August 28, 2010 by Preena
Our farewell to summer is sadly coming closer as Labour Day weekend is just around the corner. This is usually when I panic and try to pack the few last days of summer with some extra fun so it’s not left in oblivion. The good news about Toronto living however is that the fun really doesn’t stop. With the Toronto International Film Festival coming to town in a short two weeks the city is already buzzing.
Arvinda
For now we still have Labour Day and it seems as though the summer is not complete unless we eat burgers.
There seems to be a correlation between burgers, summertime and ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’. Personally, I can’t say I’m a burger person–I have not yet ate a burger all summer!–but I know many who are.
Bars from Glo Bakery - my favourite is the dark chocolate and roasted coffee Empower bar.
This summer I was happy to meet Angela and her husband Eric from Oh She Glows who were lots of help and inspiration for my 30 days of raw food through the Green Monster Movement and Glo Bakery. I ate lots of them this past August and they were awesome!
Today I have two burger recipes using Arvinda’s Madras Masala as an ‘almost’ farewell to summer. The first is vegetarian called In A Jiffy Curry Chickpea Burgers from Oh She Glows. I made them spicier with 1 tbsp. of Arvinda’s Curry Masala and added organic turnips. Delicious!
Process chick peas, Arvinda's Madras Masala, cilantro, onion, carrots, turnips and sea salt.
The first batch I pan fried. I know these don't fit into the raw scheme - will let you know how that went soon!
Second batch was baked!
Baked had a nicer texture than pan-fried.
And finally, it's time to eat!
Now for those who like more of a traditional burger, this Madras Masala Burger has good spiciness with lots of flavour. You won’t be disappointed! Cook on the BBQ and serve with Arvinda’s Curried Over Roasted Potato Wedges.
Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground chicken
1 medium onion, finely minced
1 tbsp. Arvinda’s Madras Masala
1/2 tsp. Arvinda’s Garam Masala
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. oil, for shallow frying
4 whole wheat buns
Method: In a bowl, mix together ground chicken, onions, Arvinda’s Madras Masala, Arvinda’s Garam Masala, cilantro and sea salt. Mix well, cover, refrigerate and marinate for an hour.
In a skillet add oil and heat on medium heat. Form meat mixture into patties and shallow fry in skillet. Cook until golden brown on both sides and until meat is cooked. Serves 4.
Grill on the BBQ and serve with Arvinda's Curried Oven Roasted Potatoes.
Enjoy and make the most of the last days of summer!
Listening to: Oblivion by Wintersleep. Seeing them tonight – I’m so hyped!
Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian | Tagged masala, madras masala, curry masala, Indian, Vegetarian, Arvinda's, summer, dark chocolate, Oh She Glows, glo bars, glo bakery, burgers, chick peas, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, oven roasted potato, wedges, Labour Day, Empower Bar, coffee, Green Monster Movement, cucumber, raita | Leave a Comment »
August 23, 2010 by Preena
Hot & Spicy Festival Indian-Mexican cooking demo last week.
All week I’ve had Mexican fever and ate an overload of avocados. Native to Mexico and South and Central America, the buttery texture of avocados is unknown to Indian cooking. At last week’s 2 Tastes In 1 Indian-Mexican cooking demo at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, myself, Mary Luz Mejia and Mexican pastry chef Elizabeth Rumebe talked about the similarities between Indian and Mexican cuisines.
Making saffron and chai spice infused reduced milk as a dessert garnish.
I was incredibly excited to learn about Mexican panela, a raw sugar derived from the sugar cane which bears likeness to India’s jaggery or gur.
Some of India and Mexico’s ingredients and flavours overlap including cilantro, lime, chilies, onions, cumin and mangoes. Avocados however do not make this list. But why not use the Indian flavours on an avocado? Try this refreshing Avocado & Tomato Salad that has Mexican textures but a hint of curry for an Indian flavour.
Creamy and buttery avocado was a staple for me all week long.
