Puliyogare/ Tamarind Rice

Puiyogare/ Tamarind Rice

Puliyogare or Puihora or Tamarind Rice is a common and very popular South Indian dish. It is prepared in Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. As depict in the English name of the dish, the main ingredient of this dish is tamarind, rice and spices. Tamarind paste gives a special tanginess to the dish. This dish usually cooked on special occasions and festival days. It is also given as prasadam in South Indian temples.  

When we were in rented house and I was not into blogging, there had a Telugu speaking  neighbor. She was a very good friend of mine too. On this day of Ugadi she used to prepare lots of yummy dishes including Ugadi Pachedi. As a very good friend of mine she used to share with us too. I loved the pulihora prepared by her. Even now I could feel the taste on my palate. So this post is dedicated to my dear friend Madhu (Madhuri Saripella). Thanks darling for some beautiful memories. Here is the recipe for all…

For Rice

Rice- 1 cup

Water- 2 cups

Salt to taste

Haldi powder- 1/2tspoil- 1 1/2tbsp

For tempering

Oil- 2tbsp

Chana dal- 1tbsp

Urad dal- 1tbsp

Peanuts- 1 ½ handful

Hing- 1tsp

Mustard- 1tsp

Cumin- 1tsp

Red chilli- 2

Sesame seed- 1 1/2tbsp

Salt to taste

Tamarind- a lemon size ball

Sugar- 1 1/2tbsp

Haldi- 1tsp

Green chilli- 2

Curry Leaves- 2springs

Soak tamarind in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for a min. then leave it for 10 mins. Then mash with hand and discard the seeds and keep the pulp aside.

Dry roast the sesame seeds and make a fine powder and keep aside.

Clean rice properly under running water. In a pressure cooker add rice, water, salt, haldi and oil and close the lid. Cook the rice upto 2 whistles (1 in high and 1 in low). Let it cool down completely. Run a fork in the rice to make loose and separate. Spread the rice in a plate so that it will be cool down a bit and don’t stick to each other.

In a wide pan add oil and let it heat. Then add red chilli to it. Then add chana dal and urad dal and fry for some seconds. Then add mustard and cumin seeds and fry again.

Then add hing and curry leaves to it and fry again. Now add tamarind pulp, salt, sugar or jaggery and haldi and fry up to the raw smell of the tamarind goes off. After that add sesame seed powder and mix properly and switch off the gas. Add cooked rice to it and mix properly. Pulihora is ready to serve.

Kairi Panna or Aam Panna

                                                Kairi Panna

In Kairi Panna, kairi means raw mango and Panna means sarbat. It is also known as Aam Panna. This is a western Indian​ dish. This underrated drink is one of the healthiest and tastiest drinks to beat the summer  as heat. This dish is a part of Gudi Padwa. Gudi Padwa is a festival of new year for Maharashtrians. It falls on the first day of Chaitra.

No more dehydration with this dish as there is lots of water in it. It prevents your body from excreting excess iron and salt during sweating. So it is good to beat the heat. Aam Panna helps to improve digestion in summer and also keeps stomach cool. This healthy drink is full of vitamin C which is curative of blood disorders. It is a good source of iron which fights against the diseases associated with iron deficiency. In a nutshell​ it has lots of medicinal benefits.

The recipe for all

Mango-1 small

Jaggery to taste

Cardamom powder-1 1/2tsp

Salt to taste

Black pepper powder- 1/2tsp

Ice and cold water for serving

Mint leaves to garnish

Take the mango and clean it properly by soaking it for some time. Then make few slits with the help of a knife. It will be easy to peel the mango after cooking. Then put the mango in a cooker and cook for 10 to 15 mins or up to 3 whistles (1 in high and 2 in low).

Let the cooker cool naturally. And allow the mango to cool down as well. After that peel the boiled mango. Move all the pulp to a bowl.

Normally jaggery is used according to the pulp. The ratio should be 1:2. So if 1 bowl of pulp then 2 bowls of jaggery. But one can add more or less jaggery according to the tanginess of mango. Put everything in a blender jar and blend it properly up to everything is mixed as a smooth paste. This concentrated pulp can be stored in fridge for a week for further use.

For serving take 1/4th part of mango pulp add 3/4 part of cold water and mix properly. Add ice and mint leaves to garnish..

Oreo Popsicle

Oreo Popsicle

Oreo cookies are sandwich cookies consisting of two chocolate cookies with a cream filling. It is the best selling cookie in the United States. Origin of the name of the cookie is unknown but some believe it is derived from the Greek word "Oreo" which means beautiful or well done. There are  different flavours of Oreo available in market. But the classic flavour is always favourite of all.

