If you are a tofu lover or a beginner, you will actually start liking these wraps for a couple of reasons

• They dont feel so tofuy so its fairly easy for you to adapt into them.
• These wraps come together in under 20 minutes and don’t need any marination.
• They pack in a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and veggies.

If these sound good to you, lets get you started.

With the approach of autumn,  the sunrise is slowly getting later and later, we have started to slowly wake up late. This means it is then a mad scramble to get things done and all of us out of the door on a weekday. So having something that will roll quickly into a nutritious meal is welcomed. There are a couple of wraps that I know my kids will surely grab as they run out of the door. These are also the ones that my teens never had a reason for missing out on the eating. These are

the Paneer khati rolls,

Black bean and salsa wrap

Pumpkin wraps

and this tricolour tofu wrap

There is another reason why these are sure to be taken without the excuse of “Oh ! I forgot my lunchbox”. These are so much smaller when packed, so bags are less clumsy. Whatever the reason, these do get taken, eaten and are a fully balanced meal. So what is here not to love it.

Here are the details.

Ingredients to make this tricolour wrap

Before you start making wraps, you need to keep in mind that wraps are only as interesting as the flavor of the filling. So lets keep this one interesting.

Wrap:Based on the time you have you can make a roti like flat bread or use a store bought wrap. I use Helgas or Mission wraps as these are the closest to me. 

Tofu: You need firm tofu or extra firm tofu for this recipe. This ensure it will crisp up well and hold shape. If you have firm tofu and are planning your meal ahead, use a tofu press to ensure you get a perfect tofu. once this is sliced, salted and roasted these stay good for lunch. To make the tofu crispy, you need  few ingredients cornflour, breadcrumbs and salt. These three ingrdients coat the tofu to make it crunchy.

Veggie: I have used shredded carrots and baby spinach to make this recipe as this is what I often have at hand ready to go. If you prefer, you can add shredded cabbage, colored capsicum, cherry tomato, celery or avocado. You can use a bagged salad or a coleslaw mix as well to make the wrap. This is a pretty good shredder to use for carrots and cabbage.

Sauce: This is probably the simplest sauce you would have made without any compromise on flavors. It takes only two ingredients – a good quality chilli oil and thickened cream. Once you adjust the salt levels, I will put this on anything from toast to pasta. The sauce is useful as it will not run by afternoon and not make your wrap go limp. 

Equipment to make wraps

Honestly, if you have a great frying pan, you are set to make this recipe. I have this frying pan and love it to fry tofu, it does not stick much as well. I use these pre-cut parchment to wrap the rolls for lunch.

Lets make lunch perfect tofu wrap 

Stay connected

Hope you will like to make this wrap and the crispy tofu. We love taking this on our lunch, surprisingly this makes it to our camps too. When you make this recipe do share your thoughts and what you liked about it.This recipe was posted as a part of Sunday Funday’s theme cottage cheese, tofu and paneer hosted by Mayuri. Here are the other entries, each delightful in its own manner so don’t miss to check them out 

Corn Paneer Parathas from Mayuri’s Jikoni

Cottage Cheese Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Cottage Cheese Wraps from Making Miracles

Cheese Paneer Tikka Open Sandwich in Air Fryer on Sourdough from Cook with Renu

Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir-Fry from Food Lust People Love

Homemade Paneer Recipe Ideas from Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking

Paneer Tomato Rice With Leftover Rice For One from Sneha’s Recipe

Pasta with Green Beans and Ricotta from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Potato, Cottage Cheese, & Caramelized Onion Pierogi from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Retro Cottage Cheese Jello Salad from A Messy Kitchen

We have added some links that we think will come useful for you. These are highlighted in blue. Please use your choice to click on these links as the lead to external sites.

Dont skip lunch, and always éat for your body. Stay connected

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Fresh Brussels sprout from the farmers market

Brussels sprouts| what are they?

How to prep some Brussels sprouts?

• The loose outer leaves and excess stem are clipped away and these easily burn while roasted leaving an unpleasant taste.
• Soak the sprouts in water for about 5 minutes, wash them and set them to drain.
• Pat dry and the sprouts are ready for use.

How do these roasted Brussels sprout taste?

Ingredients for this maple roasted Brussels sprout.