Avocodo & Tomato Salad with Cilantro Chili-Lime Dressing
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocado, cubed
4 medium organic tomatoes, cubed
¼ red onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 cups salad greens
Dressing Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup cilantro
¼ cup mint leaves
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 green chili
½ tsp. Arvinda’s Curry Masala
½ tsp. sea salt
Cilantro Chili-Lime dressing
Method: In a blender, combine dressing ingredients. In a bowl, toss dressing with avocado, tomatoes and onions. Serve on a bed of salad greens. Serves 2.
Avocado Tomato Salad
With my attempt to try raw foods for a month avocados made my plate almost every day this week. Avocados are higher in potassium than bananas, making them a ‘wonder’ food for runners that counteracts muscle cramping.
Avocado has high potassium content, making them the perfect food for runners.
...with Cilantro Chili-Lime Dressing!
The creaminess of avocados make it a versatile ingredient. How do you eat your avocados?
Listening to: Agua del Pozo by
Alex Cuba who played in the T-dot this weekend! Love the
guitar.
Posted in Recipes, Salads | Tagged Indian, Toronto, salad, cilantro, running, Harbourfront Centre, Mary Luz Mejia, Hot & Spicy Festival, fusion, Mexican, Elizabeth Rumebe, avocado, tomato, coriander, panela, jaggery, Alex Cuba, lime, potassium, muscle cramps | Leave a Comment »
I’ve mentioned before all spices are not created equal.
What makes Indian cuisine complex is the vast number of spices used in any given dish and the techniques used to cook them. Timing is also important as each spice is used at a different stage in the cooking process.
With such a wide array of spices required may make Indian cooking seem daunting to the novice cook. Knowing your Indian spice box will let your Indian cooking come with ease and give you amazing and deep flavours as a result.
Additionally each spice has unique medicinal values, making Indian cooking beneficial to health.
Whole Foods Market Oakville - August 18, 2010
Whole Foods Market always has great
workshops.
Join me in an Indian Spice Discovery Workshop at Whole Foods Market Oakville to learn more about these amazing spices, where they come from and how they are used to create simple and delicious Indian dishes. Cooking demonstration of a few dishes included!
Details: Indian Spice Discovery Workshop $20
Whole Foods Market Oakville
301 Cornwall Road., Oakville, Ontario
(conveniently located walking distance from the Oakville GO Station)
August 18, 2010
7:00 pm
Call Whole Foods Market at (905) 849-8400 to register.
Please bring your questions that night as this will be an interactive and intimate workshop. We’ll choose local and seasonal ingredients to create some delicious Indian dishes you can create on the fly!
Listening to: Oh Lately It’s So Quiet by OK Go.
Posted in Authentic Indian, Demo | Tagged Arvinda's, Ayurveda, health, Indian, medicinal, Oakville, spices, value, Whole Foods Market | 1 Comment »
Raw Chick Pea Cashew Paste on Rainbow Chard
As mentioned earlier I’m experimenting with raw foods (Indian-style, wherever possible) for at least 30 days or until the weather stays hot. My reasons for going raw are threefold:
1) Raw foods taste better since foods are fresh, crisp and full of flavour in a way Mother Nature intended them to be. If going raw, it’s also important to choose organic and local for the reason of flavour and freshness.
2) Raw food energizes. With higher nutrients found in raw foods makes you feel more energetic and revived.
3) Eating raw in August makes sense! With the great summer heat this year, eating fresh and raw is cooling and refreshing on the system.
On day one, I made Chick Pea Cashew Paste on organic Rainbow Chard. The organic chard came from The Fresh Veggies at the Harbourside Organic Farmers’ Market.
I used chick pea flour, also known as besan or gram flour and mixed it with a little water, ground cashews, unsweetened coconut, raw sesame seeds, Arvinda’s Curry Masala, onion, garlic cloves and sea salt blended in the food processor to make a paste.
Chick Pea Cashew Paste
Spread onto top of swiss rainbow chard with a garnish of ground cashews.
Chick pea flour is a good source of protein as it’s derived from ground dried Indian chick peas. Its most common use in the Indian kitchen is in a batter for the popular Indian snack Pakoras or Bhajias. Of course in Pakoras the batter is deep-fried and results in a fluffy, savoury snack.
