PRUTHI PAAL(cotton seed milk)

Have heard lot about this drink  but never had a chance to taste this all these years . During my last visit to India my dad ,who is a siddha doctor made this milk for me to taste and with the first sip of this I became a addict for this health drink.Even after reaching here I have been searching for cotton seed ... but I find ones with lint or powdered ones marketed by companies.... which I feel won’t be pure ..meaning just cottonseed powder.

Wanting to know more about this asked a farmer in our village about the seed , who told me the seeds sold in village market is different form those sold in shops for our consumption.It goes through lot of cleaning which they call as delinting.

It’s said that it is a good source of vitamins E and K and minerals. It’s also said to be good for ulcer and alternative for those with lactose intolerance and helps weight lose and controls cholesterol ...that’s interesting right?At least for people like me who don’t like the taste of plain milk  ,this is good option.

So.. here is the recipe for this so called wonder milk.

Ingredients:

Cotton seed -125 grams ( approximately 1 cup)
Palm sugar or jaggery- 3/4 th cup or  adjust to taste
Coconut -1  
Cardamom powder-approximately 8cardamom crushed
Water- to grind both seed and coconut and extract milk.

METHOD

1)Clean and soak cotton seed overnight.
2)Grate coconut ,grind and extract first and second milk and keep aside. 
3)Drain the water from soaked seed and add water and grind and extract first and second milk.
4) Pour the milk extracted from the seed in a pan and bring it to boil and add palm sugar and mix.
5) Add coconut milk and turn-off the heat .Add cardamom powder mix  and the milk I ready to drink .
                          
                                           CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
ENJOY THIS HEALTH DRINK ONCE A WEEK as there is a saying in Tamil ‘Alavukku minjina amruthamum nanju’ MEANING EVEN TOO MUCH NECTAR IS BAD FOR HEALTH

ILLANEER PAYASAM(TENDER COCONUT PAYASAM)

I Have heard a lot about this dessert but have never tasted it.Couldn't imagine the taste... actually i love Ilaneer(tender coconut) so did not want to mess up its taste using milk to it.  Finally  i had the courage to try ,but had to wait till summer to get Tender coconut.And i could'nt believe the taste it was AAAWWWEEESOME, rich. yet simple,No cooking ... umm  yeah... absolutely no cooking. isnt that great... Ummm but one thing, since i used milk ,i had to boil it. but if you use coconut milk as it was told in a malayalam Tv channel(sorry forgot the name . its in  you tube)absolutely no cooking :)
INGREDIENTS:
Tender coconut (water)-1
Pulp of the tender coconut
Condensed milk-2 tbs
Cardamom/Elaichi-1/4 tsp
Saffron few(optional)
Finely chopped nuts(optional)
METHOD:
1)Finely chop 1 tbs of pulp.
2)Grind rest of the pulp with tender coconut water.
3)Boil milk and cool it.(or if  used coconut milk is used no need of boiling)
4)Mix this to the tender coconut paste.Mix well.
5)Add cardamom powder ,saffron  and chopped nuts.
Serve  this yummyyyyyy payasam.

Kaki(Sharon)Milkshake

Kaki or Sharon or Japanese persimmon fruit belongs  to persimmon species  is "high in glucose and balanced protein and various medical uses"
Its a very tasty fruit and Everyone in our family love it.
Apart from that I also read that it has high dietary fiber,Potassium, Magnesium,calcium,iron and manganese.rich in Beta carotene and Vitamin C.
INGREDIENTS:
Milk-1 Cup
Kaki(Sharon)-1 Chopped
Ice (crushed)
Cream(optional)-for topping
METHOD:
1)Put the fruit in the blender and blend it well with milk and crushed ice.
2)That's it... pour it in a glass and just njoy the healthy drink :) If u like u can add cream on top.

CORN SOUP

Corn has always been my favorite.I used to love the grilled corn that they used to sell in Marina beach ,Chennai.But when my amma got cancer and started reading about that deadly disease I found grilling using coal (charred things) was one among the reasons apart from many other reasons.So from then I started loving steamed corn ...that too tastes good... but still ..to be very frank  it cant match grilled one :D

MANGO LASSI

Yippee! its summer... thinking of summer next thing that comes to my mind ... Mango! yes..any Indian cannot forget mangoes in summer..Specially if you are from Tamil nadu...you cannot forget Salem malgowa mampazham(mango)

BLACKBERRY MILKSHAKE

When i was in chennai my dad used to get all sorts of fruits for me everyweek. even the fruits that i have not seen here in american stores like dates fruits .But I dont remember seeing this in chennai.So i was longing to taste this since the day i came here.Finally i got the chance...I loved the taste.And wanted to try milkshake...so here it is.......
Blackberry, which looks like a beehive for me is very rich in its antioxidant property.It contains high amount of dietary fiber,vitamin C,K and B. It also has folic acid and manganese.Specially their seed contains high amount of omega 3 and 6 fats and protein.

INGREDIENTS:
Blackberry
Sugar- according to taste
Milk
Crushed ice
METHOD:
1)Wash the berries
2)Add sugar, and berries in blender and blend until smooth.
3)Add milk and crushed ice and blend for a second .We can also add vanilla ice cream along with this .

AVOCADO MILKSHAKE

Avocado are known by the name Butter fruit in chennai.They are available in shops like pazhamudhur solai, nilgiris in chennai .

Avocado fruits have a smooth, creamy flesh. It has high amount of fat content, most of it is mono saturated .They also contain 60% more potassium than bananas. They are rich in vitamin B,E and K along with high fiber content.

Avocado is well know for their cholesterol lowering properties.One more important secret is -Its said that ancient Mayans used this rich ,creamy fruit , which has rich beneficial oils to rejuvenate the skin, reduce eye puffiness, heal frazzled hair, and much, much more.

Because of its smooth creamy texture it is used as the base for the Mexican dip guacamole.

I had no idea of any other dishes that are prepared with avocado till one of my friend in India mentioned about avocado milk shake she had last week.so i tried and it was tasty , different.

I know that everyone is aware of making milk shake but still let me write the method.

INGREDIENTS:

Avocado-1

Sugar- according to taste

Milk

Crushed ice

METHOD:

1)Peel the skin.

2)Mash avocado and add sugar and make a paste.

3)Add milk, avocado mixed with sugar and Crushed ice in a juice blender and blend for a second.

Our healthy tasty avocado milkshake is ready....Nsoy.

This is one among the 4 recipes that has been sent for Eat Healthy - CALCIUM Rich Contest hosted by sangeetha.