Lemongrass-Gula Melaka Refresher Recipe

More alchemy happened in the kitchen yesterday. I was wondering what to do next with the gula melaka syrup (recipe here) lying around (yes, it's still good to use!) when I remembered that there is some lemongrass left at home too.

I thought since both are South East Asian ingredients, they should pretty much go together. We also have the omnipresent summer. So I made a light and refreshing drink of these two.  Presenting a new beverage straight from my kitchen: Lemongrass Gula Melaka Refresher!

Lemongrass-Gula Melaka Refresher Recipe

This drink is very light in it's flavours. Lemongrass gives it a subtle and fresh lemony fragrance without the sourness. Gula melaka adds a lovely maltiness to the drink. These flavours compliment each other beautifully.

Lemongrass-Gula Melaka Refresher Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Making Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 cups cold water
6 leaves of lemongrass (gavati chaha)
2 tbsps gula melaka syrup
3 cups cold water
5-6 ice cubes

Method:

Cut the lemongrass leaves into small pieces.

Put them in the water and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, let it simmer on low gas for about 3 minutes.

Add in the cold water to the lemongrass water.

Take ice cubes in a glass. Pour the gula melaka syrup into it.

Gula Melaka Syrup on Ice

Then pour the lemongrass mixture on top in a thin trickle along the side of a spoon. You'll get two lovely layers.

Serve with a stirrer.

Enjoy! 

Tip: You can always substitute the gula melaka syrup with sugar syrup. Lemongrass goes just as well with both.

Lemon Iced Tea Recipe

Imagine landing at the Mumbai airport at 4:30 am in the morning. You're just back from pleasantly cool weathers of Europe when your pilot announces, "The temperature outside is 31 degrees Celsius." What?!! You land on earth with a thud!

Lemon Iced Tea Recipe

Yes, summer has fully descended on us. The days are hot and the evenings and nights remain warm.Summer brings about a lot of change in our eating patterns. My most favourite one is switching over to iced tea from hot tea in the evenings.

This basic lemon iced tea recipe those is especially for those who have the powdered ones. It is very easy to make, takes just a little bit of time and is healthier and tastier. Try it out!


Lemon Iced Tea Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Making Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 tsps Darjeeling tea/ 2 Darjeeling tea bags
2 tbsps sugar
3 cups cold water
4 tsps lemon juice
5-6 ice cubes

Lemon slices and mint sprigs for garnishing

Method:

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Switch off the gas and add in the Darjeeling tea. Brew for 2 minutes and strain.

Add in the sugar and stir till it dissolves.

Add cold water to the sweetened tea. Now add in the lemon juice once it is cool.

In a tall glass, take some ice cubes. Put in a sprig of mint and a lemon slice.

Lemon Iced Tea Recipe

Pour in the prepared tea.

Relax and sip.

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera... so many memories! Of childhood summers. Of vacations at Ahmedabad. Of one rupee coins demanded everyday for it. Of carrying so many packets back in our bags. Let me elaborate.

My mother's sister lives in Ahmedabad and we used to go there once every couple of years for summer vacations. I was introduced to jaljeera buy her son, my first cousin. We used to take one rupee coins everyday after lunch from our mothers to buy it. Our mothers at that time would have been relieved from their morning duties and would be free and in a relatively good mood to give us the money.  After some time when the heat lulled them to sleep we would go down in Ahmedabad's blistering afternoon mid-May heat to the shop to buy one packet each of this spice powder. You see, despite their strict warnings that we would fall sick if we went out in the heat, we could not wait till evening to get our daily dose of this yummy, sour, pungent drink. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

We are old enough now to understand why we were asked not to go out in the heat, but we are never too old to crave and love jaljeera! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Now that I cook, I have tried to make this summer favourite at home from scratch. It turned out great and I have decided not to buy powder any more but make it fresh every time! It hardly takes 10 minutes to do so! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera in Hindi literally means 'cumin water' and refers to this spiced beverage that makes for a great appetizing summer drink. Jaljeera has mint which has a cooling effect on the body during the hot summer months. It is packed with flavour from spices like black salt, asafoetida, dried ginger powder and cumin that also aid digestion. Jaljeera, like masala chaas, can be served at the beginning of a meal or as a drink any time of the day. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Making Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

3 tsps cumin powder

2 tsps rock salt

2 tsps red chilly  powder

2 tsps dried mango powder (amchur)

1 1/2 tsps black pepper powder

1 tsp dried ginger powder

1 tsps asafoetida

2 tbsps lemon juice

Salt to taste

4 cups water

Boondi (fried crispy chickpea pearls) to serve

Method

In a grinder, grind together the mint with the dried spice powders

and lemon juice till they form a smooth paste.

Add in the water and stir till the paste dissolves well into the water. Adjust salt if required after adding water.