This was the first time I had chick pea flour raw. My definite feeling is that chick pea flour should be cooked! After consuming my Raw Chick Pea & Cashew Paste on Rainbow Chard snack I felt a little queasy in the stomach. Chick pea flour is an amazing and versatile ingredient so I’ll save my chick pea flour recipes for after my raw foods stint!
Listening to: Combat Baby by Metric. Anyone catch Metric’s ‘secret’ concert the other day at Toronto’s Union Station?!
Posted in Indian-Inspired, Vegetarian | Tagged besan, Bhajias, chick pea flour, curry masala, gram flour, Indian-style, Pakoras, protein, rainbow swiss chard, raw foods, the fresh veggies | 2 Comments »
Our delicious Indian-Mexican fusion: Flan Napolitano infused with Indian flavours of saffron and chai. Photo by: Elizabeth Rumebe.
On August 13th at 8pm, I’m getting together with pastry chef Elizabeth Rumebe of Amaranto Creations at Toronto’s Hot & Spicy Festival at Harbourfront Centre.
We’re teaming up for a collaborative demo called 10 Tastes to Try Before You Die: 2 Tastes in 1. By taking a traditional Mexican Napolitano Flan and infusing it with the Indian flavours of chai, saffron and pistachios…voila, we have an Indian-Mexican fusion!
When we met up for our recipe testing session we were so incredibly fascinated by the nuances each test version had. Each of the four tasted delicious, but the one we’re demonstrating was the ‘cream of the crop’. Our delicious Indian-Mexican fusion results went from the testing phase to recipe success that literally left us licking off our plates!
Mexican and Indian cuisine and culture have many similarities. When my mother Arvinda visited Oaxaca years ago she also noted the same. I’ve discovered people who love Mexican foods are also huge fans of Indian food as well, and it’s no wonder since both cuisines share the same prominent flavours of chilies, cilantro and tomatoes. The similarities go beyond even that.
Stop by and join us for a lively discussion of both Indian and Mexican cuisines and where the similarities lie between these two very delicious, fresh and complex cuisines.
You can also sample our very unique Indian-Mexican sweet creation as well! See you there.
Listening to: St. Andrews by Bedouin Soundclash.
Posted in Events, Trade Shows, Benefits, Indian-Inspired | Tagged chai masala, Indian, Toronto, Arvinda's, saffron, chai, Harbourfront Centre, Hot & Spicy Festival, pistachio, flan, Napolitano, Mexican, 10 tastes to try before you die, Amaranto Creations, Elizabeth Rumebe | 6 Comments »
Starting August 1st I decided to embark on a raw food journey. Lately I’ve been feeling worn for no obvious reason so I decided it was time for a cleanse. Instead of doing a traditional fast I decided to try raw food for 30 days – all Indian-style!
This huge zucchini from our organic backyard garden will come in handy for the raw foods! It measured an astounding 13 inches long. There's lots of zucchini to go around!
About nine months ago, I became sensitive to some foods (including spices, my favourite!) and certain vegetables and lentils. It made me realize your health can change anytime and keeping the body in balance in optimal health is so important before any problem exacerbates.
After tweaking my diet for several months things are normalized and I feel I’m back on track. I’m hoping my 30 days of raw foods will help me feel even more energized! Proponents of raw food affirm foods in their natural, uncooked state contain higher nutritional value than foods that have been cooked.
According to Ayurveda, India’s ancient healthcare system (stay tuned for future blog posts explaining this in detail), a combination of cooked and uncooked foods are eaten, but for the most part food should be mostly cooked making it digestible and easy on the body’s digestive system. One of the pillars of Ayurveda is good digestion for optimal health, which is why spices are used in the cooking process.
Therefore, the exclusive raw foods approach to eating is a little exotic for me. With all the curries, grilled flatbreads and rice dishes, this will be a challenge! So what’s with the change of heart?
Chef Pedja's raw pizza ~ super mmmmm!
Last week I had the most delicious food moment and tasted something so good it got me more curious about raw foods.
Chef Pedja Milosavljevic at
Nature’s Emporium makes this raw food pizza topped with mango which is to die for. Really. After eating this tasty raw pizza I felt so good!
Since it’s August and there is so much fresh produce in the markets, this is the perfect month to try my 30 days of raw foods. I’ll keep you posted how my Indian raw foods are coming along and I’ll post some of my experimental recipes as well.
Most likely I won’t prescribe to all of the raw food “rules” as I won’t be going vegan. Dairy is also huge in Indian cuisine and so I will keep the yogurt and milk (but no cheese) in the diet. But I’ll stay away from all cooked food! And we’ll see how it goes…
It's 'bye-bye' to my breakfast oatmeal ritual. See you in September!
Cacao Barry's 72% Venezuela dark chocolate for the oatmeal also has to go too!
Do you typically eat more raw foods in the hotter, summer months?
Listening to: Wear and Tear by Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johannson.
Was skeptical about Hollywood’s entry into the music world, but Johannson has a great voice and they have a cool vibe – I’m hooked!
Posted in Cool Finds, Indian-Inspired, Vegetarian | Tagged healthy, Indian, Vegetarian, mango, Ayurveda, Nature's Emporium, Newmarket, Indian-style, Chef Pedja, raw food, raw pizza, zucchini, cacoa barry, Venezula, 72%, dark chocolate | 2 Comments »
This beautiful organic Ontario rhubarb was given to us by Susan Schroeter of Lean on Me Nutrition (Holistic Nutritional Counselling) in Oakville, Ontario. Susan grows her own rhubarb and was gracious to share some with Arvinda's!
Whole Foods Market continually offers interesting seminars on everything from healthy eating and cooking naturally, to uber body care au natural. I love going to these seminars whenever I get the chance since they make me feel I’ve taken a bigger step forward towards better health, and I feel motivated to try new ingredients outside my comfort zone. Best of all, most of them are free!
Last week I went to the Home Canning Workshop to brush up my ‘preserving’ skills! A few years back when I was doing my Masters degree in Environmental Studies, I had a group project in Ecological Economics with the objective to address the mass importation of out-of-season fruits and vegetables into the Toronto region. Despite the fact Southern Ontario is a highly productive agricultural area, the majority of the produce consumed by Ontarians is imported and is especially true of out-of-season and climate-specific fruits and vegetables. Since the time of project in 2006, this of course has dramatically improved with the opening of more local markets and with retailers favouring local foods.
As part of the project, our task was to develop a series of solutions to solve the problem at hand. Canning, preserving and pickling came out on top as a great way to avoid purchasing produce (like tomatoes) during winter months when they are useless and taste like cardboard. It’s no wonder my Italian friends insist on canning their homemade tomato sauce every September. This usually takes place in the garage in huge batches!
A guide to home preserving.
Our group was thinking of running a series of canning workshops for singles. Would you go to a Boy Meets Girl ‘Jamming Session’ if you were single? We never did get around to it, but the idea seemed novel at the time!
Fast forward to 2010 and with all of my good intentions to get canning, I still hadn’t gotten around to it. When I met up with my friend Rossana in May, she was already planning her homemade Italian tomato sauce cook-off! So timing of Whole Foods Market’s sponsored Home Canning Workshop could not have been better!
Lavender Infused Strawberry Freezer Jam
Hosted by Chef Emerie Brine of Bernardin, we made a series of super, easy jams including Lavender Infused Strawberry Freezer Jam and a Strawberry Balsamic Preserve. And with some good luck, I was the winner of a Bernardin All-In-One Starter Kit (the starter kit is perfect for the first-time canner like me). I think this was meant to be!
I won the Bernardin All-In-One Starter Kit -- perfect for first-timers!
So this inspired my Curried Peach Rhubarb Chutney:
Ingredients:
3 organic rhubarb stalks, washed, trimmed and cubed
3 organic peaches, cubed
¼ cup raw cane sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. Arvinda’s Madras Masala
½ tsp. sea salt
Simmer and reduce.
Method: In a heavy bottomed pot combine above ingredients and cook on medium low for 20 minutes. Serving suggestions: Serve this sweet and spicy chutney as a condiment on a cheese platter or alongside any Indian meal.
