- Russell Baker

When the sun hits your head, you need to quench your thirst first ? and for me, I just love drinking plain water.  But, sometimes I don't mind drinking fresh fruit juice.  When we get lots of fresh fruit in the market we can have 5 a day or 10 a day 🙂 make juice or make a salad but just enjoy it. Do you love fruits? Then you are  my  list of best friends ever.  Summer brings out some beautiful flowers, fruits,  and veggies.

Sun was in his full glory, that doesn't mean it reaches 42 - 43C as in India.  When it reaches 25-27C it's unbearable for us here, In my part of the world sun is still playing Hide and seek.  It's been pouring non-stop from past 3 days got tired of seeing rain for so long, I did so much gardening repotted my plants, added new plants, had to dig out weeds and add fresh compost as I have a very clayey soil, it's  hard work.  but love my garden when they are in full bloom.  At least for six months I can enjoy seeing them.

With all the hard work I get some perks as well! three thorns got into fingers, I just ignored the two but the third one was too stubborn, I couldn't sleep the whole night as it became blue and swollen and it was my thumb finger!  so, no gardening the next day but had to go to the  emergency unit to get rid of my splinters, the nurse was smiling and said you come every year just for this.  I had a tetanus injection because I don't know if I had one when I was a kid and my parents can't remember!  Anyways thank God! she removed it and I had trouble cooking and cleaning as it was paining severely.

Am I talking too much pouring away my stories as usual, getting back to this drink, Just before the summer starts in India we have a festival called Rama Navami, it's this time of the year which tells you the summer begins,  In India festivals always are accompanied with loads of savouries and sweets, but this festival is celebrated with just a very few interesting recipes which can be mustered up in few minutes.

Ram Navami means it's just panaka ( a delicious cooling drink) Majjige (Buttermilk /chaas) and Kosambari ( with Moong dal and cucumber).  This is served in all the temples and in homes when you visit on that day!  I could go ahead and say that our ancestors tailored the recipes accordingly to the regions and seasons in which we live in India.  They had a purpose for every recipe and the different oils used in different regions also are apt to that place and their life style.  Back to Ram Navami  as I was telling earlier as it is the time when the summer sets in we get different fruits and vegetables which need to be eaten as it is seasonal and helps you stay strong in the hot summer, you can see loads of Melons ( watermelon/ Honey dew melon/Musk Melon/ Cantaloupe) and loads of cucumber, wood apple, Mangoes and Many more.   Melons and cucumbers as you know has loads of water content in them and helps  you hydrated so, that's why in this festival they serve you with this kind of recipes.  Interesting isn't it?

Yellow Melons are called Kharbooza in Urdu. Both the melons smell gorgeous when you hold it and smell it.  The perfectly riped melons smell awesome.  They really are sweet and taste like honey.

Do you have something like this in your place, it need not have to be a festival but what you would eat most as  your Mother's and Grandmother's made for you to eat during summer time. what are those special fruits and veggies which you find during summer time,  These days you can find everything all through the year which is not what you really need right?

My Mom made these every year during summer but she used to make different types of drinks for us to enjoy the whole of summer, my Mom was a school teacher, it was fun as she used to get holidays as we got!  My Mom is a creative cook and she loved experimenting and it was fun to have her at home as she never got tired of spending more time in the kitchen even with the unbearable heat wave.  This drink brings me loads of memories.

Musk/Honey Dew Melon Drink

Recipe Author: Jayasri
Recipe Type: Juices/Drinks/Mocktails
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Shelf Time: 2 days

Ingredients:
Any Melon of your choice (Musk/Honey-dew)- 1
Jaggery/Gaur - 1/2 Cup
2 to 3 - Cardamom
2 to 3 Cups - water

Method:
Wash and dry, Cut open the Melon and remove the seeds.
Using a melon baller scoop out few melon balls for garnishing when you serve.
With a spoon scoop out all the flesh and mash it well. ( My Mom used to squash it using her hand to a pulp)
In 2 to 3 cups of water or you can use more water adjust to the consistency you like!, there's not an exact measurement for this.
Dissolve the grated jaggery until it dissolves then filter it through a sieve. Usually, they have impurities, as this is a raw product.
Then mix the squash of the melon and chill it in your fridge and serve it.
Oops! Don't forget to add some crushed cardamom powder.
Enjoy!

Notes:
It shouldn't become too squashed like grinding it in a mixie. But if you preferred to do so you can do it if you don't want to use your hand!
There is no exact measurement of water, If the melons are very sweet you don't need a lot of Jaggery.
Jaggery comes in round blocks or square blocks, grate or mash them up and use them as you require depending on the sweetness of the melons. Jaggery/Gaur is a sweetener used in India, it is not a processed sugar and is the raw product of cane and is a better option than sugar.

Print

Musk / Honey Dew Melon ( Galia / Kharbooza) #Drink OR Make a #salad!

Most delicious and awesome drink, You would want it a second and third helping.

