Bourbon Biscuit Brownies | Easy Bourbon Biscuit Brownie Recipe

Bourbon Biscuit Brownies #Recipes

These Bourbon Biscuit Brownies are perfect for days when you have a sudden urge to have brownies, but do not have any ingredients on hand to bake it? Or maybe you want to bake a brownie but do not have the time to follow a super lengthy recipe.

If you have ever faced such a situation, then this recipe will come to your rescue. For the 2nd day of my brownie theme Blogging Marathon, I decided to post this quick-fix brownie recipe. With just a handful of ingredients making brownies this way is a breeze.

This is cheat's version where bourbon biscuits are used as a vital ingredient – no need for additional flour, sugar, or butter. Looks too good to be true, try the recipe yourself.

Bourbon Biscuit Brownies

Ingredients:

200 grams Bourbon biscuits

50 grams digestive biscuits

2-3 tablespoon Bournvita powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder

About  ¾ cup +2 tbsp milk

1 tsp plain Eno Fruit Salt 

Butter or oil to grease the pan

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease an 8” square cake tin and line it with parchment
2. In a mixer jar, add the broken digestive biscuits, bourbon biscuits and churn it into a powder.
3. Take a large bowl and tip in the biscuit powder, add Bournvita powder, cocoa powder, and stir. Add milk little by little and whisk to get a smooth batter.
4. Add the Eno Salt to the batter and give it a quick stir. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
5. When baked, insert a skewer in the middle to see it comes out clean.
6. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down for 10 minutes. You can then lift the brownies out of the pan along with the parchment.

6. Once, the brownie has cooled down to room temperature, slice it into squares and serve with a generous drizzling of chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1. These brownies are not intensely chocolatey. So, it is best to serve them with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

2. You can also add 1/2 cup choco chip or chocolate chunks in the batter for an intense chocolate flavour.

3. This recipe should also work with any other chocolate flavoured cream biscuits, like oreo, etc. Instead of digestive biscuits Marie biscuits or Milk Bikies can also be used.

Still, want to try making brownies the traditional way – check out some other recipes already posted here.

Eggless Nutella Brownies

Eggless Chocolate Brownies

Eggless Fudge Brownies

One Bowl Eggless Brownies

Sinful Eggless Walnut Brownies

3 Minutes Microwave Brownies

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Eggless Fudge Brownie with Beets | Eggless Beetroot Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Eggless Fudge Brownie with Beets. #Recipe

Eggless Fudge Brownie with Beets is a winner recipe. Quite healthy, easy to make and tastes quite awesome.

If there is one thing that can make me forget all about conscious eating and diet control – it is chocolate. There are times when I do control myself from having that extra piece of the chocolate bar. But, on most occasions, it has the better of me. That’s why I prefer not having any chocolate bars at home. Perfect solution, isn’t it?

The intense chocolate flavour in fudge brownies is perhaps one of the reasons why I prefer them over cake any day. Give me a slice of soft, dense chocolatey brownie and I will wander into my chocolate nirvana. When I saw Srivalli had listed a brownie theme in the 78th edition of the Blogging Marathon, I instantly chose it.

I have already tried a number of brownie recipes and have shared a couple of them here. Check out these

Eggless Nutella Brownies
Eggless Chocolate Brownies
Eggless Fudge Brownies
One Bowl Eggless Brownies
Sinful Eggless Walnut Brownies
3 Minutes Microwave Brownies

Yet, there are so many brownie variations that are on my to-do list. I have seen many brownies with chocolate and beetroot combination doing rounds on the internet. So, I decided to try it myself. I used this recipe for fudge brownies as a standard and tweaked it to come up with this recipe. 

After having a slice of these beetroot fudge brownies, I realized beetroot and chocolate is a winning combination. There is no trace of any beetroot flavour. Unless you tell anyone, no one will ever make out this secret ingredient in the recipe. I used wheat flour and oil in this recipe to make it even healthier. Check out my recipe below.