Summer vacation is on. Kids want icecream. They want stick icecream or Popsicle. They love to lick their favourite flavours. They want their favourite cookie in Popsicle. Oreo is the first and only choice for them. After having this Popsicle elders even loved it. It is a healthy and tasty treat for kids

Here is the recipe for all.

Milk- 1/2lit

(Full cream)

Cream- 200ml

( I have used Amul fresh cream)

Sugar- 6 to 7tbsp

Vanilla- 1tsp

Oreo Cookies- 8 to 10 + 4 to 5

Take a bowl add 1/2lit of milk and put it on fire. Let it boil and then add Amul cream to it. Take wired spatula and mix properly.

 Again let it boil.

 Now add sugar to it and boil it properly and let the sugar melt. Switch off the gas and allow it to cool down to the room temperature. 

In the meantime, put 8 to 10 biscuits in a blender jar and make powder.

When the milk cools down to room temperature add vanilla essence and Oreo powder to it and mix properly.

Now pour the liquid in the Popsicle mould. Crush 4 to 5 oreo biscuits with hand and add to the Popsicle for more crunch and garnishing. Freeze the Popsicle for 6 to 7 hours or overnight.

 When ready to eat deep the Popsicle in water and bring out. Serve the kids with a bowl.

Ayran, A turkish drink..

Ayran

Ayran is also known as doogh or tan. It is a cold yoghurt based beverage mixed with salt. It is a very popular drink in meditarian countries. The main ingredients of the dish are water and yoghurt. Ayran has also been described as 'dialuted yoghurt'. Ayran is served chilled and often as an accomplishment to grilled meat or rice especially during summer. It is a simple drink with yoghurt, water and salt. But there are some other variations of the dish. Some addmint leaves to it and some other add garlic along with mint leaves. It is a simple and easy drink to prepare.

We are at Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha for summer vacation. Here temperature is 40 degree Celsius. Every one in the family want to drink cold beverages to get rid of the hot sun. Ayran came to my mind as it is cold and light. One of my friend told me about Ayran. She said that it is like salted lassi what we have in India. She gave some lead regarding the recipe of the dish. I made it accordingly.. Here is the recipe of the dish..

Yoghurt- 1 1/2cup

Chilled Water- 1 glass (300ml)

Salt to taste

Garlic- 1pod

Mint Leaves- 15 to 20

Ice cubes- 8 to 10

In a blender jar add yoghurt, ice cubes, water, salt and mint leaves. Peel the garlic and crush a bit and add to the yoghurt. Blend it properly. Try to make it frothy. 

Serve it immediately including the froth..

On the trail of spices with chef Raghavan Iyer

As a home chef and blogger to have an opportunity to meet any great chef is an awesome experience. I got the same opportunity when I was invited by my friend and fellow blogger Asmita to attend the interview of Chef Raghavan Iyer at Hyatt Regency, Chennai on 21^st March.  

 This interview was conducted by Mr. Rakesh Raghunathan, who himself is a food traveler, show host and musician. He used to travel all over India to research and document food, food history and heritage. He runs www.puliyogare.com with his wife.

 Chef Raghavan Iyer is a cook book author and James Bread Wining Culinary Educator. He has written 4 best selling cook books. Some of his works are The Turmeric Trail, 660 Curries, Indian Cooking Unfolded and most recent, ‘Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked’. He was the host of the Emmy winning documentary “Asian Flavors”. Chef Iyer won James Bread award for his work in the “Indian curries, The Basics And Beyond”

In the interview he talked about his culinary journey in US. How he dealt with his early life at US. How he wrote books. His early life in India, success, books and so on. And this followed by a cooking demo by the chef

on the opodium

Chef Raghavan Iyer, youngest of 7 kids, was born and brought up at Bombay (now Mumbai). He said he belongs to a fairly board minded family where girls were also given equal opportunities as boys. He is very close to his elder sister who is a physician and she is the one who took the pain of sending him to US. He is very much influenced by his mother and grandmother. Here he also said in an emotional tone about his grandmother and her struggle.

When he moved to US he realized that he had to cook to feed himself. So he used his memories of the tastes and smell of his mother’s kitchen to turn his kitchen into a test kitchen. Sometimes he cooked so horrible that he couldn’t even eat. He said he was influenced by memories from past.

Upon asked about his journey being a cook book writer, he was always asked that he is not doing authentic Indian cooking but fusion cooking. On that he said yes he is doing fusion cooking. Indian cuisine is an evolving cuisine. It is a 6000 years old cuisine with lots of diversity. India was evaded by different rulers of different cultures and also colonies of many foreign countries. Each of them brought a certain technique and some ingredients to India. We took that and made a part of our cuisine. He again said he was not doing Indain cooking, but he was cooking dishes in Indian way. He said he never follow any trends. Like he never thought of going for millet based cooking but liked the most common ingredients potato.

Getting ready for the demo

He said he tried to cook and teach Indian dished with available ingredients at local super markets. So he travelled the super markets in different parts of US to search for the common spices. In the process he got five spices haldi, mustard, cumin, cardamom and chili. He cooked and tasted all the 660 curries and 41 accomplishments which was written in his 660 curries book. And also said sometimes simple food without any special spices can be made. There he mentioned about two dishes. One is Khar from Assam and another is plain dal from Tamilnadu. He said some ashes are used to prepare khar and while in dal only spice is haldi. So curries can be prepared without spices even.

There was a fun filled rapid fire round too. In this he said foam is most over rated food. Rasam he can eat for 365 days a year. He choose curd rice (thairr sadam) over pizza and sushi. If he would be deserted in an island he can eat rasam and potatoes for months together. He feels London is the best city for street food followed by New York and Mumbai.

In interaction with audience he was asked, despite being a tamil bramhin, how he cooked non veg dishes. Though it never affects him, many people raised question about it. He also said he knows the spices and how it will work with meats. So that worked for him. While answering question he said curry leaves is the most important spice for him.

After these interactions he gave a cooking demo. He cooked a simple vegetable stir fry. Here is how the dish is cooked.

Oil- 1 ½ tbsp

Halved urad dal- 1tbsp

Mustard- 1tsp

Red chili- 2

Curry leavers- 1 string

Bell peppers (three colours)- 1 ½ handful

Green chili- 1 (slited)

Potatoes cubes- 1 hand ful

Salt to taste

Haldi- 1tsp

Asafoetida- 1/2tsp

Chopped coriander leaves- 1tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Let it pop properly. Then add urad dal to stop further cooking of mustard. Then add red chili and curry leaves. Then add bell peppers to it and fry it. Then add potatoes to it and sauté. Then add haldi, salt and water to it and allow it to cook. When potatoes are cooked add chopped coriander leaves

cooking is going on

The final product

Me with Chef

Whole wheat eggless brownie with walnut

Whole wheat​ Eggless Brownie with Walnut

It's b' day time for my blog. Happy 1st birthday to my blog. To celebrate the birthday I thought of preparing brownie. Being a health conscious freak Ican Iought of preparingthis dish with whole wheat. I deliberately avoided egged in this dish as elders of my family don't eat eggs. I made it with both sugar and jaggery. Both the way it is tasty.

A brownie is a square baked dessert. But I made it round as I don't have square mould. It is neither a cake or a cookie . But it is something in between. There are different forms of brownies. I can be fudgy or flaky according to its texture. It may contain choco chips or nuts or some other ingredients. The  origin of the dish is in United states at the end of 19th century. But it became popular during 1st half of 20th century. Brownies can be eaten alone but can also be combined with milk, whipped cream or chocolate sauce. It also served hot with ice cream. So a tasty and baked dessert recipe for all

Whole wheat- 1 1/2 cup

Choco powder-2 1/2tbsp

Refined​ Oil- 1/2cup

Vanilla essence- 1 1/2tsp

Vinegar- 11/2tbsp

Water- 1cup

Sugar- 1cup

(If using jaggery then 1 1/2 cup)

Baking powder-1 1/2tsp

Baking soda- 1/2tsp

Salt-1/2tsp

Walnut chopped- 1/2 cup

Choco chips- 1/2 cup

Take a mixing bowl and a strainer. Add all the dry ingredients together except sugar and strain it for twice. Add sugar to it. 

Then add all the wet ingredients to the same bowl and mix properly. Add chopped walnuts and choco chips to it. 

Grease a baking tin and dust it with maida. Pour the batter to the baking pan and tap on the kitchen platform to release air.

Preheat the oven on 180degree celcius for 10mins. Then put the tin in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minns or the tooth pick comes clear. Bring out and keep on the wire rack to cool down to room temperature.

If using jaggery then first grate the jaggery properly. Don't  add jaggery to the dry ingredients. Take another bowl add all the wet ingredients and mix. Then add jaggery to it and mix again upto jaggery melted in the wet ingredients. Then repeat the above steps

Serve the brownie either with whipped cream or ice cream.

