Chocolate Ice-cream Milk Shake

A Milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream / iced milk and sweet flavorings like fruit syrup / chocolate sauce and sometimes served with whipped cream for a richer taste. Milkshakes are usually served in a tall glass. 3 popular milkshake flavors being vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

Here is a simple version of chocolate & ice-cream milkshake, with ready & available ingredients at home. Believe me, you will just wait and watch your kids finish this delectable drink during the summer time and even asking for more�

Ingredients:

• 3 - 4 tsp chocolate syrup
• 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
• 2 cups chilled milk
• crushed ice / Ice cubes

Proedure:

• Place ingredients into a blender, cover and blend the ingredients on high until ice cream is dissolved and you have reached the desired consistency (Add three parts ice cream for every one part milk for a thick shake).
• Pour into tall serving glasses and serve with crushed ice / ice cubes, whipped cream or shavings of chocolate on the froth. Enjoy!

Tips:

• If you do not have access to an electric blender, you can combine the ingredients by hand and whisk quickly to combine and create froth or use a shaker, put the ingredients, close the cover and shake hard to form the delightful froth on top.
• Decide how thick you want your shake to be. More milk will yield thinner shake.
• Use melted chocolate for a delish rich chocolate milkshake.

Sending this to the "Summer activities and ideas event" @Bloggermoms. Join me in sending your recipes & ideas. Click here for details...

Here are some of the other beverages for the event....

Watermelon Cooler

Honey, Lime and Mint Iced Tea

Pina Colada Smoothie

Aam Pora Shorbot

Chocolate Ice-cream Milk Shake is also going to 15 mins cooking, event by Mahimaa....

Watermelon Cooler

Watermelon is not only delicious, but extremely healthy, as well. Though watermelons can be found in the markets throughout the year, the best quality & sweet watermelons are available only during summer time. Because of its higher water content, watermelon is ranked more valuable than other fruits.

Ingredients:

• 1 large watermelon, de-seeded & chopped
• 6 tbsp powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1 tsp rock salt
• 1 tsp roasted cumin seeds powder
• crushed ice / ice cubes (as required)
• 4 glass chilled water (as required)

Procedure:

1. Put chopped watermelon, powdered sugar, rock salt in a blender. Add crushed ice & chilled water and blend again.
2. Pour into fancy glasses, sprinkle roasted cumin seeds powder and serve with ice cubes.

Some benifits of watermelon:

It is an excellent source of vitamin A, C and B1, B6 & B5, contains important antioxidants (red watermelon is also a source of the potent carotene antioxidant, called lycopene).

It fights free radicals in our bodies, helps in reducing colon & prostate cancer, asthma, heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Most melons are rich in rich in electrolytes sodium, thiamin, magnesium and potassium, help in controlling blood pressure, regulate heart beat, and prevent heat strokes.

Watermelon has a special cooling effect, protects our bodies from several diseases. It is fat free but also helps in energy production.

This is going to 15 mins cooking event by Mahimaa and also to Refreshing Drinks event hosted by Anu.

Honey, Lime and Mint Iced Tea

Though I am not a tea drinker, but find myself sipping a glass of really cool iced tea occassionally.

Iced tea, is a form of cold tea, often served in a tall glass over ice. It may or may not be sweetened. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, common flavors include lemon, peach, raspberry, lime and cherry. Apart from real tea, other herbs are also sometimes served cold and referred to as (herbal) iced tea.

Here is the recipe for Honey, Lime & Mint Iced Tea, a refreshing natural cold drink and a simple iced tea, with the taste of lime and mint. The iced tea will be much better flavoured if freshly squeezed lime juice and honey are added just before serving to get that sweet and tangy taste. Very simple to prepare at home too. All you need.....

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 4 tea bags
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 6 tsp sugar (to taste)
• 2 tsp honey (to taste)
• juice of 1 lemon

Procedure:

1. Boil water in a tea pot and add tea bags, mint and sugar.
2. Cover the tea pot and let it brew for 3-5 minutes. Strain out the tea bags and mint leaves.
3. Pour into tall glases half filled with ice. Add honey, stir and mix well.
4. Chill and add freshly squeezed lime juice before serving.

Sit back, relax and enjoy your drink.

This is also going to the Refreshing Drinks (RD) for Summer event, hosted by Chandrabhaga.

Here are the other entries for the event.

Pina Colada Smoothie

Aam Pora Shorbot

Thandai

Grape Juice

Pina Colada Smoothie

Pina colada smoothie is a cool and refreshing summer drink with the goodness of coconut milk & soy milk and essential vitamins from banana and pineapple.

Ingredients:

• 50 ml chilled coconut milk
• 500 ml chilled soy milk
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
• 1 small pineapple
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Procedure:

1. Peel the banana and make round slices. Cut the pineapple into chunks. Freeze the banana and pineapple pieces.
2. Combine the coconut milk, soymilk, sugar, vanilla essence, banana and pineapple chunks in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour the pina colada smoothie into fancy serving glasses. Serve chilled with ice cubes / crushed ice and consume immediately.