You can strain the prepared jaljeera if you do not like the ground mint leaves. I like the way they taste, so I did not strain them.

Serve with some boondi in it. 

Masala Chaas (Spiced Buttermilk) Recipe

Mumbai winters are of the 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kind. And we often say that the only season Mumbai has is summer with three months of summer monsoon thrown in. The point being that summer is already in the air and it's barely mid March.

The weather has already reached the summer vacation season level (sigh. vacation!). The levels of mercury are soaring, and so is the humidity. This season comes with decreased appetites and a greater desire for refreshing and thirst-quenching cooling beverages.

Masala Chaas: Spiced Buttermilk

There are a wide variety of beverages available - but for me nothing beats the heat like 'aapdi masala chhas' (our spiced buttermilk)! A light drink of cooling yogurt with a hint of spice from ginger, green chilly and cumin.. ah! 

Chhas can be served in various ways. In the Gujarati tradition of food, chhas is usually served before a meal as it increases appetite and aids digestion. It can also be had as a refreshing beverage any time of the day. It also forms a good accompaniment for khichdi. 

Masala Chaas: Spiced Buttermilk

Masala Chaas (Spiced Buttermilk) Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 cups yogurt

4 cups cold water

2 green chillies

1/2 inch piece of ginger

2 tbsps finely chopped corriander leaves 

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

Method

Grind together the chillies and ginger to form a fine paste.

Mix together the yogurt and water in a deep vessel.

Add in the salt, the cumin powder and the ginger and green chilly paste. Blend well with a hand blender.

Now add in the chopped corriander leaves.

Serve chilled!

Kulhad Masala Chai

Hot, minty, spicy, and sweet chai that reminds me winters are just around the corner! Pour in a mitti ka kulhad and you can add another level of fun to it's experience!

Kulhad Masala Chai with all the Spices

Kulhad Masala Chai

Ingredients

1/2 cup water
1 tbsp black tea leaves
10 fresh mint leaves
1/4 inch ginger piece crushed
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2-3 green cardamoms opened but with shells
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar

Method

Heat water with the tea leaves, mint leaves, ginger and the spices till it comes to a boil. Lower the flame, cover the utensil and let it simmer for 5 mins at least. The longer you brew it, the tastier your tea will be.

Add in the milk and put on high flame till the milk comes to a boil. Add in the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves. Lower the flame again and simmer till the desired colour is achieved. I like my tea strong so I brew it for another 7 to 8 minutes. It requires some time and patience, but the end results are totally worth the wait!

Pour into a kulhad and sip hot!

Kulhad Masala Chai

Tea Week 3: Types of Tea

The story of the journey of the tea impacts its colour and flavour. As I promised in my last post, here are the types of teas based on the steps in the production process.

The Journey and the Type of Tea

Here is a quick infographic on the production process of each of the three types of tea commonly found in India.

Tea Week 2: Tea Production

Having spoken of the Legends about the Discovery of Tea, I will finally come back to what my original topic was for the first post of the Tea Week: Tea Production. How is it that the fresh tea leaf is transformed into the fragrant ones stored in our homes? What gives green tea a unique flavour from black tea or white tea? All of these answers lie in the way these teas are processed. The process of tea production has the following steps:


1. Plucking 

Tea Plucking

Tea plucking happens twice a year during early spring and late spring or early summer. There can be autumn plucking as seen in Darjeeling teas from some estates as the climate permits it. During quality periods like First Flush or Second Flush, a terminal bud and two leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) are plucked whereas during other periods even three to four leaves can be plucked. Plucking can be done by machines but is preferably done by hand when good quality tea is being processed.


2. Withering

Withering the Tea Leaves

The tea leaves begin to wilt as soon as they're plucked. Don't worry it is a desirable thing! It is the beginning to the oxidation process that is going to give tea its flavour. Withering can be done in many ways. Tea leaves can be put under the sun to dry and wither. Another popularly used method is use 'withering troughs' which are about 6 inches deep. Fans are installed to pass air over the green leaf while it withers. This process can take 18-24 hours. This process removes the moisture content of the leaf so that it can withstand the pressure of rolling.


3. Rolling

Rolling the Tea Leaves

Rolling is the process by which the withered tea leaves are shaped into strips either by hand or by a machine with light pressure. This breaks the cells of the tea leaf causing sap and juices to ooze out and add flavour to the tea. The type of rolling depends on the type of tea, for example in oolong tea, the rolled strips of tea are rolled further into spheres or half spheres.


4. Fermentation/ Oxidation

Fermentation of Tea Leaves

Fermentation is the process that allows the leaves to darken to a desired colour. The rolled tea leaves are stored in climate controlled conditions that are carefully controlled. This process causes the enzymes to break down and releases the tannins giving tea its characteristic flavour. This fermentation process can take up to 3 to 4 hours depending on the type of the tea again.