Course Juices/Drinks/Mocktails

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• Any Melon of your choice Musk/Honey-dew- 1
• Jaggery/Gaur - 1/2 Cup
• 2 to 3 - Cardamom
• 2 to 3 Cups - water

Instructions

• Method:
• Wash and dry, Cut open the Melon and remove the seeds.
• Using a melon baller scoop out few melon balls for garnishing when you serve.
• With a spoon scoop out all the flesh and mash it well. ( My Mom used to squash it using her hand to a pulp)
• In 2 to 3 cups of water or you can use more water adjust to the consistency you like!, there's not an exact measurement for this.
• Dissolve the grated jaggery until it dissolves then filter it through a sieve. Usually, they have impurities, as this is a raw product.
• Then mix the squash of the melon and chill it in your fridge and serve it.
• Oops! Don't forget to add some crushed cardamom powder.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Notes:
It shouldn't become too squashed like grinding it in a mixie. But if you preferred to do so you can do it if you don't want to use your hand!
There is no exact measurement of water, If the melons are very sweet you don't need a lot of Jaggery.
Jaggery comes in round blocks or square blocks, grate or mash them up and use them as you require depending on the sweetness of the melons. Jaggery/Gaur is a sweetener used in India, it is not a processed sugar and is the raw product of cane and is a better option than sugar.

The post Musk / Honey Dew Melon ( Galia / Kharbooza / Canteloupe ) #Drink OR Make a #salad! appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Smoothies and Juices are such a healthy form of diet in your everyday life, These are such recipes where you can disguise any Ingredients like fruits, vegetables etc.., which are perfect  in  other way when you have teenagers or kids who are picky eaters tend not to eat what you want them to eat, They won't even know what you have added in them right ? I could say this to some adults too.., even if you tell them they are really good for health.

I have 3 kids one 18 and the other two 16 (twins!!), They sometime enjoy eating fruits if you give them peeled, sliced decorated with ice cream or salads in a bowl to where ever they are :), this is asking for too much, yes, otherwise they don't mind not eating it at all. My eldest has made an alarm telling her it's her fruit time, everyday morning and evening, I was quite surprised for a few days she would promptly eat a fruit, that was totally rejoicing day of my life I thought, as took this initiative on her own Yup!.. but, that didn't last still her mobile goes beep., beep., but she always gives me some reason that she forgot to eat.
So, I have come back to my way of giving them fruits, like this making smoothies, Apparently I do have a few smoothies recipes in my draft which I have never been able to post, may be someday I will do.. 🙂
Coming to this post..
As I have been away from blogging for lots of reasons, I had completely forgotten about my joining the Mom's Crazy Cooking Challenge, I suddenly remembered yesterday, that I haven't done anything at all for the challenge, I just decided I will write to Tina and told her my situation and said I might not be able to participate after all, I was a bit upset too.., I told her I might try out something but I might not be able to post it right on time, as I simply cannot do immediately for other things which need me when you come back home from work, like my kids who are hungry ( as always), immediately when they see their mum, because they are staying at home for their study holidays as they have exams whole of two months!!.  So, basically I have no domestic help :), makes me more tired..

As Tina of #CCC had challenged all the participants to make smoothies this month, you will be enjoying to see a whole lot of them here in the linky below, I would like to thank Tina, for encouraging me to take up and whip up something for this challenge, which I immensely from my heart enjoy this with this team of bloggers.., they are mind blowing.., We have to choose a recipe from other blogger to participate in this challenge and here I am with this recipe with a little twist of my own just to make my kids enjoy it more to their needs, I adapted this recipe from Yummy Food of Lubna Karim.
Yummy Food/ Kitchen Flavours of Lubna's needs no introduction for most of the Indian bloggers, she is wonderful blogger with mouth watering recipes and now top of all with her passion for blogging recipes has always been a eye catching photographer, you will just fall in love with all her wonderful photographs and tips if you are interested in food photography, just visit her blog and enjoy everything you set your eyes in her blog.., and as she always says at the end of post serve it with love..., That is her theme she has Served everything with lots and lots of love in her blog for every reader to enjoy..., Thanks Lubna for this wonderful smoothie, hope you like my little twist..

STRAWBERRY AND MELON SMOOTHIE WITH MUSELI
Recipe Source : Yummy Food
Serves 3

INGREDIENTS
1 Cup of chopped Strawberries
1 Cup of Yellow Melon
1/2 Cup Museli
1/4 Cup of Agave Nectar and Sweet Freedom (100% fruit)
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Yogurt (home made)

METHOD:
Take Museli in a bowl add hot milk over it and cover it till needed.
Take chopped Strawberries and melon in a blender and blend it smooth to this add the sweetners and yogurt.
Strain out the milk from the museli and add this to the blender and blend once again, to this add the strained milk and give a whirl again so they all blend together well again.
Pour them into the glasses, top it with Coco pops and serve.
Serve it chilled or immediately.

NOTES:
I soaked Museli before blending as my kids don't like museli this way they didn't know I had museli in it :), If you like museli, you can just skip this step and top the smoothie with museli and serve.
They love Coco pops so I just topped it with them, just to attract them to it.
You can chop any other fruits or nuts to top them up for a full filling smoothie.
Please do not compare my photos with hers as I am just a Mobile photographer :))
Want to look at those lovely Strawberry Smoothie hop on to her blog....

Check out this link below for many more smoothie recipes.....
Fruit Smoothies/Shakes June 2012

The post Strawberry and Melon smoothie with Museli appeared first on My Veg Fare.