This is going to the Refreshing Drinks (RD) for Summer event, hosted by Chandrabhaga.

My cup of comfort

I am a voracious coffee drinker. I like my cup of coffee in any form be it hot or cold. After the introduction of Aqua Java, Barista in Kolkata, I have a great time in tasting so many varieties of coffee, specially those tempting cold coffees, served with icecream, whipped cream, choco chips, nuts, to list a few...

My morning starts with a steaming cup of regular coffee (I do make variations by adding spices and cocoa powder) with some biscuits or homemade cookies (as the picture shows, my favourite coffee mug on the desktop with some choco chips & cashew cookies).

Here are some information on coffee and various coffee-based beverages:

Coffee: Coffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Due to its caffeine content, coffee has a stimulating effect in humans. The two most commonly grown species are Coffea canephora (also known as Coffea robusta) and Coffea arabica. The seeds are roasted to varying degrees, grounded and brewed to create coffee.

Cappuccino: Cappuccino is an Italian drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam. The foam on top of the cappuccino acts as an insulator and helps retain the heat of the liquid, allowing it to stay hotter longer.

The traditional cappuccino consists of an espresso, on which the hot milk is poured, resulting in a thick milk foam on top.

Variations of the mixtures are usually called cappuccino chiaro (light cappuccino, also known as a wet cappuccino) with more milk than normal, and cappuccino scuro (dark cappuccino, also known as a dry cappuccino) with less milk (and typically more foam) than normal.

Cappuccino Freddo is the cold version of a cappuccino, where the drink usually has a small amount of cold frothed milk atop it.

Espresso: Caff� espresso / espresso (Italian beverage), is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under pressurethrough finely ground coffee. As a result of the high-pressure brewing process, all of the flavors and chemicals in a typical cup of coffee are concentrated. For this reason, espresso lends itself to becoming the base for other drinks like lattes, cappuccino, macchiato and mochas.

Caf� au lait: Caf� au lait (French for "coffee with milk") is a French coffee drink. At home, it can be prepared from dark coffee and heated milk.

Frapp�: Greek frapp� (Caf� frapp�) is a foam-covered iced / chilled coffee drink made from spray-dried instant coffee. It is very popular summer drink also known as "Iced Cappucino" (North America), "Float" (Anglo-European) and "Frappuccino" (Europe).
Frapp� are available in 3 degrees of sweetness, determined by the amount of sugar and coffee used. These are glyk�s ("sweet", 2 tps of coffee and 4 tsp of sugar); m�trios ("medium", 2 tsp of coffee and 2 tsp of sugar) and a sk�tos ("plain", 2 tsp of coffee and no sugar).

All varieties may be served with evaporated / dehydrated milk (known as frap�galo / "frapp�-milk") or without milk.

Latte: Latte (from the Italian caff� latte, meaning "coffee & milk") is a type of coffee drink made with hot milk.
Today lattes are often served in a wide mouth cup in order to show off hearts, rosettas and other latte art designs.

Flavored coffees (mocha etc.): A Caf� mocha is a variant of a cafe latte is basically a coffee-chocolate drink.

Like a latte, it is typically 1/3 third espresso and 2/3 steamed milk, with a portion of chocolate (typically in the form of sweet cocoa powder), although many varieties use chocolate syrup.

Unlike cappuccino, caf� mochas do not contain the well-known milk froth on top. They usually have whipped cream and a dusting of either cinnamon or cocoa powder. Mochas can contain dark or milk chocolate.

Information and pictures courtesy: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Homemade Mexican Hot Chocolate

I was just about to droop finishing my writing assignments so I made myself a cup of real hot Mexican Hot Chocolate to keep my eyes open. An easy way to spice up your regular hot chocolate drink with a dash of cinnamon and red chilli powder and it only takes just a few minutes. Moreover you can modify the recipe as per you taste. Serve this yummy cuppa with whipped cream, chocolate curls and enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coffee
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup milk (200 ml cup, makes 2 cups)
• 1 & 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon, grounded
• a pinch red chilli powder
• chocolate curls / whipped cream, for garnishing

Procedure:

1. Put cocoa powder and coffee in 2 serving mugs.
2. In a saucepan, add milk and water and bring to boil. Remove from flame and pour the milk & water mixture in the mug. Stir well.
3. Ground a small cinnamon stick roughly and sprinkle with a pinch of red chili powder. Mix well.
4. Serve hot with chocolate curls or whipped cream.

Tip:
To have a more creamier version, use full 1 cup milk of milk instead of milk & water.

This is going to the "For the Love of Chocolate" event hosted by Poornima of Tasty Treats.

I'm also sending the following recipies to the event.