Eggless Fudge Brownies with Beets

Ingredients:

½ cup whole wheat flour or atta

¼ cup Maida or all-purpose flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp instant coffee

100 g dark chocolate

½ cup beet puree

½ cup powdered sugar + 2 tbsp brown sugar

¼ cup oil

¼ cup whisked yoghurt

¼ cup to ½ cup water

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Process:

1. Line an 8” square brownie pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

2. In a large bowl add atta, maida, cocoa powder, coffee, and baking powder. Use a whisk to mix everything together. Set aside.

3. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it for 1 minute so that it melts. Whisk it to get smooth melted chocolate. To it add oil and stir. Add sugar and stir it again. Now add yoghurt and beets puree and whisk it nicely.

4. Add this wet ingredients mixture to the dry ingredients mixture. Add ¼ cup water and whisk to make a smooth batter. If the batter looks thick, add another ¼ cup water. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and top it with chopped walnuts.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. When done, a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.

6. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before you can lift it from the pan along with the parchment paper. Slice and serve.

Notes:

1. To prepare beets puree, I pressure cooked 2 medium beets. When cooled, I peeled and chopped them and churned in a mixer jar to get the puree.

2. For fudge brownies, I prefer lining the tin with parchment. Since fudge brownies are quite soft and mushy, it is easier to lift the brownies out of the tin along with the parchment.

3. Slice them after the brownie has cooled a bit for neat slices.

4. You can do away with the maida in the recipe and add whole wheat flour or oats flour instead.

5. You can also double the beets puree and omit the yoghurt and half the water amount to get red looking brownies.

6. I had run out my regular powdered sugar, so I used 2 tbsp of brown sugar. You can regular sugar too.

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Thandai Kulfi Recipe | How to Make Thandai Kulfi from Scratch

Thandai Kulfi #Recipe

Thandai Kulfi is a rich kulfi and is full of flavours from the Thandai Syrup. If you have some ready to use Thandai syrup, making these is just a breeze.

Kulfi or Ice-cream? What do you like more?

I prefer kulfi over a scoop of ice-cream any day. 

Period.

This recipe has been there in my drafts for a long while. I had made these to use up the last bits of the Homemade Thandai Syrup I had made for Holi. Since I had not posted anything in a long while here, I decided to share this one to cut short my absence from this space.

By the way, have you ever made Thandai Syrup at home? If not, try it the next festive reason - I bet you will never want to buy a bottle of readymade syrup ever. It comes out THAT GOOD. 

Coming back to the recipe for today, I just used the thandai syrup to flavour and sweeten the thickened milk used for making these kulfis. Since Thandai syrup is already flavoured with nuts, cardamom, saffron, etc., there is no need to add anything more.

These kulfi were just perfect - with just the right flavour of Thandai. I am going to make these again whenever I made the thandai syrup. Let's check out the recipe.

Thandai Kulfi Recipe

Ingredients:

800 ml full-fat milk.

3 tbsp milk powder

1/4 cup thandai syrup ( Have you tried this Homemade Thandai Syrup yet?)

2 tsp cornflour stirred in 1 tbsp milk

Process:

1. In a non-stick pan, heat milk. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium and let it simmer till it reduces to about half in volume. It can take about 25-30 minutes. Keep stirring in between and scrap the sides too.

2. Add the milk powder, cornflour mixture and stir well. Heat for another 5 minutes. Corn flour helps in further thickening the milk and thus giving it a creamy texture. Add the thandai syrup and stir again. Turn off the heat.

3. Let it cool down to room temperature and then fill the liquid into the kulfi moulds.

6. Freeze it for 8 hours or overnight.

7. Take the kulfi out of the freezer, 5 minutes ahead of serving.  Unmould and serve immediately.

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Here are some more KULFI recipes that you can try:

Dulce de Leche Malai Kulfi
Quick No Cook Malai Kulfi
Cardamom Kulfi
Malai Kulfi - Using Condensed Milk

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Dahi Wali Hari Chutney Recipe | Green Chutney with Yoghurt | Dips Recipes

Dahi Wali Hari Chutney #Recipe

Dahi Wali Hari Chutney ( green chutney with yoghurt) is a great dip that goes very well with tikkas, cutlets and kebabs. It can also be used for smearing inside of bread slices in sandwiches. It goes well as a dip with veggies too – like cucumber and carrot sticks. 