5.  Drying 

Drying to Produce the Final Tea

Drying produces the final tea that is ready for consumption and sale. This process can also be known as firing based on the particular technique used. Generally, the tea leaves are dried using baking. In green tea, drying is the most important step of adding flavour to the tea leaves.






There are many additional steps in the production of tea that are unique to the type of tea produced. These steps give the tea their characteristic colour or flavour. While producing yellow tea sweltering is used to turn the leaves yellow from green whereas some teas are aged further after drying to give them more flavours. Stay tuned for more details on these on my blog post tomorrow which will be about the 'Types of Teas'!





References

http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/black-tea-production

http://www.nathmulltea.com/manufacturing.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing



Images 

Tea plucking: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/Northeast/Sikkim/Ravangla/photo1088946.htm

Tea Withering: http://www.bigelowteablog.com/tag/tea-plantation/

Tea Rolling http://www.natureproducts.net/Puer_Tea/Banzang.html

Tea Fermentation http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5497827

Tea Drying http://www.flickr.com/photos/myragoodrich/294337502/

Tea Week 1: Legends About the Discovery of Tea

I can't believe it has been so many months since I have been blogging, but I have not come around to writing much about tea. Tea is my go-to  beverage for anything and everything. Teas can be soothing and calming and at the same time refreshing and rejuvenating. Coffee has a good buzz and I occasionally drink it when I need a buzz, like on Monday mornings. But my preferred cuppa is always a cup of tea. Since, I have not written much about my preferred cuppa till date, I am dedicating a whole week on my blog to tea.

Today, I was going to write about origins of tea: a basic history and the journey of tea from the green leaf of the plant to our kitchens ready to be brewed. As I was reading up on the legends, I realised that there are so many fascinating legends surrounding tea, its discovery and history. It is difficult to choose one and go with it, so I have changed my post today to just talk about these legends.

1. Indian Legends

Firstly, let me talk about what the history of tea has been in our country. The documented evidence regarding tea drinking in India has been recorded in the Ramayana and dates back to B.C. 750.

Ramayana: Earliest Documented Evidence of Tea Drinking in India
Image courtesy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2003/04/ramnavmi_02.shtml

 In Ayurveda, there is a tradition of using dried herbs such as pudina, mulethi etc for medicinal purposes. The Indian preparation of tea, 'chai' with its milky, sweet taste served as a perfect disguise for these punjent and bitter tasting herbs. This evidence trail however went cold for about a thousand years afterwards.

The legends re-emerged with Buddhist legends. They say that a Buddhist monk, who has been called Dharma Boddhisatva or Bodhidharma, decided to spend seven years without sleeping to contemplate about the teachings of Buddha and about life. In the fifth year of his penance, he almost fell asleep. So, he took some leaves from a nearby plant and chewed on them. The leaves, which were the leaves of a wild tea plant, helped rejuvenate him and thus, tea was discovered.

Legend of Bodhidharma's Meditation and the Discovery of Tea
Image courtesy: http://greenteadoodles.wordpress.com/tag/bodhidharma/

2. Chinese Legends

In Chinese legends, Shen Nong (an emperor, a herbalist, and also called the father of agriculture and herbal medicine) has definitely been credited with the discovery of tea around B.C. 2700. However, things get a little misty from here. There are various stories of how he actually discovered tea.

One story in the ancient Chinese medical book, called The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic, has it that he would taste about 100 types of plants each day to discover which were edible, medicinal or poisonous. Moreover, legend also has it that he had a transparent belly that would allow him to observed the effects of these plants (not that I believe this part much). When he had tea leaves, he found that these passed through his stomach and intestines, checking for poisons and clearing them out of his system. He called these leaves "Cha" which meant "checking for poisons" and thus tea was discovered. This seems to be an unbelievable legend, especially because of the transparent stomach bit. So, I searched some more and found two more believable stories about Shen Nong and the discovery of tea.

Shen Nong, the falling leaves, and the discovery of tea
Image courtesy: http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/Chinese_tea/2011-07/15/content_22999489.htm

One story has it that Emperor Shen Nong insisted on drinking boiled water for hygiene purposes. Once when he was on a trip to distant regions of his empire, his party halted to rest. As per his preference, his servants started boiling water for his consumption when a few leaves carried by the wind, fell into the boiling water. They went unnoticed and the water was drunk by Shen Nong who found the beverage rejuvenating. This is the legend of discovery of tea by Shen Nong. In another version of this story, it is said that Shen Nong took a rest under a tree after a long walk and lit a fire to boil water. Some leaves of a tea plant fell into this water and rejuvenated him after having tasted 100 plants the day before. Shen Nong believed that he had discovered a medicinal plant that can help a person think quicker, sleep less, move lighter, and see clearer.

