Category: Afternoon Snack | 3pm Meal

Most Indians have a strong preference and are either a chai person or a coffee person. Well, not me. I am not much of a tea or coffee person.

I have a cuppa in times of desperation only – so, I can keep myself sane and not donate one of the kids! I know! I know! Wine would be a better option but hey! I am trying to lose weight here. And I would rather save my calories for desserts!

Now, come summer I definitely prefer to do away with the hot teas and hot coffees. In fact, it is hard to say no to a nice, chilled glass of iced tea. A friend got me hooked and now here I am trying a new fruity flavor ever so often. Featured here is a refreshing Peach Iced Tea, the perfect cooler for this stuffy, humid weather in Hong Kong. The peach and sugar mixture keeps well in the refrigerator for a week. Alternatively, you could freeze it as ice cubes and thaw at room temperature for a few hours before mixing it with your tea. Happy Peachy Summering !!!!

If you have tried different fruit-flavored iced teas, let me know in the comments.

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Peach Iced Tea

Ingredients

• Peaches (sliced)-3
• Granulated white sugar-3 tablespoons (you could use brown or palm sugar which have a more earthy taste. These sugars however do interfere with the natural peach colour of the drink, so that is a word of caution
• Water-1 cup + 4 cups for brewing tea
• Tea bags or tea leaves- as per desired strength of the tea. Usually 3-4 tea bags or 1.5 teaspoons tea leaves are sufficient for four servings of iced tea

Instructions

1. Bring one cup of water with peach and sugar to boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Stir well and keep the heat on till the sugar dissolves. Smash the peaches with a spoon to infuse their flavor into the water
2. Turn off the heat, cover and let the mixture sit for 20-20 minutes
3. Smash the peaches some more and strain
4. Transfer the peach syrup to a glass jar and refrigerate until use
5. Brew the tea/add tea bags to hot water as you would while making regular tea
6. Bring the tea to room temperature and refrigerate in a glass jar
7. To serve mix 2 tablespoons of peach syrup with 1 cup of tea, top it with lots of ice and serve immediately

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https://onewholesomemeal.com/peach-iced-tea/

[kkstarratings]

How about some crispy cauliflower on a rainy day?

My crispy cauliflower is a grilled version but draws inspiration from a childhood favorite of mine. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, cauliflower is a universal favorite in the household. As a child, we used to eat vegetable fritters coated with spiced besan (roasted whole gram flour) batter and deep-fried. Boy! Did they taste heavenly? They would almost always be a part of the grand vegetarian spread or even served as an afternoon snack with some masala chai.

To make this dish, I decided to remove the deep frying. This means you will need an oven for this preparation. Also, I swapped besan for rice flour and included some fine sooji (semolina) for the added crunch. I served it as a snack alongside some oven roasted amaranth crisps. Try this next time for your very quick rainy day fix! Scroll down for the recipe.

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Roasted Crispy Cauliflower

Ingredients

• Cauliflower florets (cut into small bite sized portions): 250gm
• Rice flour: ½ cup
• Semolina(sooji): ½ cup
• Red chili sauce (I used a combination of Maggi Hot and Sweet and Sriracha sauce)-2 tablespoons
• Salt and pepper- ½ teaspoon or to taste
• Vegetable oil-1 tablespoon

Instructions

1. Blanch the cauliflower florets in salted hot boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook
2. Make your rice flour batter by adding ¼ cup warm water to the rice flour and whisking well. Make sure there are no lumps and the batter is thick enough to coat the cauliflower, somewhat thinner than a pancake batter
3. Add salt, pepper and red chili sauce to the rice batter and mix well
4. Line a baking tray with foil. Dip the florets in spiced rice flour batter one by one followed by rolling them into a shallow bowl with semolina. Make sure the semolina evenly coats the florets making a uniform layer for consistent cooking. Drizzle some oil on the prepared florets
5. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and roast until the florets are cooked and crispy, about 20-25 minutes. Halfway through the process, I took them out and doused some more chili sauce for a spicier version
6. Serve hot as is or with a yogurt/mayo dip on the side. If you are not serving the dish right away, warm it in a preheated oven for 5-7 minutes just before serving

Notes

Calories (per portion)- 88
Nutrition- Protein/Fiber/Vitamins C, K, B6/Folate/Potassium/Magnesium
It does wonders for your- Muscles/Gut/Immunity/Heart/Eyes
This is “My 3pm Meal”

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https://onewholesomemeal.com/roasted-crispy-cauliflower/

[kkstarratings]

Hey! It is summer and the world is making popsicles and I am following suit!