I am sharing the recipe for Dahi Wali Hari Chutney on the last day of BM#77 under condiment theme

This green chutney is slightly different from the regular green chutney as yoghurt or dahi is added to it. Let's check the recipe straight away.

Dahi Wali Hari Chutney

Ingredients:

½ cup hung curd
½ cup mint leaves
½ cup coriander leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 green chilli
Salt to taste
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp roasted cumin powder
A dash of lemon juice

Process:

In a chutney mixer jar, add all the above ingredients and blend it till you get a smooth chutney.

Check the seasoning and adjust as per your taste.

If you like a thicker version of this chutney, blend everything except for the hung curd. Whisk the hung curd well into the green paste to get a thick dahi wali hari chutney.

Note:

1. You can adjust the green chilli as per your taste.

Other dips and condiments recipe you can check here.

Creamy Mint Dip
Tamarind & Dates Chutney
Green Chutney

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#77

Sweet Pineapple Raita Recipe | How to Make Sweet Pineapple Raita

Sweet Pineapple Raita #Recipe

Sweet Pineapple Raita makes for a great accompaniment to any meal. Mildly sweetened yoghurt flavoured with cardamom, saffron with tiny chunks of sweetened canned pineapple, this sweet pineapple raita is a treat in itself.

When I first had pineapple raita for the first time at a restaurant when we were enjoying a holiday in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan, I thought it was a strange combination, even though it tasted great. Since then I have spotted this dish in the menus of most restaurants and seems like it is quite popular these days. These days whenever I have leftover canned pineapples at home, I make this raita.

I have learned to make pineapple raita two ways - savoury and sweet. I am sharing the recipe for the sweet version today. I learnt this from my DH's aunt. She puts in a lot of effort in making any raita. She first makes the hung curd and then whisks the curd using water to get the right consistency for raita. She then sieves it through a nylon net to get a creamy yoghurt. After that, she flavours the yoghurt as needed. However, most of the time I take a shortcut - I just whisk my set yoghurt and proceed with the recipe. If you are not crunched for time, you may proceed with the elaborate process.

The recipe for this version of raita is quite similar to shrikhand - it's just that we are adding pineapple here and the yoghurt is thinner than that used in shrikhand. Let's check out the recipe now.

Sweet Pineapple Raita Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups thick yoghurt
3-4 tbsp sugar, adjust to taste
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom
10 strands of saffron, rubbed in a mini pestle and mortar with a pinch of sugar and a few drops of water
1 cup chopped canned pineapple ( I use Delmonte)

Process:

1. Beat the yoghurt with a whisk to get smooth beaten yoghurt. Alternatively, you can sieve it through a nylon net.

2. Add sugar, cardamom and rubbed saffron to whisk again. Keep it chilled.

3. Right before serving, add the chopped canned pineapple and serve immediately.

4. It tastes best chilled. Enjoy.

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Lacche Wala Kairi Paak | Instant Sweet Mango Pickle | From Scratch

Lacche Wala Kairi Paak | Instant Sweet Mango Pickle #Recipe

Lacche Wala Kairi Paak or Instant Sweet Mango Pickle is a sweet Indian condiment that is prepared by cooking raw grated mangoes in sugar and is then flavoured with cardamom and saffron.

Growing up I remember my brother loved this and my nanima (maternal grandmother) would make it for him every now and then when green mangoes were in season.

This sweet pickle is one of DH’s favourite condiments too. That is perhaps one of the reasons why you will find a big jar of this raw mango jam or Kairi Paak (as called in my mom’s place) or Mitha Achar (as called in my in-law's place) in my house every year during the mango season. Even though it is a staple in my house, I never have to make it on my own.

Every year either my mother in law or DH’s maternal grandmother sends us a bottle of freshly made Kairi Paak as soon as raw mangoes are available in the market. This year was no different. But, maybe it was high time for me to make it on my own, so one fine day that jar broke (Thanks to baby M but thankfully no one was hurt).

When I picked the condiment theme for my second leg of Blogging Marathon, a monthly event that is the brain child of Srivalli, I decided to try this out.

Grated raw mangoes are used in making these. So, the texture of the final product is not smooth. This texture sets it apart from the sweet mango chutney which is altogether different both in taste and process of making.

Lacche Wala Kairi Paak Recipe

Ingredients:

200 gm raw grated mango
200 gm sugar
2 cardamom, pounded
10 strands of saffron, rubbed in a mini pestle and mortar with a pinch of sugar and a few drops of water

Process:

1. In a thick bottomed pan mix the raw grated mangoes with sugar and heat it. Do not add any water. The sugar will melt as the mixture gets heated.

2. Keep stirring while it is getting heated for about 10-15 minutes and you will see that the strands of raw mangoes will start becoming translucent. The sugar syrup will also thicken.

3. At this point turn off the heat and add the saffron and crushed cardamom pods. Stir well and let it cool completely before storing it in a clean airtight glass jar.

4. It stays well for about 2-3 months when kept in the refrigerator. You can use it on bread slices as a jam or as a pickle in your regular meal.

Notes:

1. Do not add water to cook the mango and sugar mixture. Even for rubbing the saffron, just use a few drops. If you add saffron without rubbing, you will not get a nice yellow colour in the final product.

2. If you make this in larger quantity, cooking time will need to be adjusted accordingly.

3. Typically, an equal amount of raw grated mango and sugar is used. But, you may decrease the sugar quantity to suit your taste buds.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

You can also check out my Homemade Blueberry Jam Recipe here

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Roasted Tomato Salsa Recipe | How to Make Roasted Tomato Salsa From Scratch | Mexican Recipes

Roasted Tomato Salsa #Recipe

Roasted Tomato Salsa is one of the must accompaniments with tortilla chips. It is very easy to make it and the best thing is that it can be made with ingredients readily available in our kitchen. While it can be made instantly, it is best to make it a few hours ahead of serving as the resting time helps in enhancing the overall flavour.

This is my last day of Blogging Marathon under the theme 'Explore Latin American Cuisine' and today I am going to share another Mexican dip that I made to go with my Homemade Tortilla Chips. I make this dip every time, I make anything Mexican for dinner.

If you like your salsa a bit chunky, chopping roasted tomatoes will do. But, if you like it little saucy, puree half of the tomatoes and chop the rest. I like it both ways but, for this post, I have made a chunky salsa. Let's check out the recipe for roasted tomato salsa now.

Roasted Tomato Salsa Recipe

Ingredients:

2 large ripe red tomatoes

1 small onion, finely chopped

Handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

1-2 green chillies, minced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Process:

1. Insert a metal skewer into the tomato and roast it on open flame over gas stove till the skin turns blackish and cracks in places. Let it cool a bit and peel the charred skin. Chop the roasted tomato finely.

2. In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix it will. Cover it will a cling film and store in the refrigerator. Salsa always tastes better if it is prepared a few hours in advance before serving time.

3. Serve it chilled with tortilla chips or with any other Mexican delicacies.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

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Guacamole Recipe | How to make Guacamole From Scratch

Guacamole is a Mexican dip made with ripe Avocados. When the mashed chunks of Avocados are mixed with minced onion, tomato, chopped coriander, seasoning and lemon juice, you get this delicious Mexican dip that is a must-serve in any Mexican meal.

I first tasted avocados when I was living in Dublin. To tell you the truth, I found it a little too bland for my taste to eat it raw. A few pieces here and there in a salad is fine, but not more than that. But, avocados in the form of this dip is delicious. I can have spoonfuls of it and yet want more.

When you are making tortilla chips, making this dip is a must. In India, avocados come under the exotic variety of fruits and it comes pricey. So, whenever I buy it, I make sure that I make the best use of it.

More often than not, I find they are raw when I buy them. so, I keep them wrapped in paper for 2-3 days, till they are ripe enough to be used.

Here is how I make guacamole from scratch - it is an easy, no-cook dip and can be whipped up instantly.

Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small tomato, deseeded and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely minced

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 to 4 tbsp (adjust to taste)

Process:

1.       Keep all ingredients chopped and minced before setting out to scoop the flesh of avocado as it has a tendency to get brown.

2.       Slit the avocado from the middle and divide into two parts. Remove the stone and using a spoon scoop out the flesh.

3.       Collect the flesh in a medium bowl and using a fork mash it nicely. Add all the listed ingredients and mix it all together. Adjust salt to taste. Cover the bowl tightly with a cling film until serving time.

4.       Serve chilled with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Some other Mexican recipes you can check here.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Homemade Tortilla Chips 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#77

Homemade Tortilla Chips Made From Scratch | How to Make Tortilla Chips at Home | Mexican Recipes

Homemade Tortilla Chips Made From Scratch #Recipe

Tortilla Chips is one of the staple dishes in Mexican cuisine. Typically, most of us get that readymade packet of tortilla chips, but today I am going to show you an easy way to make homemade tortilla chips using maize flour.

Past few weeks had been quite busy for me. That is the reason I could not spend any time on this space for more than 2 weeks now.

First DH fell ill and then it was baby M's turn. When both got well, we had to travel for a marriage ceremony. Travelling with a toddler is so exhausting - there are so many little things to pack for every possible situation. After coming back - unpacking, laundry and getting the house in order! Uff.. the list goes on! To top that my regular maids have left and I feel like I am stranded in the middle of no where. You get my point right! But, then that's life. Nothing always go as planned.

Enough of my rants for today, so, lets talk about food now.

Last month I decided to join Srivalli's Blogging Marathon event for the month of June, so that I could be more regular in blogging here. For my first week, I chose the theme - Latin American Cuisine and spent quite some time exploring vegetarian options for various countries that come under the gamut of Latin America. But, in the end, due to time crunch, I decided to stick to some dishes that I have already tasted many times and I could re-create them at home, thus doing some justice to its taste.

Latin America comprises of 19 sovereign states and many other territories and dependencies. Mexico is one of the Latin American countries. So, I chose to post a recipe for tortilla chips - one of the very popular snack to munch on from Mexico.

Today I am sharing a simple recipe for Homemade Tortilla Chips made from scratch using maize flour. This recipe was shared to me by my sister in law. It is her mom's recipe. The only thing I changed was I used whole wheat flour instead of maida as needed in the recipe. When I searched about homemade tortilla chips online, most of the blogs just used ready made corn tortillas to make them. Since, corn tortillas are not readily available in India, anyone wanting to make tortilla chips at home can try this method of using maize flour - our humble makki ka aata. Since, maize flour is gluten free, we have to add wheat flour or maida to the dough, so that it helps in binding.

Without much ado, let's check the recipe for Homemade Tortilla Chips now.

Homemade Tortilla Chips Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup maize flour/ makki ka aata
½ cup whole wheat flour/aata
2 tbsp oil
Lukewarm water for making dough
Oil to deep fry
½ tsp salt

Process:

1. In a bowl take maize flour, whole wheat flour, salt and oil and mix well. Using the lukewarm water make stiff but smooth dough.

2. Cover the dough and set it aside for 15 minutes

3. Divide the dough into 7-8 golf size balls. Using some whole wheat flour roll the balls one at a time into round circles of 5 to 6 inches diameter. Slice them into 6 triangle pieces just like we slice pizza. Pierce the pieces with fork.

4. Take the pieces off gently and place on a clean plate. Repeat the process with rest of the dough balls. When done, heat oil for deep frying.

5. Deep fry them in batches till they are light brown.

Notes:

You need to be extra careful while rolling the dough. If you roll it too thin it might break. Use flour for dusting as and when needed.

You can also check out my guacamole and roasted tomato salsa recipe to serve with these homemade tortilla chips.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#77

Purple Delight Recipe | Black Grapes and Pomegranate Cooler Recipe | Summer Cool Drinks

Purple Delight Recipe
 Black Grapes and Pomegranate Cooler #Recipe

Purple Delight is a summer cooler drink made with fresh grapes and pomegranate juice. It is spiced with pepper powder, roasted cumin powder and black salt. Fresh and tangy, it is just perfect to keep you cool during summers.

Colours are an important spice of life.  Imagine your life without colours – boring right? I believe it is the same with our food – it should be colourful and pleasing to eyes. When I was thinking about all the cool drinks I was indulging in this summer, I realized they were all of the different colours. My Kairi Panna is a soothing shade of green as I use a lot of mint in it; the Masala Chaas is, as usual, white, my Herbal Iced Tea was a bright shade between orange and brown. That’s when I thought of creating a different coloured drink to sip on.

I had lots of black grapes and pomegranate in my refrigerator and with these two star ingredients; I set on to make a drink. When I was done, I was pleased with the result at hand, so much so that I took it to a friend’s place for her to taste. She has become my unannounced official taster for most experiments in my kitchen. When she okay-ed it, I made it again the next day and while sipping on it, this name – Purple Delight came to my mind.

The other day when I met her and amidst our usual banter, I told her I have named the drink – Purple Delight and she was into a riot of laughter.... which reminds me of another spice of life - laughter. Laugh as often as you can and be with friends who can make you laugh out loud.

The pomegranate juice typically has a slightly bitter note in the end which compliments beautifully with grapes juice which is sweeter. A dash of lemon juice adds a subtle tang to the overall flavour and the spices add some earthiness. If you want to try something different from your regular lemonade, try it for sure.

Purple Delight Recipe | Black Grapes and Pomegranate Cooler 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup black grapes

1/2 cup pomegranate pearls

2 tbsp sugar syrup (optional)

1/4 tsp black salt

1/4 tsp black pepper powder

1/4 tsp roasted jeera powder

Soda water to top up

Lots of Ice cubes

2 tbsp Chopped grapes and pomegranate pearls for garnishing

Process:

1. In a blender jar add the grapes and pomegranate pearls and churn till pulpy. Sieve the mixture to extract the juice.

2. Add the juice to a large jar; add sugar syrup, black salt, black pepper and jeera powder. Stir well. Add this to 4 medium glasses.

3. Add some ice cubes to each glass. Top up with soda water. Garnish with chopped grapes and pomegranate pearls. Serve chilled.

Notes:

1. The black grapes I used were quite sweet. If you are using grapes that are tart, adjust sugar syrup quantity accordingly.

2. It is best to consume it fresh and chilled.

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

Virgin Orange Mojito Recipe | How to Make Virgin Orange Mojito from Scratch | Non-Alcoholic Party Drink Ideas

Virgin Orange Mojito #Recipe

Virgin Orange Mojito is a perfect non-alcoholic party drink. With orange juice, a dash of ginger juice and aerated drink, this is simple, fuss-free recipe. Just mix certain ingredients, pour and serve. This virgin orange mojito recipe can easily be made for large parties without much issue.

Both I and DH love oranges. When these fruits are in season, having fresh orange juice almost every day is a norm. But, one fine day, after we bid adieu to the Indian Nagpur Oranges, DH spotted some imported variety in the supermarket and bought a bagful home. While they looked inviting, one sip of its juice made me cringe – they turned out to be very-very sour. So, I was left with no option but to make a mocktail out of it.

We all know the classic mojito in its virgin form is made of mint, lemon, little sugar and aerated water. Often sprite and ginger ale are also used. I have seen many flavoured mojito drinks doing rounds on the internet and so, I decided to use those sour oranges in making a virgin orange mojito. I like to add a bit of ginger juice in my mojitos – it adds a depth to the overall flavour.

Oranges are out of season now. But, you can use packaged orange juice if you fancy to try this out.

Virgin Orange Mojito

Ingredients:

¼ cup fresh mint leaves

2 cups orange juice (I used freshly squeezed orange juice)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp simple sugar syrup (sugar syrup prepared by mixing and boiling an equal quantity of sugar and water till the sugar is dissolved)

1 tsp fresh ginger juice

Sprite as needed

Ice cubes as needed

Orange slices, lemon slices and fresh mint leaves for garnishing

Process:

In a jar add fresh mint leaves, sugar syrup and muddle it with a spoon. Add lemon juice, followed by orange juice and ginger juice. Stir it nicely.

In two tall glasses, add lots of ice cubes and pour the prepared concoction equally. Top it up with chilled sprite. Garnish with orange slice, lemon slice and a mint sprig. Enjoy!

Don't forget to check out some more party drink ideas here.

