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Breakfast Smoothie |
Category: Milk
Jaggery Blancmange

Nowadays , how much ever I try, I am not being very successful in reducing the time gap between two posts. Either I would not have cooked anything interesting, or even if I do cook, the dish vanishes by the time I could take a photograph…With so many things coming into play, I keep wondering how my fellow blogger friends manage the show! 🙂
My very first brush with this delectable dessert was through Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a heart warming novel, where Jo takes across blancmange to sick neighbor Laurie to soothe his sore throat. Well, I did not have a clue of what it was at that tender age, but kept wondering about it, till I made it myself a couple of months ago. As ever, my sweet loving, give-me-new-recipes-any-time DH loved it. I had my reservations though, and was looking for a way to spice it up. JFI gave me the idea and I added jaggery and a little lemon zest and the result was delicious. Here’s the recipe…
Jaggery/Gur/Vellam/Bellam – 8 Tbsp
Corn Flour – 4 Tbsp
Milk – 2 1/4 Cups
Lemon Zest – 1 Teaspoon
Boil half of the milk. In the other half, dissolve the jaggery and strain to remove impurities. Add the corn flour and stir without any lumps. Finally add the lemon zest. Add the boiled milk to this jaggery mixture and stir well. Return it to heat and keep stirring on a low heat. In about 5 to 10 minutes, the milk will attain the consistency of a porridge. To test doneness, dip a spoon into the milk and draw a line using your finger on the back of the spoon. If the line stays clear, the blancmange is done. Pour into a mould which is wet and refrigerate. It usually takes about one and a half hours for the blancmange to set. Unmould, and serve with cream, fresh fruits, nuts and a syrup of your choice.
I cannot stop myself from saying that jaggery adds a whole new dimension to the flavor of this dessert..and served with a tangy orange syrup, it truly is scrumptious. The recipe for the syrup is as follows…
Orange Juice – 1 Cup
Brown Sugar – 2 Tbsps
Cardamom – 1 pod
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Combine all ingredients and cook on a low heat till the juice thickens. Instead of orange juice, you can use any juice. My favorites are black currant, apple and grape.
Nutty Delight

When Vineela of Vineela’s Cooking announced the topic for JFI#5 – Milk, I was delighted and went off on a trip down memory lane reliving all my “milkilicious” memories…! This is my entry to the event.
Lemon Rice & Kiwi Milkshake

The sun was as usual at its zenith yesterday and our hopes of a cool drizzle to quench our parched bodies were wasted. I was not in a mood for an elaborate lunch, so Sai and I settled in for lemon rice with peanut chutney, along with a glass of kiwi milkshake.

Here goes the recipe:
Kiwi Milkshake:
Ingredients:
Kiwi – 2
Milk – 1 Cup
Sugar – 1 Teaspoon
Vanilla Extract – 1 Teaspoon
Vanilla Icecream – 1 Scoop
Peel the kiwis and blend with the rest of the ingredients till smooth. Hmm..Lip Smacking!!
Lemon Rice:
Ingredients:
Cooked Rice – 1 Cup
Green Chillies – 4 – 5
SplitGinger – 1 inch piece Crushed
Raw Groundnuts – 3 Tablespoons
Curry Leaves – 10
Urad Dal – 1 Teaspoon
Mustard seeds – 1 Teaspoon
Channa dal – 1 Teaspoon
Lemon – 1
Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Turmeric – A pinch.
Coriander (Finely Chopped) – 1 Tablespoon
Juice the lemon and mix the juice with the rice along with salt. In a skillet, heat the oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and the curry leaves. After the mustard seeds splutter, add green chillies and ginger. Fry for a minute. Add the groundnuts and fry till they turn golden brown. Add a pinch of turmeric and toss in the rice. Mix well and garnish with coriander.
Serve with groundnut chutney.
Groundnut/Peanut Chutney:
Ingredients:
Groundnuts – 1 Cup
Garlic Flakes – 3
Green Chillies – 3
Tamarind – a cherry sized ball
Jeera – 1 Teaspoon
Water – 1/2 Cup
Seasoning:
Oil – 1 Tablespoon
Mustard Seeds – 1 Teaspoon
Curry Leaves – 5
Fry groundnuts without oil till light brown. Grind with the rest of the ingredients till smooth. Finish off with a seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves.