedy Buckwheat Crackers might well be one of my favourite ways to rustle up something simple and quite addictive for an everyday healthy nibble, a small get together, or even a lunch box snack. The dip is as simple as it is finger licking good, and is a great way to get your protein fix for the day. Crudites on the side, in every colour, make this complete!
Comfort food for the soul! The recipe is a no brainer, a simple very simple whisking together of staple cooking ingredients that will possibly already be in your kitchen. These are ingredients that were meant to be together. The recipe is adapted from a very old one that I got while in college in Delhi University. A friends grandmother made a basic version often, and I gleefully went back home to recreate the recipe then much to the amazement of the family. This was in the late 1980’s!!
Much changed since then, the recipe evolved gradually. This is its current form. When Mother Dairy asked if I’d like to take do a few recipes for #CreamOfAllFood and taking over their instagram handle for a week, I knew this had to be shared too. This is our favourite dip, and is worth every share! Mother Dairy products have been a part of my growing up years, bringing up the kids, my kitchen, my culinary life. I am quite sure they are in your life too!
While I absolutely love doing sweet desserts and dishes, my heart belongs to savoury. Add garlic, fresh herbs, a dash of lime juice to any savoury dish and I’m a happy camper. Add cream to it, and now we’re talking. This Creamy Garlic Dip is possibly the simplest example of taking something delicious to finger licking good addictive! The cream made that happen!!Use this as a basic recipe. I added garlic and garlic greens to it. Sriracha might be really nice in here too. Maybe tahini, maybe grated red radish, or even finely chopped walnuts, fresh coriander and chilies. Who knows what might hit the chord with you. I urge you to try.
Begin basic. Hung yogurt, cream, grated garlic and salt is a good beginning. Then build as you go. And so many more reasons to enjoy this. Dahi/yogurt, garlic, fresh herbs, lime juice … think good gut bacteria and protein, think minerals, think garlic and its health promoting phytonutrients, think Vitamin C. As always, above all, think S I M P L E!! As simple as the Fruits with Cream & Granola Parfaits which I did in the #InstaCookingClass #1.
So wait no further. I whisked together the recipe on Instastories the Mother Dairy Instagram handle that I’ve taking over this week. This was #InstaCookingClass #2. Catch me there, or on the Mother Dairy FaceBook page later this week. Love to hear if you liked it {or not}, what recipes you might like to see in future, and what you’d like to make with the #CreamOfAllFood!And oh, did I tell you that I love pairing dips with wholegrain crackers? So I turned the oven on, and began throwing in stuff of all sorts into the Thermomix. One seed followed another, one flour followed another, and luckily enough the ending was good. The experiment worked!
The crackers were a ‘cracker of an idea’! The dough was so good and loaded with SEEDS! It behaved beautifully so I made some savoury shells in the my favourite mini pie pan from Kitchen Aid too. Seedy wholewheat & buckwheat canapes filled with a creamy garlic dip, and pickled radishes are as delicious as they sound! Do make these as well if you are a passionate baker like me. Else crudites in seasonal colours like bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes are great too!
Crudites with Creamy Garlic Dip and Seedy Buckwheat Crackers might well be one of my favourite ways to rustle up something simple and quite addictive for an everyday healthy nibble, a small get together, or even a lunch box snack. The dip is as simple as it is finger licking good, and is a great way to get your protein fix for the day. Crudites on the side, in every colour, make the platter balanced!
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours5 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Ingredients
Creamy Garlic Dip
200mlMother Dairy Cream
400gMother Dairy Ultimate Dahi
2tbspextra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1tspHimalayan rock salt {to taste}
1small bunch fresh coriander leaves
1-2green/red chili
2-3garlic cloves
3-4garlic greens
Seedy wholegrain buckwheat crackers
100gsunflower seeds/kernels {Divided 65+35}
35galmond meal
20gflax seeds
15gwhite sesame
15gblack sesame
1tspsmoked sea salt
40gbuckwheat flour
200gwholewheat flour {aata}
40gclarified butter/ghee
10mlhoney
125Water
Instructions
Creamy Garlic Dip
Whisk the cream + yogurt + olive oil + salt + lime juice until smooth.
Finely chop remaining ingredients including the stalks of the coriander and greens of the green garlic.
Stir in.
Taste & adjust seasoning.
Tip: Use as a dip, on crackers, on canapes, in a roll, as a marinadeSeedy wholegrain buckwheat crackers
Seedy wholegrain buckwheat crackers
In the bowl of a food processor, grind together 65g sunflower seeds, almond meal, flax seeds, white & black sesame seeds.
Add the smoked sea salt, buckwheat flour and wholewheat flour. Stir to mix, followed by the clarified butter. Mix again on high speed to distribute the fat evenly.
Add the additional 35g sunflower seeds and stir to mix {low speed}.
Stir the honey into the water, and slowly drizzle in enough to make a stiff yet pliable dough. Add more if required. {All flours have a different absorption capacity.If the dough is soft, add a tbsp or two of buckwheat flour}.
Allow the dough to rest covered for a bit while you preheat the oven.
Divide the dough into 4. Roll out one portion as thin as possible between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
You can either cut into shapes using a pastry wheel/pizza cutter/knife, or leave it as one whole and roughly break it up. Alternatively, you could stamp out into fluted round shapes with a cookie cutter, and bake into tiny bite sized canape shells. I used the KitchenAid mini pie tray for some.
Bake until they feel firm and begin to colour. Keep an eye on them after 20 minutes as they can colour and burn petty quick.
Cool completely on cookie racks, and store in an airtight container