Purple Delight
Sweet Lime Soda
Strawberry Lemonade 

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Paan Ice Cream Recipe | How to Make Paan Flavoured Ice Cream at Home | Ice Cream Recipes

Paan Ice Cream #Recipe

Paan Ice Cream, as the name says is an ice cream flavoured with the Indian meetha paan. This ice cream has the unique flavour of freshly ground betel leaves and an assortment of flavouring spices. If you love Indian Meetha Paan, you are going to love this Paan Ice Cream.

When it comes to cooking, the greatest satisfaction for me comes when I am able to create a flavour in a particular dish exactly the way I wanted. So, when I tasted my paan (betel leaves) flavoured ice cream, I did my little happy dance.

"Meetha Paan" is one of those after-food treats I don't mind indulging in, whenever I get a chance. I remember when I was in my early teens back in my hometown, savouring on a meetha paan was a rare indulgence. But, whenever I had the chance, my special instructions to the 'paanwala bhaiya' were - extra gulkand and no supari (betel nut). The paan vendor had a tiny shop with a number of people flocking in at any point in time. Fresh paan leaves would be kept under a wet red muslin cloth, and there would be an assortment of fillings in various jars kept in a particular order to be folded inside the paan leaf, The vendor would take a fresh paan leaf, slather little 'kattha' and would ask how would you like it filled. A request for extra gulkand would often raise his eyebrow. But, in the end, everyone could have a customized meetha pan to savour on.

A meetha pan is a perfect palate cleanser for me - I always put the whole of it in my mouth and my jaws are in for some extra work. Juice from the betel leaves, gulkand, fennel seeds and the various filling creates an explosion of flavours which any Indian paan loving human will vouch for. Here in Pune, we do get good meetha paan, but most of the times they are already prepared and kept in a cool ice box. When you buy one, the vendors typically dip it in rose syrup and lightly coat in desiccated coconut and serve it to you.

Paan Ice Cream

Sometimes back when I spotted paan ice cream at a very popular ice cream joint in the city, I ordered one. But, it didn't live up to my expectations - it had less flavour of paan and more of mint flavoured mouth freshener. So, I decided to try to make paan ice cream at home. After reading various recipes online, I realized this ice-cream is very much customizable. You can flavour with a blend of things - just like the way you would want to flavour your customized meetha paan.

I stuck with my fresh cream and condensed milk combination for this ice cream. Do read the notes for some extra tips.

Paan Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

250 ml fresh cream
200 g condensed milk
200 ml full-fat milk
10 medium size maghai paan leaves, divided.
1/4 cup gulkand
1 tbsp green cardamom
3 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp mithi supari (optional, I used it to impart a note of mint flavour in the ice cream. Mithi supari is a mint flavoured sweetened betel nut-based mouth freshener easily available in India)

Process:

1. In a small blender jar, add 5 paan leaves, gulkand, green cardamom, fennel seeds and mithi supari. Blend it to a paste using as little water as possible. Using a strainer, strain it to get the extract.
2. In a large blender jar, add the extract, rest of the 5 paan and cream. Blend until smooth. The paan leaves should be finely blended.
3. Add the milk and condensed milk to the mixture in the blender and blend again till smooth.
4. Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze for 2 hours.
5. Take out the half set ice cream and tip it into the blender jar and blend it until smooth. Freeze it again till frozen. It will take anywhere between 4 to 6 hours.
6. Take it out 5 minutes before serving. Serve scoops of it chilled. You can relish it with or without a topping.

Notes:

1. I like my paan ice cream to be smooth. So, I strained the mixture of paan leaves, gulkand, green cardamom, fennel seeds and mithi supari to get an extract. If you like coarse bits of it in your ice cream, you may skip the step of straining.
2. For topping, you can use, rose syrup, tutti fruity or even tiny bit of gulkand.
3. Churning it before the final freezing if ice cream helps to reduce ice crystals in the ice cream. So, don't skip the step. You may churn it 2-3 times if you like.
4. Another way of making this ice cream is - get 3-4 meetha pan from the vendor and churn it with milk, cream and condensed milk in the quantity mentioned in the recipe.

You can also check out my recipes for

Chikkoo Ice cream
Cardamom Kulfi
Thandai Kulfi

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!