Simple recipe for Lemonade

Simple lemonade is usually prepared at home. Varieties of it are sold as a summer refresher at parks, restaurants, hotels, summer outdoor events, fairs, festivals, cinemas, picnic spots, etc.

Ingredients:

• Lemon
• sugar
• water
• ice – cubes

Procedure:

• Take a lemon.
• Cut it into two.
• Squeeze the halves in a crusher.
• Collect the juice in a glass.
• Filter it.
• Pour water.
• Add sugar.
• Stir the solution.
• Put some ice - cubes and serve.

Slices of lemon are added, if it is prepared for guests or during dinner parties.

Instead ice-cubes, shaved ice can be added and served in the name of slush or lemon shake up.

Lemonade and beer make a shandy.

Sometimes salt, pepper powder and water are mixed with lemon juice and ice- cubes added.

Carbonated water is also used instead of water to make the lemonade fizzy.

Cranberry juice is added to get Pink Lemonade.

Quick Kichadi

It is an easy to prepare, healthy and delicious food with rice and lentil as major ingredients. We can have and enjoy this food with chutney, thuvaiyal, pickle, thokku, curd etc.

Ingredients:

• Rice: 2 cups
• Green gram (Paasip paruppu / Moong dal): 1 cup
• Mustard (Katuku / Rai): 1 tsp
• Curry leaves (Kariveppilai / Karipaththa): A few
• Green chili: 3
• Onion: 1
• Tomato: 1
• Garlic: A few
• Coriander leaves (Kothumalli thazhai / Dhania paththa): As required
• Cooking oil / Edible oil: As required
• Turmeric powder: A little
• Ghee / Clarified butter: As required
• Salt: As required
  

Method of preparation:

• Take a cooker and heat oil in it.
• Add muster, curry leaves, chopped green chili, garlic, onion and tomato one after the other and sauté for about two minutes.
• Add six cups of water and boil the contents.
• Add salt and turmeric powder.
• Add rice and green gram.
• Pressure cook for three whistles.
• Add a little ghee and decorate with coriander leaves.

Chinese style fried rice

It is a type of delicious fast food, can be prepared easily at home.

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice: Two cups
  The following item are used on an as required basis:
• Carrot
• Beans
• Onion
• Capsicum
• Chopped scallions (Spring Onion, green onion, or salad onion)
• Cabbage
• Green Chili
• Chopped Garlic
• Chopped Ginger
• Pepper Powder
• Soy Sauce
• Red chili
• Sauce
• Sesame oil or any edible oil
• Salt

Method of preparation:

• Cut all the vegetables into small pieces.
• Heat oil in a frying pan.
• Add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add chopped ginger and chopped garlic and fry for about a minute on medium-high flame.
• Add green chili, carrots, beans and fry for about three minutes.
• Add capsicum and continue frying for about three minutes, without overcooking.
• Add onions and cabbage and stir well for further about three minutes.
• Sprinkle pepper powder.
• Add soy sauce, red chili sauce and a little vinegar. Stir and cook for about two to three minutes.
• Add cooked rice and required salt and mix well followed by addition of some chopped spring onion.
• Remove from flame.
• Serve hot with sauce.

Egg fried rice

It is an easy to prepare delicious food, contains egg, rice and vegetables.

Method of preparation:

• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan.
• Fry a finely chopped onion till golden brown.
• Add a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste and 3 finely chopped green chilies.
• Reduce flame and stir.
• After a minute, add ½ tsp each of turmeric powder and red chili powder with a stir.
• After about two minutes, add 4 well beaten eggs and stir continuously for about five minutes.
• Add 1/4 cup each of finely chopped and boiled French beans, carrots and peas.
• Stir for about two minutes.
• Add salt and 1/2 tsp of garam masala.
• Add 3 cups of cooked rice and mix well.
• Close the lid and cook for about five minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with or without soy sauce.
  

Papaya shake

It is a very tasty non alcoholic golden yellow drink, both appetizing and nourishing.

Ingredients:

• Ripe papaya: 400 gm
  
• Ripe banana: 100 gm
  
• Honey: 2 tbsp
  
• Cardamom powder: one or two pinches

Method of preparation:

• Blend the pulp of both the fruits with a little water.
  
• Add honey and cardamom powder.
  
• Mix well.
  
• Serve cold.

Lassi

Lassi is a popular curd / yogurt based non alcoholic drink, enjoyed chilled during summer season.

Yogurt (curd / Thayir) is blended with water to prepare lassi.


Sweet Lassi:

• Mix 500 ml of yogurt, 250 ml of water, 4 tbsp of sugar and some crushed ice.
• Rose water, fruit juices, saffron or butter may be added as per choice.
• Blend in a blender / mixer.
• Serve chilled (with the froth which forms while preparing lassi).
  If mango juice is added , the sweet lassi will be called Mango Lassi.
  Similarly Pineapple Lassi, Grapes Lassi etc.
  If saffron (Kesar / Kungumappoo) is added it will be called kesar Lassi.
  If butter is added, it will be called Makkhaniya Lassi. (Makkhan means butter / Vennai)
  
  

Salty Lassi:

• Mix 500 ml of yogurt, 250 ml of water, a little salt, pepper and some crushed ice.(Roasted cumin seeds: optional)
• Blend in a blender / mixer.
• Serve chilled (with the froth which forms while preparing lassi).
  

Chaas / chaach / moru / neer moru:

It is a very good non alcoholic summer drink for refreshment.

It is fatless.

• Butter is removed from curd by churning.
• More water is added.
• Required amount of salt and cumin seeds / jeerakam / jeera are added as flavor.
• Freshly ground ginger, green chilies and curry leaves may also be added as seasoning.
• Can be served chiller or cold.

Negative calorie food and weight loss

To digest the negative calorie foods, we need to spend more calories than the calorie content of the food itself. We can make use of this as an advantage to reduce body weight. To lose weight, burning of more calories than its intake is very much essential.


Our digestive system works hard to digest the zero calorie diet (negative calorie diet).


It is useful to consume negative calorie diet to burn excessive and unwanted fat.


Eat fruits. Avoid drinking juice. The fibres / fibers that give the roughage to bowel movement are not discarded when the fruit is eaten.

Some negative calorie fruits and vegetables:

Fruits:

• Apple, Blueberries, Cantaloupe (Cantaloup, Musk melon or rock melon), Cranberry, Grapefruit, Honeydew, Lemon, Mango, Orange, Papaya, Peach, Pineapple, Raspberry, Strawberry, Tomato, Tangerine, Turnip, Watermelon, etc.
  
  

Vegetables:

• Asparagus, Beet root, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Beans, Lettuce, Onion , Radish, Spinach, Turnip, Zucchini, etc.