Strawberry Milkshake

Strawberry Milkshake

A Milkshake is a thick, cold, sweet and milk based beverage. It is made from milk, ice, icecream and sweetness with some flavourings. Sometimes​ fruits also added to the milk to have fruity Milkshake. Some other flavours are butterscotch, caramel and chocolate. It is originated in United States of America. In England it's another version is there. It is bit thinner in thickness and it is called as Frappe. Previously it was prepared with hands. With the process of time and as   technology is touching food industry different machines are created to prepare Milkshakes.

Summer is stepping it's feet slowly. Cold drinks, Milkshakes, ice creams and different curd based beverages​ are high in demand. Same thing happens in my family too. Kids are demanding something sweet and cold to drink after evening snacks. So  I gave them strawberry Milkshake. Strawberry and milk goes perfectly together. It's an easy to prepare and tasty to drink dish. And it's pinkish colour is a treat to eyes.

Strawberry- 200gms

Chilled Milk- 1 1/2cup

Ice cubes- 4 to 5

Ice cream- 4scoops

Sugar- 2 to 3 tbsp

Strawberry essence- 1drop (optional)

Clean the strawberrys in running water for some time. Then remove the stems from the berries. Keep two berries aside. Chop all the berries.

  

In a blender jar add chopped strawberrys and 1/2cup of milk and blend properly so that strawberrys will mix with milk. Then strain the strawberry and milk mixture to remove the seeds. 

Again pour the liquid in the blender jar. Add rest of the milk, ice, sugar and 2 scoopes of ice cream to it. Blend it properly so that everything will be blended properly. 

Pour the milkshake in serving glasses or jar. Put 1 scoop of ice cream  in each glass and garnish with strawberrys. Serve and drink before ice cream melts.

Badami phirni

Badami Phirni

Phirni, a Punjabi style milk and rice based chilled sweet dish. It is light, creamy and sweet. It is a very popular dish which is made during holi or diwali. Though it is very similar to kheer but unlike kheer in which whole rice used in Phirni   broken rice  or ground paste cooked in milk. Traditionally it is served in earthern pots. Phirni is available in road side Dhabbas in Punjab.

After a spicy lunch of holi party I thought of preparing a light dessert. As summer is stepping it's foot and food is spicy and heavy one light and chilled dessert is needed by all. That time Phirni came to my mind. Phirni is not only tasty but also an easy dish to prepare. All loved this special sweet dish.. 

Here is the recipe for all

Gobind bhog rice- 3\4cup

Almond- 1\2cup

Milk- 6 cups

Sugar- 7 to 8tbsp

Green cardamom powder- 1\4tsp

Salt a pinch

Saffron- 5 to 6 strands

Almond- 5 to 6

Green pistachios- 5 to 6

Saffron- few strands

Wash and  clean rice to remove dirt and extra starch. Soak it for half an hour. If gobind bhog rice is not available any flavourful rice can be used. After half an hour ground it to a smooth paste​.

Soak almond for half an hour. Then remove the brown cover of the almond and again soak for some time. Then make a smooth paste​.

Heat milk in a heavy buttom pan. Once the milk is boiled bring out 1\2cup of milk and add saffron to it and let it soak for further use. Let the milk boil and reduce. Again bring out another 1 cup of milk and mix with rice paste.

 Add this rice milk paste to the boiling milk and let it cook.

The rice will cook in the milk and it will turn creamy and the texture will be bit thick. Then add sugar and cardamom powder to it. Again let it cook.

After 5 to 6 mins add almond paste to the milk and cook again. After again 5 to 6 mins add saffron soaked in milk and cook for a couple of mins. Then switch off the gas.

Then transfer the Phirni to individual bowls and allow it to cool down. Then garnish with sliced almonds, pistachios and saffron and keep in the fridge. Serve chilled to your guest. I don't have earthern pot so I served in glass bowl.

Allo Tikki Chaat

Aloo Tikki Chaat

Aloo tikki chaat is a north Indian snack item. It is originated in North part of India. Aloo means potato and tikki means Cutlets. It is served with different colourful chutneys and sometimes with curd and chhole. 

When I was thinking to prepare this dish one of friends helped me guiding about it. She told me there are two types of chaat recipe. In one recipe tikki is stuffed with a lentil stuffing and served with sweet tamarind chutney, hara chutney and curd and other garnishing. In second type plain tikki served with chhole , chutneys and other garnishing. She also suggested me to go for moong dal stuffing which goes very good with this dish. So here is the recipe for all.

