Anshu's Food Odyssey

Litchi Rose Agua Fresca  is a refreshing and cooling summer drink infused with beautiful flavors of litchi fruit and rose.  If you have been reading through my blog, you must be well aware that litchi is my favorite summer fruit. As it gets available for only a short duration of time, I try to make most of it majorly by experimenting with it in different drinks and coolers. Some of the refreshing drinks that I have made using litchi in past include LITCHI LEMONADE , LITCHI AND CHERRY LEMONADE and LITCHI & COCONUT LEMONADE . This Litchi & Rose Agua Fresca is yet another of my experiments and it came out absolutely amazing. If you too are a litchi lover like me, then this recipe is a keeper. Do try!  Litchi Rose Agua Fresca INGREDIENTS (Serves 2 to 3) Litchi - 18 to 20 Sugar - 1/4 cup Water - 1/2 cup Rose syrup - 4 to 5 tbsp Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Quantities of sugar and rose syrup can be adjusted according to your sweet preference. Litchi Rose A...

Spiced Apple and Plum Ice Tea Ingredients Apples - 2 Plums (medium size) - 6 to 8 Water - 4 cups Tea leaves - 2 tsp Star Anise - 2 Honey - 3 to 4 tbsp Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp Spiced Apple and Plum Ice Tea Method First, chop the plums and apples into bite size pieces. Discard the pits. In a sauce pan, add these chunks along with 1 cup of water and 1 star anise. Cook on low flame for about 15 minutes or until apples are softened completely. Keep stirring and mashing the fruit chunks in between with the back of spatula. Strain the fruit mix through a fine mesh. Press hard so that you get the maximum juice and pulp of the mixture. Mix in the lemon juice. Chill this sauce for 3 to 4 hours. Again in a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water along with star anise to a rolling boil. Switch the flame off and add tea leaves. Let them seep in for 2 to 3 minutes after which strain the water. Chill this tea water separately. To make the iced t...

...writing this post after a long hiatus; the last couple of weeks went quite hectic for us as we shifted our base from Singapore back to India. In between, also spent few days soaking our souls in the breathtaking scenery of New Zealand....and as we moved to India, experienced a complete weather shift from extreme cold to extreme hot. In this hot weather, all we could think of is just constantly keeping ourselves hydrated with some chilled summer drinks, fresh fruit juices and mocktails all day long. This "watermelon cucumber and mint cooler" simply worked as a magic potion leaving us completely re-energized and refreshed. A very simple and easy drink to make though, I still thought of sharing my recipe with you all. If you like the recipe, do try it out and don't forget to share your feedback and comments for the same. Watermelon Cucumber Mint Cooler Ingredients (yields 1 to 2 glasses) Watermelon (pitted and cut into cubes) - 2 cups Cucumber (peeled a...

Mango and mint can probably be called the two precious jewels of summer season. When they both blend together, what we get is a magical concoction that can relieve anyone and everyone of all the pain and thirst caused by the harsh sun.... and if this medley is further infused with a few drops of lemon juice, it is no less than an icing on the cake. Want to know the recipe? here you go with the same. Ingredients (serves 4) Ripe mangoes - 2 Mint leaves - 8 to 10 Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup Lemon juice - 1/4 cup Water - 2 cups Method 1. Chop the mangoes. 2. Blend them together along with mint and lemon juice. Keep aside. 3. Heat water and sugar in a saucepan. Stir it occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Cook for another 5 minutes, switch off the flame and let the syrup come to room temperature. 4. Mix in the syrup with mango mint concoction and refrigerate. 5. Serve chilled garnished with few mint leaves.