What more to add to these maple roasted Brussels sprout?

Nuts – walnuts or pecans chopped or broken bits of nuts after roasting the Brussels sprouts add so much crunch and nutrition. The subtle sweetness of maple works with the nuts really well.
Sweet potato – The soft roasted sweet potato is by far the best add on roots vegetable to this roast. I love the colours of the two together as it just screams autumn for me.

Furthermore, you can add carrots, parsnips, cauliflower too to make this a huge bowl of roast. If you pass the bowl to me, I will still pick out all the brussels sprouts before I choose the others.

Stay connected

We hope you will love to share with us your thoughts about our Brussels sprouts recipes and post. Do leave your comments for us to improve and also notes on the ones you love.  Take a moment to visit our youtube channel. Leaving you with our Facebook page  (click here) and Instagram (click here ) so you can take a peek. Don’t forget to follow us as we update these to the best of our efforts. Subscribe, share, like and evermore come back.

Collaborations

 Being a unique ingredient Brussels sprouts seemed the best fit to bring to my audience and I am re introducing it theough the Sunday funday group.. Though not so common in India, I am sure my global friends will like to try this recipe.

Stay safe and see you at the next post.

While trying to explore the diversity of cuisines across India, one root vegetable that gets so well used is the potato. May it be jeera aloo, urulakizhanagu stew, potato podimas or aloo dum biryani, you will find potato running its own show here. This pattern extends to all the Indian cuisine styles and the one that caught my attention recently was the Manipuri spicy alu kangmet.

What is alu kangmet?

Though the name sounds so complicated this is one of the simplest of the Manipuri cuisine. Basically it a spicy, mashed potato recipe. The ingredients that flavour are mustard oil, chillies, garlic scapes and ngari (fermented fish). in this vegetarian version, we have omitted the fermented fish. The raw onions served with it or mixed in as pieces with the mash flavour it different from classic mashed potatoes. 

Dietary profile for alu kangmet

Traditional alu kangmet has fermented fish paste added to it so it will not really be a vegan vegetarian recipe. However, the recipe we have made today is with most of the flavours without the fish paste making it vegan.
The recipe uses a bit of oil, but not enough to deep fry so I would say they are still low-oil recipes. However, don’t skip using mustard oil for the best flavour.
The aloo kangmet is certainly grain-free, nut-free and nightshade-free.

Ingredients and substitutions

Potatoes: The potatoes are the main ingredient for this recipe. Any variety of potato that cooks soft and mashes well like the Yukon gold or white potato is perfect for this recipe. You can use the same variety that we have used to make jeera aloo.

Garlic greens: The traditional recipe for alu kangmet uses green onions rather than regular onions. I had a small batch of green onions and that is what I have used for this recipe. If you don’t have any red Spanish onion or sweet pink onion can be substituted, 

Dry red chillies: Ooo this is a spicy recipe that packs in a punch. The dry red chillies roasted in oil are the ones that are mashed in with the potatoes. Use the spicier serrano dried or the milder bydigai (Kashmiri chilli)

Mustard oil: The mustard oil is absolutely needed to bring that classic Manipuri flavour to this dish. You will find these in the Indian grocery stores. Most of them say external application only, but read through and you will notice that it will be used for cooking in certain cuisines. The restriction is because of the high euric acids. There are tolerable limits established in certain countries that are deemed safe. The quantity used for this recipe is really small and under regulatory limits. If this is not an option for you, try olive oil or vegetable oil. I will not recommend coconut oil or sesame oil as it imparts a distinct South Indian flavour and takes away from the recipe.  

Salt: Can’t make this spicy mash without salt! Regular sea salt or Himalayan pink salt will make just the same. 

Let’s make alu kangmet

There are only a few steps that lead you to this spicy lip-smacking potato mash.

Prepping the potatoes: Boil and cool the potatoes. Peel them, gently mash them with a fork and set them aside. 

Making the spicy mix: Wash and clean the green garlic leaves. Remove all the dry leaves and chop them half half-inch pieces. Into a frying pan add oil and as it warms up add the mustard oil. Saute the green garlic
(garlic scapes) and then the dry red chillies till they are crisp. 

Bringing it all together: Add all this to the potato and mash the spices into the potatoes with salt. roll them up into small balls to serve with rice.  In the recipe card below are the details of this recipe and you can pin from here too to your board.

