Pudina Panaka( Fresh Mint Juice)

"Panaka" is nothing but refreshing drink. This is served as "welcome drink" in almost all parties in India. Today I will be sharing panaka (fresh juice) which can be made using pudina/mint leaves. All the ingredients used in this recipe [ mint leaves, ginger,jaggery, lemon) have got lot of health benefits. Specially this juice helps in digestion. Serve this refreshing drink chilled :-). 
Without wasting any time lets dive right into the recipe ......

Ingredients:

handful of pudina / cleaned mint leaves ( tightly packed)
2-3 tsp of grated ginger
pinch o salt
3-4 tbsp of jaggery powder or grated jaggery
1 tbsp lemon juice ( increase if you like tangy flavor)

For serving :
ice cubes
chilled water

[ plus and minus the quantity,end of the show make sure you adjust sweet: sour : salt  !!!!!]

How To Prepare?

• Transfer mint leaves , ginger , salt and jaggery into a mixie jar along with 1/4 cup of water . Grind everything together for a minute or so. Make sure everything is ground properly . Now add around 1/2 cup water again and blend it for 2-3 seconds.
  
  
  
  

• Now filter the juice and add lemon juice.Mix it well and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.You will find some residue when you remove from the fridge. You can discard it if you don't like that in the juice.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Adjust the salt, jaggery(you can use sugar instead of jaggery ) accordingly at this stage.Add in chilled water if you want to dilute the juice.Serve this chilled refreshing juice along with ice cubes on top.

                   

Thanks so much for going through my recipe.Kindly get back to me with your comments. .Please do share it with your friends and family if you like the recipe :-)

Kashaya [Ancient Traditional Beverage of India]

I would like to cover couple of things in this post. They are , "Kashaya Powder Reciepe - from the scratch " and "How to make a traditional beverage Kashaya using kashaya powder?.
 This is an Ayurvedic beverage prepared in most of the regions in India.This helps to reduce cough,cold and flu.People prepare kashaya powder in many ways. Its all about using diff spice-combo as ingredients.I personally enjoy this hot drink when I have overeaten.Many a times I prepare kashaya and serve my husband and three year old son who would like to have comforting drink before going to bed.

Without wasting any time, Here we go with my version of Kashaya with only 4 common ingredients available in the kitchen:-)

recipe source: My grandmother ( Handadi Dodda) 

Kashaya Powder 

Ingredients :

1/2 cup coriander seeds

1/4 cup cumin seeds

1/2 to 1 tbsp black pepper corns

1 clove (optional)

How to Prepare?

• Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned above for 30-50 secs  in a low flame just to get off with the moisture if any.
  
• Let all the roasted ingredients cool down.Once it is completely cools down , grind everything into a fine/coarse powder.
  
• Transfer the kashaya powder into a airtight container.

 Kashaya [ Traditional Drink]

Ingredients:

2 cups of water 

2-3 tsp of kashaya powder

4-5 tbsp of milk (optional)

sugar as per the taste

How to Prepare?

• Boil water in a stain less steel vessel. Add in 2 tsp of kashaya powder to it. Let it boil till it becomes half.Now add in sugar as per your taste.Make sure sugar dissolves completely and then switch off.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Strain it and you are done with the hot kashaya-decoction:-). Ready to drink !!.
  
  
  
  
• This step is totally optional , You can add hot boiling milk to kashaya decoction and drink when it is still hot.You enjoy this kashaya only if you drink when it is hot.

Notes/Alternative:

• Instead of sugar you can use jaggery. If you use jaggery, do not add milk to it. Mixing jaggery and Milk is against the rule of Ayurveda if I am right.
• Ensure you serve this drink hot...
• You can add 1 tbsp of methi seeds( fenugreek seeds ) along with other ingredients while roasting.

Thanks so much for going through my recipe.Kindly get back to me with your comments. .Please do share it with your friends and family if you like the recipe :-)

HomeMade Fresh Canary Melon Fruit Juice

Nothing can beat homemade preparation.I prepared Fresh Canary Melon Fruit juice today. Its so delicious, tasty and fresh. Most of the ready fresh fruit juice we get from market contain preservatives and its not good for health. Now that we are about to hit summer,thought of sharing a healthy Canary melon fresh fruit juice recipe with you all.

I used to prepare musk melon juice in similar way when I was in Bangalore. Same recipe I tried today with Canary Melon Fruit.Brown sugar adds a special taste to this juice. Give it a try and let me know your comments. :-)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
half big size canary melon/ 5-6 handfuls of chopped cubes of cleaned canary melon
3 tbsp of grated jaggery/ (2 tbsp of brown sugar + 1 tbsp of white sugar)
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
pinch of salt

How To prepare?

• Cut the melon into half.Scoop out the seeds. Peel the outer thick skin. Chop the soft part of the fruit into cubes.
  
   

• Add jaggery OR brown sugar ( proportion as mentioned above) , pinch of salt and cardamom powder to it.
  
• Transfer everything into a mixer jar and blend it into a smooth thin paste. As this fruit is watery, you needn't add water .Add water at the end if you feel the juice is very very thick.
• Now pour the juice into serving glasses.Serve chilled and make your family happy :) I am sure you will enjoy the heavenly taste of this juice.

Alternative/Tips:

• I have tried preparing juice both the ways, I liked brown sugar version than jaggery version !!
• As I mentioned before you can use musk melon instead of canary melon.
• My mother used to prepare the same juice using a similar fruit called "Ibbidla" which has very very thin skin. Not sure what we call that fruit in English.
• This recipe makes medium sweet juice. Increase the quantity of sugar/brown sugar/jaggery as per your taste.

Thanks for taking your time out and going through my recipe. Kindly share with your friends and get back to me with your comments if you like.