Badam Doodh / Almond Milk Shake

We Indians, surely have a thing for milk. The fascination and fixation for milk even produced a legend like Milkha Singh, though it is sheer coincidence that even the name begins with the word 'milk'. Then, there's the fascination for milk-based drinks and milkshakes that come in myriad varieties and flavors, with uses that range from thirst quenchers to desserts to energy drinks and even cannabis (bhang)-based cocktails called as thandai. A good glass of milk, boiled with a clutch of crushed dry fruits like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, dates, and more, laced with cardamom or chironji seeds, served chilled or warm, is surely a comfort drink for a sweltering hot day or a shivery cold night.

Ingredients

Milk - 2 cup
Almonds - 18 to 20
Saffron - a pinch or Saffron syrup - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Sugar - 2 tsp
Soak the almonds in lukewarm water.

Boil the milk and keep aside. After a few minutes strain it to take out any of the cream that forms on top. Grind the almonds in 1/4th cup milk to a fine paste. Add this paste to the rest of the milk and strain it if you like especially for children. I prefer not to strain it. Then add the sugar, saffron strands and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep in the refrigerator to cool. Serve it either cool or chilled.

For people with lactose intolerence try the same with almond milk. Soak about half a cup of almonds overnight or even upto 24 hours and grind to a fine paste. Then add water and pulse it once more. Use a fine mesh sieve to separate the milk. Grind the leftover nut pieces with a little water and again sieve to get the fine milk, discard any remains. Add the sugar, saffron strands and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep in the refrigerator to cool. Serve it either cool or chilled.

 

Apple Date Smoothie

Continuing with my smoothie / shake series.... this is a new one. The other day when we were in the market and saw our fruit vendor had some good wet dates. They were cleaned ( though I do still rinse them before using) and packaged in neat 500gm packets. I took a liking to dates from my mother-in-law; she would buy it from the local market and would give us about 4-5 cleaned ones most days. Then later when I started baking I loved the idea of adding dates in cakes not restricting myself to only the date and walnut cake. So, unexpectedly, we bit into a sweet as ever piece of date when eating my pound cake as well :)

 

And now to get back to my smoothie, this is a great smoothie to have for breakfast or even as that mid morning or evening pick me up. Instead of giving into the temptation of a snack or chocolate or even coffee try this smoothie, it will assuage the hunger pangs and sweet cravings. The apple, dates and almonds (how could I leave it out!) blend really well making this a tasty smoothie. As for the benefits, it's numerous, find the benefits for the apple and almonds here. And the dates, it is rich in fiber, iron, calcium, fluorine, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, Vitamin K  and Vitamin B6. It contains simple sugars like fructose and dextrose which replenish the energy and revitalize the body instantly being one of the reasons that it is used to break fasts. Dates promote digestive health and relieves constipation thereby promoting colon health. It is also believed to boost heart health and reduce the risk of stroke due to the presence of magnesium in it. Magnesium is also believed to help in controlling blood pressure and dates have a high content of it. Vitamin B6 is shown to boost brain performance increasing test scores. Dates also contain antioxidants known as Tannins, known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic properties. But yes, be warned of the high sugar content, it has an unbelievable 66.5gms of sugar per 100gm serving. So watch the amount of intake.

 

Ingredients

Almonds - 8 to 10

Apple - 1

Dates - 4 to 5

Milk - 3/4 cup

Soak the almonds for about 4 to 6 hours. Deseed and chop the dates and soak it in the milk for a couple of hours in the frig. Refrigerate the apple.

Discard the water in which the almonds were soaked and grind it to a fine paste. Then add the dates soaked in milk and again grind it finely. Next chop the apples and add it to the blender. Once finely blended pour it into a glass and it is ready to serve.

For a vegan version, increase the amount of almonds and grind it finely with water to make almond milk. Substitute the milk with the almond milk and a vegan version of the same smoothie is ready.

Blend the apples last just before serving to avoid browning due to oxidization.

P.S. And I forgot to take pics!

 

(Information on benefits sourced from: http://naturalsociety.com/health-benefits-of-dates-7-reasons-eat-date-fruit/ & http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dates.html)