1) Chocolate Fudge Cake (Cake with Chocolate Fudge Coating)

2) Black Forest Cake

3) Mousse au Chocolat (Chocolate Mousse)

Aam Pora Shorbot (Roasted Mango Pulp Sherbet)

Delectable summer drinks like Aam Pora Shorbot, Beler Shorbot (sherbet made with passion fruit), Zafrani / Kesari Sherbet, including yogurt drinks like Ghol / Chaas and Lassi are traditional coolers and excellent remedies to beat the sweltering heat of Kolkata summer. They help in digestion and the salt & sugar combination of the drinks keeps the electrolyte level of the body in control.
Aam Pora Shorbot (sherbet prepared with roasted mango pulp) is useful in rehydrating the body and preventing Heat Stroke / Sunstroke (A metabolic disorder where the body temperature increases and the body is unable to dissipate the heat and can even lead to unconsciousness). Here is the recipe as learnt from my mother.

Ingredients:

• 2 raw mangoes
• a pinch salt (per glass or to taste)
• 3-4 tsp sugar (per glass)
• 150-200 ml water (per glass)
• a pinch of rock salt (to garnish)
• a pinch of roasted cumin seeds (jeera) powder
• ice cubes

Procedure:

1. Wash the mangoes and cut a small portion (circular shape) at the tip of the mangoes.
2. Roast the mangoes on gas flame while turning them to ensure even roasting on all sides.
3. Remove from flame and let them cool. When the mangoes are cool enough to handle, remove the outer skin and discard the pit.
4. Collect the mango pulp and accumulated juices in a mixing bowl and coarsely mash the pulp.
5. While serving, put 2 tsp of roasted mango pulp (if you want it thick, put more pulp) in a glass. Add sugar and salt (mix as per requirement) and requisite water and stir well so that the sugar is completely dissolved.
6. Sprinkle a pinch of rock salt and roasted jeera powder, stir and serve with ice cubes.

Treating Heat Stroke / Sunstroke:
Mix 4 tsp of roasted mango pulp with 200 ml of water and enough sugar with salt. Consume it every one hour. (Generally symptoms of Heat Stroke subsides within 3 to 6 hours of consuming using mango pulp drinks).

Aam Panna

Found about a wonderful cause from Priya who is a member of BloggerAid. The group is publishing a book with the recipes prepared by the foodie bloggers around the world, a really noble gesture againt the hunger. The profit from the sales of the cookbook will be directed to School Meals, a programme of The World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations frontline agency......

Here is my contribution to the cause: Aam Panna

I wrote about Coolers in a previous post. Aam Panna is type of Cooler known for its heat resistant properties and is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. It is made from raw green mangoes and also used as a delicious, refreshing and healthy beverage to fight against the intense summer heat.

The recipe requires few ingredients and mangoes are readily available across the globe, but you have to ensure to prepare with raw mangoes only. I cannot write the recipe, until the cook book is out...

So you have to wait till the book is finally published.

Guidelines:

You don't need to be a member of Blogger Aid to submit a recipe. You just need a willingness to share your love of food from around the world and want to be involved in raising awareness and money for this program. There is no cost to you, just a sense of satisfaction that comes from participating in this exciting project and seeing your name and recipe in print.

You may post about your recipe but without revealing the ingredients...the cookbook will be the round-up where your recipe will be published. Once the cookbook has been published you can publish your recipe wherever you like...it will always be yours and you will always receive full credit.

Here to encourage all in joining hands for a wonderful cause...For more details, click here

Thandai

Thandai is a popular cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, magaztari seeds, rose petals, black peppercorns, poppy seeds, cardamom, saffron, milk and sugar. It is sometimes mixed with 'bhang' to make an intoxicating drink and often associated with the Holi festival.

Ingredients:

• 1 - � ltr water
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp almonds
• 1 tbsp watermelon seeds (tarbuj seeds), skinned
• � tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus / posto)
• � tbsp aniseed (saunf / mouri)
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (or seeds of 2 black cardamoms, crushed)
• 1/2 tsp rosewater
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns, crushed
• 1/4 cup dried / fresh rose petals
• � tsp bhang (optional)

Procedure:

1. Take a pan and soak sugar in � ltr of water. Stir till all the sugar is dissolved in water. Strain to obtain the sugar syrup and keep aside.
2. Wash and clean all the dry ingredients. Soak in 2 cups of water. Keep aside.
3. Allow all the soaked items to stand for about 2 hours.
4. Take a blender / mixie and grind all soaked ingredients to a very fine paste. Add 1 cup water to the paste.
5. Strain the paste through a strainer / muslin cloth and collect the extracted liquid in a bowl.
6. Add remaining water to the extract, press and try to extract more liquid. \
7. Repeat the process for 2-3 times till the residue (on the strainer / inside the muslin cloth) becomes dry and it is impossible to collect more liquid.
8. Add milk, sugar syrup and rosewater to the extracted liquid.
9. Add cardamom powder / crushed cardamom and mix well.
10. Crush the buds and leaves of Cannabis (bhang, optional) and mix in the thandai.
11. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Serve chilled with ice cubes in tall glasses.