Serving aloo kangmet

Aloo kangmet is often served with tan (bread) at breakfast time. However, the small ball of aloo kangmet is so soothing to have with rice. If on a soft diet have this with porridge or congee.

Meal prep alu kangmet

Aloo kangmet stays so good for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator to have for the week, However, potatoes leach water and lose that soft texture you don’t want it frozen.Hence, I haven’t quite come to be successful in freezing this recipe.

If you are serious about meal prep, invest in a good set of glass boxes for storage. Check out these ones if you are in Australia. They are really a great investments. 

Other recipes from North Eastern India

North Eastern Indian cuisine is rarely blogged about. But each state and tribe brings out some unique flavours. Here are a few recipes we have blogged about earlier. Try some?

Chia al meh

Kechuri

Rosep aon

Phuklein

Collaboration

This recipe is a part of the Sunday Funday collection of “cook with roots”. The bloggers, under Mayuri have collaborated to put some useful recipes together that range in cuisine. Try these recipes that use potato,beets, sweet potato, ginger, parsnips, carrots etc.

Mayuri’s Jikoni : Arbi Ka Paratha

Cook With Renu: Beetroot Paneer Rice With Leftover Rice (Easy Lunchbox Recipe)

Food Lust People Love: Chantenay Carrot Ginger Soup

Sneha’s Recipe: Ginger Almond & Poppy Seed Vadi

A Messy Kitchen: Maple Miso Root Vegetable Medley

Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Parsnip and Leek Soup with Cumin and Mustard Seeds

Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Roasted Beet Galette

Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Roasties

Making Miracles: Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

Stay connected

Hope you enjoy this spicy kick recipe that helps you explore the Manipuri vegetarian cuisine. When you make this simple recipe, do comment how you like it and how you served it. While you are here, subscribe to receive further updates.

In this post there are some highlighted links in blue. Some of these lead to products that will pay me a small commission if clicked on or bought. Use these links if it is helpful to you and using your discretion.

This post updation had huge help from both Mayuri and Kayani who have introduced and guided me through the new group, with much motivation.

See you in the next post.

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The moment you place a plate of stuffed vegetables feel so much more special that just stir frying.
This is the magic of bharwan. It is not vegetable specific and can be seen in most dominant cuisine styles.
In Indian recipes as well you will come across a large number of vegetables served as roasted or curries with stuffed produce. Okra, capsicum, bottlegourd, eggplants, chillies, bittermelon, lemons,  mushrooms, you name it, there will be a lipsmacking stuffed version of it.
Thats when we got these baby brinjals!! That too farmfresh baby brinjal (eggplant) spotted in the market deserves a wholesome approach. Here is my version of the tastiest stuffed baby eggplant.

What is a brinjal?

Brinjal, eggplants and aubergine are all the same.

The fruits of Solanum melongena is a sturdy shrub that grows easily. The fruits come in various shapes and colours. Some are deep purple and large and used for roasting. Some green or varigated, some elongated like a zucchini and some round like a little ball. The flavor profile is nearly the same. All can be roasted, boiled or grilled and rarely eaten raw.

Here are some recipes we have previously tried with eggplants.
Kashmir doudh wagun
Kerala vazhuthananga mezhukkuperatti
Srilankan wambat moju
Chettinad kathrikka podi varuval

Ingredients to make this peanut masala stuffed brinjals

Unlike the popular dry masala stuffed baingan recipe, this is one that uses fresh ground pastes and roasted peanuts. This makes the eggplants succulent ans keeps the moisture as it roasts.

Brinjal: since eggplants come in various sizes for this recipe what you need is small baby oval or rounded eggplants. The colour or variety is up to you it can be purple, variegated or the white variety. While coosing the eggplants for this recipe, ensure that they are all even sized so you can get them cooked evenly.

Peanut: roasted peanuts form the bulk of the filling.this not only gives the nutty creaminess but also makes this recipe much more nutritious. You can use peeled peanuts of keep in the skin on. Peanut butter is not suitable becoz of the oil content. 

Onion: the red onion provides the base masala flavour.Usually I prefer this and a smooth paste so it is easier to stuff the eggplant. You can choose shallots or white onions to make the same. Shallots will be a bit sweeter.