For Stuffing

Moong dal- 5 to 6tbsp

Amchur powder- 1\2tsp

Dry mango powder

Garam masala- 1\4tsp

Red chilli powder- 1\2tsp

Salt to taste +1\2tsp

Haldi powder- 1\2 tsp+ 1\4tsp

For Tikkis

Potatoes- 5 medium size

Chopped green chilli- 1tbsp

Chopped coriander leaves- 2tbsp

Corn flour- 3 to 4tbsp

Lemon juice- 1tsp

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

For garnishing

Green chutney- 1\4cup

Sweet tamarind chutney- 1\2cup

Sev-1\2cup

Curd- 1\2cup( beaten  + 1\2tsp sugar + salt to taste added)

Chopped onion- 1\2 cup

Red chilli powder for garnishing

Garam masala powder for garnishing

Chopped coriander leaves- 2tbsp

Grated carrot- 1/2cup

For Stuffing

  

Clean and soak moong dal for 15mins. Then put the moong dal in a bowl, add water, salt 1\2tsp and haldi 1\2tsp and boil it. Don't over cook the dal. It should not be mushy but should have a bite. Strain the moong dal and transfer it to a bowl. Add salt to taste ( remember you have already added salt while Boling), red chilli powder, haldi powder( 1\4tsp), amchur powder and garam masala powder to it. Mix properly and keep aside.

For Tikkis

Clean and boil the potatoes. After pressure cooker realise it's pressure bring out the potatoes from water and keep it to dry and cool down. If it will be in water for More time, then potatoes will absorb water. In that case it will be difficult to handle the mashed potato while preparing Tikkis. When cool down keep the boiled potatoes in fridge for half an hour.

After half an hour bring out the potatoes. Peel and grate the potatoes in a big mixing bowl.  Mashing the potatoes will be ok but sometimes some big chunks will there which will be a problem while shaping the tikis. Now add salt, chopped 

green chilli, chopped coriander leaves, lemon juiceand cornflour to it. Mix properly and keep aside. If cornflour is not there then add two bread slices or 3 to 4 tbsp of bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a non stick frying pan.

Take a ball (tennis ball size) of mashed potato, make a well in the middle and stuff the moong dal stuffing in it and seal the ball and flat it with  palm.  Like wise prepare all the balls and keep on a plate.

Slowly slide the Tikkis to the hot oil. Cook the Tikkis up to golden brown and crispy from both sides. Keep aside..

For serving

Prepare the chutneys before hand. Prepare the beaten sweet curd as well. Arrange the chaat when you are ready to serve or tikkis will be soggy.

Place 3 Tikkis in a plate. Top the chutneys and curd on all the Tikkis. Sprinkle sev, onion, grated carrot and coriander leaves on them. Sprinkle garam masala and red chilli powder over it. 

Similarly arrange all other plates and serve immediately..

Eggless Orange Tiramisu

Eggless Orange Tiramisu

Eggless Orange cake- pieces

Homemade Mascarpone cheese- 1cup

Whipped cream- 1cup

Vanilla custard- 4 to 5Tbsp

Vanilla essence- 1tsp

Orange juice – ½ cup

Icing sugar- 4 to 5 tbsp

Pieces of two oranges

Coffee syrup- 

1 cup

Coffee powder to garnish

For home made mascarpone cheese

First strain two packets of cream. You can use Amul or any other available brand. When extra liquid is drained put it in a pan. Heat the pan and when bubbles came in the side, add 1tbsp of lemon juice. After adding lemon juice it won’t curdle like paneer. Rather it will become thick.  Then strain in a cheese cloth on a colander and keeps it for 4 to 5 hours in fridge. Mascarpone cheese is ready.

In a big bowl add whipped cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence; give a big whip up to soft peak. Add mascarpone cheese and whip again. Now add orange juice and custard and again whip.  The cream for the tiramisu is ready

For coffee syrup- heat 1cup of water, 2 to 3 tbsp of sugar and coffee powder. Boil it.

In short glasses (I am making separate glass for all but one can make in a big bowl) first arrange the orange cake. Soak the orange cake with coffee syrup. If some more coffee flavor needed one can add more coffee syrup but if less flavor required, then less can be used. It depends upon the personal choice. Then add the cream and add some orange pieces (it will give the dish a tangy taste). Again repeat the process and at last sprinkle the coffee powder. Keep the glasses in fridge for 1 to 1 ½ hour to set. Bring out just before serving.

Shakarpara and Namakpara

Shakarpara and Namakpara

Shakarpara or shakarapari is an Indian snack item which can be stored for days. It was very popular in western India specially Gujarat and Maharashtra. But now a  days these are equally popular in other parts of India. It is a good source of carbohydrates which is a food of instant energy. So it is a very good for kids snacking. It can be sweet, sour and spicy depending upon the ingredients. Namkeen or salty version of these called as namakpara..

Though traditionally it is made on diwali but during holi it become a perfect party  snack. As these dishes have long self life it can be prepared before hand and serve on the party..

In odisha we called it as gaja. My mom used to make these at home. These are part of my childhood. Mom sometimes dip them in sugar syrup to have a sweet sugary coating. I used to prepare these at home to make my kid's know what I eat while growing up. They called it as mama's fried biscuit. They love it. For holi they want their mama's fried biscuit as snacks . They can eat while making their hands dirty.

So here is the recipe for all

Shakarpara

Maida- 2 cups

Suji-  3 1\2tbsp

Powdered sugar- 3 to 4tbsp

Depends on taste

Kalonji- 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Milk to knead the dough

Ghee-3tbsp

Oil for deep frying

For sugar syrup

Sugar- 1\2 cup

Water- 1\2cup

In a big bowl add maida and suji together, mix properly. Then add sugar, salt, kalonji and ghee. Rub the ghee properly to get a bread crumb texture.

Then add milk to it to knead the dough. Add little by little milk to it and knead a tight but soft dough. To knead the dough I have added 9tbsp of milk. Keep for 20 mins to rest the dough.

Heat oil in a kadai.

Now roll the dough to a big roti. Cut them into diamond shape.

Slide the shakarpara to the hot oil. Keep the flame at medium and low and fry up 

to golden brown. One may fry little light though. It depends upon personal choice. Drain out to a kitchen towel and allow it to cook down and then store in airtight container.

For the sugary coating

In a pan add sugar and water. Let the sugar melt and syrup to cook up to 1 thread consistency. Then add the shakarparas to it. Coat the syrup evenly on the     shkarparas and remove to a plate and let it cool down. Then store in airtight container. 

For Namakpara

Maida- 2cups

Suji- 3 1\2cups

Kalonji- 1tbsp

Zeera- 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Ghee-3tbsp

Oil for deep frying

Water to need the dough

In a big bowl add maida and suji and mix properly. Then add salt, zeera, ghee and kalonji and mix properly. Then add water to knead the dough. Add little by little water to knead the dough. Rest the dough for 20 mins.

Now repeat the process of shakarpara. And store them in airtight container.

Nimbu sikhanji

Shikanji

Shikanji is a traditional North Indian lemon based drink. It is a summer drink which satiate thirst. It is also very famous in Pakistan. This drink is full of vitamin C as lemon is the main ingredient. The main ingredients  of the dish are lemon, ginger, black salt, sugar, zeera and water. It compensate all the need of human  body during summer. This can be prepared well before and stored in fridge.

Holi is a festival of colour, fun and masti. During holi we can hear the foot steps of summer. Kids do have lits of masti and fun. This holi I thought of preparing this yummy drink for my kids. Before preparing it for holi party I prepared it for my kids. They just loved it. I am sorted for the drink which I will serve on holi party..

With this measurement one will get 2 glasses of shikanji. For measurement I have used this cup.. 

Ginger water- 11\2 cups (Preparation Method Provided Below)

Cold water- 4cups 

Lemon- 11\2 (medium size) 

Sugar- 3 to 4tbsp

 Black salt 1\2tsp 

Roasted zeera powder- 1\4tsp 

Sliced lemon- 2 Slice 

Mint leaves- 2 

Ice cubes- 4 to 5

Preparation of Ginger water 

Grated ginger- 1 cup

 Sugar- 11\2 cups 

Water- 6 cups

 In a bowl  add water, sugar and grated ginger. Keep the bowl on gas and let the sugar melt. It will take 5 to 6 mins. Strain the grated ginger from water. Or else ginger water will have more gingery flavour. Let the water cool down. Pour in a bottle. It can be stored in fridge  for 2 to 3 weeks.

In a big bowl add ginger water and cold water, sugar. Stir properly so that sugar dissolves completely. It will take 5 to 6 mins. 

Then add black salt and roasted zeera powder and mix again. Now add lemon juice to it and mix. Now taste and balance the flavours. 

Now strain the drink and pour in glasses. Decorate with the slice of lemmon