These versions are quite Newtonian, I must say!


3. Japanese Legend 

The Japanese legend about the discovery of tea talks of the same Buddhist monk Bodhidharma as the Indian legend. However, this version is a little more gruesome. According to this legend, Bodhidharma who had taken the vow to meditate and not sleep for seven years (some versions say nine years, either ways it is a long time!) ended up actually falling asleep. He woke up and was disgusted and angry at himself for falling asleep. This led to him chopping his eyelids off. These fell to the ground and the first tea plant grew there!

Bodhidharma of the Japanese Legend about the Discovery of Tea
Image Courtesy: http://jp-planet.blogspot.in/2012/12/zen-gets-serious-bodhidharma.html

4. Korean Legend

According to the Korean legend, King Suro was one of the six princes born of an egg that descended from the sky. He married an Indian princess Heo Hwang-ok who brought with her a boatful of dowry. One of the gifts she got was tea seeds. And thus, tea came to Korea., from India.

King Suro and Queen Heo Hwang-ok
Image courtesy: http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?/topic/9807-koreas-indian-queen/

References 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea#cite_note-Macfarlane-4

http://www.tea.in/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture

http://www.tching.com/2012/03/legends-on-the-origins-of-tea-from-china-japan-and-korea/

http://www.dethlefsen-balk.de/ENU/10730/Legend_of_Tea.html

Filter Coffee

I have always loved filter coffee. There is no comparison to its aroma, perfect amount of slight milkiness and 'just-about' sweetness. And who can forget the fun of pouring it from one tumbler to another to make it all frothy! Filter coffee experience is just incomplete without it! Whenever I go to an udipi or the Banana Leaf, I always order one, whatever the time of the day.

Much as I love filter coffee, I have never tried it at home. Yesterday, I saw (rather was led to it by its aroma) a packet of filter coffee grinds from a local Matunga shop at the small grocery shop near my house and I picked it up. Because of the beautiful fragrance coming from it, I thought it's definitely worth a try!
Today morning I finally tried my hand at making filter coffee and I managed to nail it! To keep the theme going, I also made upma with it for breakfast and had a great headstart today!

Filter Coffee

3 tsps filter coffee grinds
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
Sugar to taste

Method

Bring the water to a boil. Take the coffee grinds on a chhalni and put it on your serving cup or mug or steel tumbler. Slowly pour the boiled water in a very thin trickle over it. Traditionally this is done through a brass filter, but I do not have one, so I adapted the method and used a common everyday chhalni definitely found in all kitchens. Please see picture below.

The aroma of a great morning: filter coffee grinds!

Boil the milk in a separate container and add it into the coffee. Add in the sugar.

Take another tumbler or mug and pour the coffee from one to another from a height of about 1/2 a foot to 1 foot in a trickle. Do this till the sugar dissolves and the coffee has a layer of froth on top.

Serve piping hot!

Filter coffee and upma

P.S. This coffee needs real filter coffee grinds that are 100% coffee beans. Instant coffee powders have only 70% coffee beans and the rest are chicory beans. You can easily buy filter coffee grinds in Matunga (Central suburb) near kabootarkhana if you're in Mumbai. At a lot of places otherwise local tea-only shops also carry at least two varieties of filter coffee grinds.

P.S. 2: I have submitted the picture "The aroma of a great morning: filter coffee grinds!" for the The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series  for the September Colour Me Brown Challenge. 

Kashmiri Kahwa

Kashmiri Kahwa... the first time I had this tea was at Dolly's at Kolkata... (yes, not at Kashmir!) and I instantly fell in love with it!

Then I tried this tea at Tea Center at Churchgate and the love affair bloomed... so much so that I brought two packets of the tea bags from there and used up the one I was supposed to a gift a friend myself!

Today, I finally tried making this tea as I remember it from Dolly's and from the ingredients listed on the packet of the tea bags and voila! Kashmiri Kahwa as I remember it.

Disclaimer: this recipe is definitely as far as I know a deviation from the traditional recipe in terms of a couple of spices used or nuts added (like almonds are crushed and added but I personally do not like my tea to be chewed in any way!) but it makes for a wonderful tea!

Kashmiri Kahwa

2-3 green cardamom pods
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
2-3 saffron strands
1 green tea bag (or 1 1/2 spoons if you are using loose tea leaves)
2 cups water
Sugar to taste

Method

Boil the water with the spices in it so that their flavour infuses well in them. Once the water comes to a boil add the tea and let it brew for about 2 minutes. Serve with a bit of sugar for taste!

Tea Tip

The tip to getting the right strength of tea (not too strong or light) when using loose tea leaves is to boil the water, switch off the stove, adding a teaspoon of leaves per cup and letting it brew till the tea leaves settle at the bottom... When they do, it perfect strength tea!