Fresh masala base: the true flavour of the recipe comes from the fresh pastes that are made. This is a combination of fresh ginger root, garlic and green chillies. When made a paste together, they create fresh and robust flavour paste. This combined with the peanuts make the stuffing so tasty.

Lemon juice: the final splash of Lemon juice once the recipe is done provides a summery freshness to the recipe. You can have lime, lemon or tart orange juice to make this shine.

Lets make bharwan baingan

The recipe is a bit of work between prepping the brinjals and making the masala paste. However, once that part is completed, it is fairly a easy process. Check the notes below so you can actually make it in larger quantities for meal prep. 

Mealprep the stuffed brinjal

Stuffed brinjal stays good in the refrigertor for up to a week, so we highly recommend this recipe to add to your meal prep. Though it takes a bit of time, if you have a large quantity of eggplants, do not hesitate to make a big batch and freeze for later. Complete the roasting process and cool before freezing. In this way, eggplants wont leach and the result when you thaw it back up is as good as the fresh ones. Freeze as a single layer first and then store them in a container. This ensures they do not stick to each other. 

Collaboration

As bloggers we always draw inspiration and ideas from each other and support in the growth and enthusiasm. This time in the Shh cooking secretly group we are exploring stuffed vegetables recipes which have such a huge variety to offer.Check just one more, stuffed capsicum from The mad scientist kitchen.

Stay connected

Stuffed brinjal recipes are a favorite for us in our house. When you try this version of peanut filled, stuffed eggplants do let us know how you liked this recipe in the comments below. The recipe my sound similar to Bharali vangi, however is far different in flavour. 

We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

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See you in the next post.

What is sabhudhana kheer?

Ingredients to make sabhdhana kheer

What are the best tips to make sabhdhana kheer better?

• Cooking down the milk: reducing the milk actually brings forth a creamy density. This flaours the tapicoa pearls really well.
• Evaporated milk cuts down a fair bit of the cooking time. It also doesn’t take away from the flavour.
• In certain recipes for the kheer you will find the addition of milk powder. This again increases the creaminess of the milk.
• Soak the tapioca pearls: it is no fun to bite into a hard centered tapioca pearl. So ensure you wash and then soak the tapioca pearls for a couple of hours

Is jaggery suitable to be added to this kheer instead of sugar?

You can certainly use jaggery in the place of sugar to make this recipe. If using jaggery, do not add it like you do with sugar. Instead dissole the jaggery in a bit of warm water and make a syrup. oil the syrup and remove the impruitirs that skim on top. When the cooking process for the kheer is finished, add the jaggery syrup after you remove the kheer from the heat. This will ensure the kheer is not curdled.

Meal prep for this kheer

Serving ideas for sabhudhana kheer

Can I make this kheer vegan?

Can I make this a sugar free dessert?

Enjoy sipping this warm broth with pumpkin and soft tofu through winter months or as you recover.

Ever since her braces the tooth sensitivities are high and my daughter looks for something filling  yet soothing. That’s when we devised this soft tofu and pumpkin broth soup that has been a winner.
Served warm, the soup has a lot of liquid and soft cooked pumpkin pieces. The soft tofu can be added chunky or broken down to form more of an egg drop soup consistency. This is a bowl of pure comfort and nourishment at the same time. It is a beginner recipe that is needs a chopping board, knife and a cooking pot only. It is,

• low calorie
• gluten free
• devoid of nuts
• dairy free.

Ingredients for the pumpkin soft tofu soup

Pumpkin: the chunks of pumpkin give the body to this soup. Any variety is fine as long as they soften when cooked. I like the Japanese variety somehow as it has a smoother mouth feel. It is perfectly OK to swap this to butternut squash as well .

Soft tofu : this is the softness and the uniqueness of this soup. When cooked,the soft tofu assumes a soft jelly like texture. It cannot be swapped for firm tofu as it feels clunky. So no swaps please on the soft tofu.

Seasonings: Salt and pepper is plenty to right make this soup good. Yet I have a secret ingredient you should try.

Dried mushroom powder: This brings forth a soothing umami flavours to the dish. I choose the powder as at the moment my daughter finds it difficult to chew. If not you can add a few chopped pieces of shitake or brown Swiss. I would totally avoid enoki as it will make the soup a bit slimy and with the soft tofu it us not a great mouthfeel.