A few weeks back I saw the very talented Mallika Basu post an extremely alluring picture of a Rooh Afza popsicles on her Instagram feed. What a genius idea to make a popsicle out of this extremely refreshing summer cooler! For the uninitiated, let me bring you into my corner. Rooh Afza is a brightly pink coloured concentrated fruit squash a lot of us grew up either loving or despising in India. Usually used to make a cooling drink to beat the Indian summer heat, over time Rooh Afza has been used to make milkshakes, desserts, cookies, and cocktails. So, Rooh Afza popsicles are just another example of the versatility of this squash.

And well I just had to try it out. However, because I have a certain militant in the house who isn’t as big a fan of Rooh Afza as I am, I made this two-layered democratic popsicle for universal acceptance at home.

Honestly, there is really no right or wrong way to make this. Just play around with the ingredients based on your taste and fancies. Pour it all into a popsicle mold, and forget about it for a few hours! A refreshing mood lifter would be ready and waiting for you to beat the afternoon heat and slump.

If you have any favorite Rooh Afza recipes, do share them in the comments below. Or even better maybe recommend what I should make next!

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Roohafza-Strawberry-Coconut Water Popsicle

Ingredients

• Fresh strawberries (washed and chopped)- 1 cup and 1 tablespoon sliced
• Coconut water- ½ cup
• Greek yogurt or thick regular yogurt- ½ cup
• Roohafza (see here for description- https://www.amazon.com/Hamdard-Rooh-Sharbat-Syrup-fl-oz/dp/B00D7D1FHY) - 2 tablespoons or more if you like the popsicle to be sweeter
• Chopped pistachios and/or other nuts of your choice- 3 tablespoons ( I mixed the nuts with other ingredients before pouring into the mould but if you like you could just sprinkle on the periphery to have a crunchy base
• Dried rose petals (optional)- 1 tablespoon

Instructions

1. Blend the chopped strawberries in a high-speed blender (I used my nutribullet) along with coconut water and set aside. You could add some sugar or honey if the strawberries are not very sweet
2. Blend the yogurt and roohafza with a wire whisk and set aside. You could also blend all the ingredients together and pour into the mould. I preferred to make two layers, one light with strawberry flavoured coconut water and another slightly denser one with yogurt and roohafza
3. Pour the mixture from step one halfway into the mould. Place thinly sliced strawberries followed by chopped nuts and the mixture from step two
4. Finish off with a topping of chopped pisatchios and dried rose petals
5. Freeze in the freezer overnight and serve as an afternoon snack

Notes

Calories (per popsicle)- 25
Nutrition- Vitamin C/ Folate/Magnesium/Manganese/Calcium
It does wonders for your- Immunity/Skin/Heart/Stress/Muscle tension/Detox
This is “My 3pm Meal”

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https://onewholesomemeal.com/rooh-afza-popsicles-coconut-water/

[kkstarratings]

No matter what the weather, more often than not we find a reason to complain – “it is so humid/uff! I hate rains” or “I wish I could see some sun, it is so depressing!”

I am guilty as charged for sure. These days in Hong Kong, I have been complaining about the blistering heat (which by the way I prefer to the rains or winters any day ;)). But no matter what the weather, I love going to the wet market. Fun fact: In Hong Kong a wet market is one selling fresh meat, fish, produce, and other perishable goods while the “dry market” is the one selling durable goods such as fabric and electronics. I had to share that with you!

Back to the wet market. The sight of fresh produce lifts me up like the sight of glittering makeup would lift some. Summers are especially special with abundance of fruits – mangoes and lychees being my absolute favorites. I always come back with more than required. So, when the lychees were flooding my teeny tiny refrigerator then making a mint cooler was imperative. This lychee lime mint cooler is the perfect potion to soothe-parched palettes. Scroll down for the full recipe.

If you are looking for more options to quench your thirst this summer, have a look at my recipe for Thandai Masala or Peach Ice Tea.

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Lychee-Lime-Mint Cooler

Ingredients

• Lychee (deseeded)- 1 cup
• Mint leaves- 6-8
• Freshly squeezed lime juice-2 teaspoons
• Sparkling water- 3 cups
• Sugar or honey (optional; I did not use any sweeteners as the lychees were super sweet)- 1.5 teaspoon
• Ice cubes-As required

Instructions

1. Blend all the ingredients for a minute in a blender
2. Serve chilled topped with whole deseeded lychees and mint leaves

Notes

Lychee is rich in dietary fiber, Vitamin C and also contains a number of valuable antioxidants with the ability to fight flu viruses, improve blood flow, and protect the skin from UV rays
Calories-30

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https://onewholesomemeal.com/lychee-lime-mint-cooler/

[kkstarratings]