Strawberry Lassi

Is a popular and traditional yogurt-based drink which originates in the Punjab region of India. It is a cool, refreshing and healthy  "pick me up" drink perfect for any time of day. Lassi is flavored with sugar, mango, strawberry or other fruit juices
Ingredients:
 10 ripe strawberries, rinsed
 2 tbs sugar
 1/4 cup whole milk
 1 cup  yogurt
 3 ice cubes(optional if using frozen strawberries)
Method:
Blend everything together in a blender. Serve in a tall glass topped with additional strawberry slices if desired.

Homemade Shamrock Shake

Today being Sunday and it being the St.Patrick's day, I thought of making all things green. We had green eggs for breakfast, spinach rice for lunch and I made this Shamrock Shake as a dessert/drink. Shamrock Shake is a seasonal drink that McDonald's introduced to celebrate St.Patrick's Day. I have never tasted the real one but Aishwarya had and she thinks this is very close to the real one,though mintier and yummier by her standards.
Happy St.Patrick's Day!
Recipe source:Cupcakes & Cashmere
Ingredients:
Shake 
3 cups vanilla ice cream
1½ cups whole milk
½ teaspoon mint extract
Green food coloring
Salt a pinch

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
 In a large bowl, beat cream until medium peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.Set this aside.Or you can skip this and use a store bought whipped cream.
 In a blender, combine all shake ingredients and process until thick and fully incorporated. Pour into glasses .Top with whipped cream, and garnish with mint sprigs.

Mango Lassi

The last couple of days had turned out to be so very hot in the SF Bay area where I live. Although the summer is yet to be in officially, it almost felt like mid-summer. We all switched in to summer clothing and yet the body was yearning to be cooled. What else can cool the body better than a classical mango lassi !
Lassi is a yogurt based drink popular in India and can be made in different flavors. If you haven't tried this yet, this is a must try - you sure would come back for more.

Ingredients
2 cups ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced or 2 cups sweetened kesar mango pulp (you can get tinned ones at the Indian grocery stores)
1and 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar or to taste(adding sugar is not neccessary if you are using mango pulp)
Method:
Blend all the ingredients together in a blender to a smooth puree. Serve with a dollop of vanilla icecream if its extremely hot or have it as it is.
It is best if all the ingredients are pre-cooled, rather than adding ice cubes while blending it. Adding ice cubes would dilute the lassi and though many use this method, I prefer the thicker consistency. If I need it colder, I would just add some ice-cream on top.

Papaya Smoothie

This is one smoothie that will be loved by both papaya lovers as well as non lovers. Its also easy and tasty what more reason do a person need to try this out.
Ingredients:
Ripe Papaya-1 cups
Cold Milk -2 cup(or substitute it with vanilla icecream)
Brown sugar -3 tbs or to taste
Vanilla essence- 1tsp
Method:
Blend all together in a blender till smooth and silky.Your Papaya smoothie is ready.

MAITRI! Strawberry Banana Friendship Smoothie

When Priya and Rashmi, the brains behind the MAITRI movement asked if I would be interested in joining this friendship chain of food bloggers, I didn't think twice before answering yes.

 So when I got my mystery friend, Divya's parcel with the mystery ingredient I was all excited to find out what it was. Along with the secret ingredient, Divya had also sent me a cute Wilton Bunny cookie cutter along with a sweet little card! Thank you, Divya for the lovely gifts and the wonderful card!

I could make out that the mystery ingredient was flaxseed meal, though I never used it in my cooking before. Thanks to MAITRI for expanding my cooking horizon!

Ingredients:
1  banana
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons flax seed meal
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 cup Strawberries, sliced
Method:
Cut banana into small pieces and place into the blender. Add the  milk, flax seed meal, and honey. Blend on lowest speed until smooth, for about 5 seconds. Gradually add the strawberries while continuing to blend on low. Once the strawberries have been incorporated, increase speed, and blend to desired consistency.Serve with a scoop of frozen vanilla yogurt or whipped cream.
Sending this over to  Saffronstreaks seasonal indulgence – series summer coolers event and Ticklingpalates  Fun N Sun event