Broth : to be clear,  I cook the soup in water. However you will get a much more depth of flavour if you use a vegetable broth. If using the broth be mindful not to add salt till you have tested the salt levels.

Herbs: you can finish off this soup with herbs if you like. You can add chopped coriander leaves, chives or scallions.

Let’s make pumpkin soft tofu soup

This will be one of the easiest ways you will make a soup.

Prep the pumpkin: this is probably the most time consuming process in this whole recipe. Peel and chop the pumpkin into chunks. You can dice smaller if you like. Frozen pumpkin cubes work well too.

Cook the pumpkin in broth: into a cooking pot add the broth (or water) and the pumpkin cubes. Cover and cook till the pumpkin is soft and mashable.

Add the soft tofu: remove the block of tofu from the packaging. Cut them into cubes. once the pumpkin is cooked add the tofu into the soup. Simmer and cook for 5 minutes till the tofu steams well. Instead of cubes you can crush the tofu and add. This soup will resemble the egg drop soup.

Season and serve: adjust the salt and sprinkle some pepper into the soup and remove from heat. The soup is ready to be served. Serve warm.

Variations to the soup.

At times we like to spice it up a bit with this soup, so a teaspoon of sambal chilli paste or Thai curry paste into the broth adds a ton of flavour and a variation from the regular.

Likewise, along with the pumpkin, you can add any vegetable you choose. This adds a bit more variety to this broth. You could try zucchini, broccoli, cabbage or winter melon will be good in the recipe.

Meal prep and lunch boxes

The soup broth definitely tastes the best when warm. However, it can be prepared ahead. It stays good for up to 3 days. I wont recommend freezing the soup as it is nit worth that effort.

Other soup recipes that are handy when having braces.

Broccoli and peas soup
Cherry tomato soup
Avocado cold soup
Carrot and celery soup

Stay connected

The pumpkin and soft tofu broth is a simple recipe. It is a perfect winter comfort or a bowl when you are just under the weather. Let me know if you like this version of a simple soup in the discussion below.
Pin this recipe for later.
Stay subscribed and see you in the next post. 

Ingredients to make hidden veggies sandwich.

Let’s make this cream cheese sandwich

Can we make wraps with this filling?

Can the sandwich be made vegan?

Meal prep the cream sandwich

Lunchbox idea with sandwich

Other useful sandwich ideas for lunch boxes

Guacamole sandwich

Loaded vegemite sandwich

Paneer pesto sandwich

Kale sandwich

Stay connected

Dipping your feet into Korean food? Here’s gochujang fried rice that you must not miss. quick and easy, this brown rice fry is gluten-free,  vegan and above all delicious.

The current bonding with my teens is learning the ropes of Korean pop. As I am getting educated on the song list, moves, selfie trends etc my brain runs fueled by flavours. Here is the first and easiest, gochujang fried rice. Hopefully, this imperfect gochujang fried rice version will be accepted by my teens. 

What is gochujang?

I am sure you all are familiar with fried rice. Gochujang takes fried rice to a whole new level, the one that you don’t want to put your fork down.  Gochujang is a unique fermented chilli paste made from taeyancho Chili peppers. It is not a ground chilli paste like gochugaru, rather has fermented soy paste, glutinous rice etc, that contributes to the umami flavour it develops. Gochujang does not have the fiery flavour of the chillies. Yes, there is the spiciness,  yet a bit of sweet mellowness comes from the fermentation. Gochujang is used in combination with gochugaru for heat in many recipes. In this fried rice, we have only used the gochujang to create the flavour.

What rice is best for gochujang fried rice?

Medium to long-grain rice is what is best for making gochujang fried rice. The key idea is that the rice is nonsticky, not a glutinous variety. Today I have used brown basmati to make this recipe. The brown basmati has a bite when cooked and fluffs ups perfectly making it easy to stirfry.

Prepping the rice for the perfect texture

Ideally, soak the rice after washing it for 10 minutes. Depending on the method you choose to cook the rice you will need 1l to 2 times of the water to get fluffy rice. Either cook and drain the excess liquid or use the absorption method. Once the rice is cooked, use a fork to fluff it so the rice grains separate better. To be fair, the best-fried rice makes use of leftover rice as it has dried out a little bit keeping the grains separate, yet soft.

Let’s get cooking

Once you have the rice ready, the gochujang fried rice comes together quickly.
Chop up some veggies you have like onions, capsicum, peas, cabbage, carrots etc. I have used sliced leeks, chopped carrots and capsicum to make it. This keeps changing based on what I have at hand.
Next comes the sauce. So, into the bowl goes gochujang paste, soy sauce and  2 tablespoons of hot water. Whisk this to get a smooth sauce.
I guess you are in ready-set-go mode. Fire up that wok and grease it well with oil. Fry the veggies and add the fluffed rice.  Pour the sauce and quickly start mixing. Use two turners to achieve this. So, it is dug and tossed, not stirred. In this way, the sauce and the veggies get evenly mixed without the rice turning mushy. Once all is mixed, the fried rice is ready to be served.

Serving suggestions for gochujang fried rice

The best dishes to serve with this gochujang fried rice are roasted tofu, some spicy cucumber salad. Pair with chilled baesook and the meal is complete. 

Stay connected

Gochujang fried rice is not an authentic Korean recipe. It is more so a fusion idea that we tried as a stepping stone into the cuisine. It is a very flavourful recipe that we have decided to bond upon. We will welcome your suggestions to try out vegetarian Korean dishes. Leave them in your comments and rate the recipe when you make this fried rice. 

Literally as simple as putting together peaches and cream this no-bake dessert is one that you will love for its simplicity. Enjoy this popular 90’s restaurant dessert, an under-10-minute dessert that can feed a crowd.

When it comes to any fruit, the simplest way appeals to the lazy me. Mostly it is cut and eaten. Otherwise, do something simple with it like add it to a salad. This is exactly what I plan with the first batch of peaches I have hauled. Once the first two or three peaches satisfy my appetite, I need to determine the future for the rest of them. The dessert that easily comes to my mind is peaches and cream.

Choosing the peaches

That perfectly ripened peach is an absolute must for this dessert as it relies on the lovely flavour of the peaches. Look for the round peaches as the tree-ripened ones tend to go round. Smell them! The aroma of that fruit permeates through the soft skin. Then, gently press them. If the fruit yields gently it is ready and juicy.
For this dessert, you can choose white or yellow peaches. yellow peaches give a classic look, that’s all. Flavour wise they are the same.

How to remove the pit from a peach?

There is a line running along the side of the peach. Cut the peach along this line. Now you have a cut to separate them into two halves. Twist one-half and gently pull it away from the other. That one-half separate. Now, wiggle the seed to loosen it. Pull it away from the other half. Remember not to squeeze the flesh much as the fruit is easily bruised.

Ingredients to make this peach dessert

The basic recipe for peaches and cream needs only 2 ingredients. However, this doesn’t do justice to the popular 90’s restaurant dessert. Hence here is my version
Peaches – Once you have chosen and pitted the peaches, slice them or dice them.
Sugar- unrefined sugar works perfectly fine in this case. It is only to keep the pears juicy while you get on further and prevent excessive browning.
Lemon zest-Thi is a small twist that adds a lot of freshness to the dish. As the cream can be pretty heavy the lemon zest helps to lighten the flavour.
Cream- Pouring cream is ideal in this recipe. We are not looking for soft whipped peaks, so no whipping cream is needed. If you want to cut down a bit the calories, try light cream or low-fat cream.
Vanilla- Scrape out a few bits from a vanilla pod and add to the cream. Without te addition of any sugar this gives the simple dessert a fantastic fragrance. 

Making it healthier

Honestly, this dessert is not for you if you are looking for a healthy dessert. I would rather dunk the fruit in chocolate tofu dip to keep it cleaner and simpler.

Make ahead

This is certainly an easy dessert to put together for a crowd. However, you cannot prepare and assemble this dish much in advance. Here is what you can do the previous day.

Prep the glasses ahead.

Cut the peaches, and mix in the sugar and zest. Keep them covered in the fridge.

Whip the cream with vanilla, slightly so you have a pouring consistency. Keep this covered in the fridge.

Once these are set it is as simple as spooning the fruit and cream into the individual glasses.

What other fruit can I try with the cream?

Given an opportunity, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the cream combo with strawberries, mango, grapes, bananas, melons etc. You can also mix a combination of fruits in this vanilla cream.

Stay connected

Hope you have a collection of recipes like this that hardly takes a few minutes but satisfies a crowd really well. In our attempt, the fruit salad with honey dressing and the peaches with cream are my top picks to share on a barbeque day. Let us know in the comments how we are doing with this blog. As usual, leave us a rating on the start system with 5 stars if you like this recipe. Don’t forget to subscribe or connect with us through Instagram or Facebook.

For now, enjoy the sun and the sunny peach season.

The recent India trip was fantastic. As much as we had fun, there are a couple of things that this India trip ruined for me. One was bread the other was rose milk. That was my simple pleasure which the milk booths used to keep in plenty. During this trip, I searched high a low for some but found none. As soon as we got back and the jet lag faded off,  I had to make some myself. Since it has become a kind of rarity, I guess it is best if it is on our blog too.

What is rose milk?

The gorgeous, pale pink, milk-based drink is a gentle lightly sweetened drink popular in summer. With the juicy crunchy basil seeds added, this summer drink is a popular one for the heat and humidity of the tropics. With flavours of extract of rose and the same as its fragrance, the cold, frothy milk drink is a relief from the heat. The drink Bandung in Malaysia and Thai Nom Yen are all versions of the same. However in this recipe today we have not used the rose syrup that gets utilized in most recipes, rather have gone in to create a natural alternate with fresh rose flower petals. 

Ingredients to make the rose milk

Milk : boiled and chilled milk is what we use traditionally for this recipe. However, over a  period of time, I find Evaporated milk gives a full-bodied thick frothy milk moustache-making consistency. You can use half-and-half or low-fat milk too.
Rose petals: nothing beats that fresh rose petal that gets blended in. Use known sources of pesticides free fresh rose petals or edible grade dried ones. The actual variety that we look for with its fragrance is the panneer rose, the one from which rose water is extracted. Make sure your source is from the edible roses as there are plenty that is just ornamental.
Rose water: since the rose petals may not be fragrant enough, edible-grade rose water is required. If you have plenty of rose petals you can avoid using this.
Red food colour: the pink colour is characteristic of this drink. A small drop or two of natural red food colour will do the job. You can use natural dried beet powder in its place too.
Sweetener:  is totally optional. Use honey or sugar to flavour if needed. Since the milk in Australia is much sweeter, I have not used any here.
Sweet basil seeds: this is the exciting part of this drink. Basil seeds are small black seeds often sold in Indian spice aisles as Sabja. This when added to water swells into small jelly globes. They add a lovely touch to the drink and also promote gut health. These are not chia seeds, however, if you cannot get there you can use some chia here.

How to make this drink?

Soak the basil seeds in about 3 times water. Once you gather the ingredients it is as simple as blending them together all except the basil seeds. Once frothy pour into tall glasses and top with the bloomed basil seeds. Check the recipe card below for detailed instructions and exact measurements. YOu can pin the same from th recipe card on to your board if saving for later.

Can this be a vegan drink?

It is a milk-based drink, however, using soy or almond milk gives a delicious vegan pink milk without a huge change in flavour. In fact, I love to use soy milk as my choice for the vegan version. The rest of the ingredients are the same.

Make ahead and storage

The freshly blended rose milk is certainly frothy. However, it is an easy drink to make and store in the refrigerator. It stays good for upto 3 days with regular milk and about 7 days with Evaporated milk. Keep it in a sealed bottle or a small covered pitcher to have on hot days. You can mix in the basil seeds too. They stay at the bottom, so stir well before pouring out the drink for yourself.

Easy summer thirst quenchers on this blog

Apple celery green juice
Nectarine fizz
Fresh fig milkshake
Strawberry lassi
Cherry watermelon smoothie

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If you have spent your childhood in the tropics, I am sure you would have also had a version of this. Pink milk as it is fondly called us now revived for me. Try out this caffeine-free, afternoon pick-up and rate us using the star system below. Share in the comments your childhood experiences with the easy thirst quencher. Subscribe to us for new recipes or visit us often.
Enjoy your glass while I get some more.