Arvinda's Madras Peach Rhubarb Chutney
Alternatively, try Rootham’s delicious Black Pepper Lime Chutney, which is in my pantry as we speak. This chutney is spot-on and I especially enjoy it with a vegetarian Indian meal. I came across Rootham’s Gourmet a few years back when I was working on a project on Canadian food products. Founded in the early 80s, Rootham’s line of innovative preserves and jams were naturally featured since they were using local, seasonal produce from a backyard garden. There are so many delicious varieties to try, but for an Indian meal definitely go with Rootham’s Black Pepper Lime Chutney.
Rootham's Black Pepper Lime Chutney is perfect for an Indian meal.
For canning tips and recipes visit: www.Bernardin.com. Last year at the annual Feast of Fields Bernardin gave out a delicious jar of homemade salsa to attendees. If you plan to make it out this year, I hear they’re planning on another goodie giveaway!
Strawberry Balsamic Jam
Listening to: Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap.
Posted in Dips, Chutneys, Sauces & Condiments | Tagged madras masala, Arvinda's, Whole Foods Market, Rootham's, canning, preserving, pickling, Bernardin, peach, rhubarb, chutney, Emerie Brine, chef, lavender, strawberry, jam, Feast of Fields, Lean on Me, nutrition, Susan Schroeter | 1 Comment »
All week I’ve been thinking about tapas, and Indian-style tapas to be exact. Spain winning last week’s FIFA World Cup final has got me hooked on Spain On The Road Again …all over again!
Summertime always reminds me of Spain. When I was younger my family hosted some Spanish students for a couple of months in the summer opening me up to their culinary traditions and culture. Meat was definitely on the menu! From Asturias to Valencia to the northern Basque country, it was interesting to learn from our Spanish friends how the cuisine was unique to each Spanish province. Similarly India’s regional differences are very pronounced.
For the Masala Papad recipe below, of course this is not Spanish but I like to call it Indian-style tapas. It’s a light snack made from papads, also known as pappadums, thin grilled wafers made from lentils. These are gluten-free!
Uncooked papads
This snack is crunchy but gets freshness from tomatoes, cilantro, green chili and onions. Choose
heirloom tomatoes for their amazing taste! I heard
Clover Roads Organic Farm may possibly have their delicious tomatoes at today’s
Oakville Organic Farmers’ Market. So exciting, I’ve waited a year for these!
Ingredients:
4 papads, grilled
2 tomatoes, finely cubed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. Arvinda’s Garam Masala, to garnish
Method of Preparation: In a bowl combine all ingredients. Top grilled papads with tomato mixture and garnish with Arvinda’s Garam Masala. Serves 4.
Masala Papad topping all mixed up!
Now for the experiment. What is the best way to grill papads?
Today I tried it on the electrical stove.
For the electrical stove, cook papads on top of a cake cooling rack.
And then on the gas stove and lastly in the microwave.
Gas stove (left); electric stove (middle); microwave (right).
To my surprise, the microwave fared as the most consistent and even cooking and most aesthetically pleasing. Stove top grilling tends to slightly burn them, as they are very thin and delicate. Grilling the papads on the electrical stove made them crispier however. Any tips on cooking the perfect papad?
You can serve Masala Papads like this:
Whole Masala Papad
Or like this!
Masala Papad Chips!
Listening to: Hour of the Lamps by Johannes Linstead.
Posted in Appetizers & Soups, Entertaining, Garam Masala, Gluten-Free, Indian-Inspired, Snacks, Vegetarian | Tagged appetizer, Arvinda's, chai masala, Entertaining, FIFA, Garam Masala, Gluten-Free, Indian-style, On The Road Again, papads, pappadums, Spain, tapas, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment »
Today’s post is dedicated to something truly exquisite I tried last week. As always there is a thread with Indian cuisine – you’ll see!
Umami, known as the 5th taste next to sweet, salty, bitter and sour is considered to be the “savouriness” in a dish, reminiscent of parmesan cheese, tomatoes, truffles, shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, anchovies and prosciutto, all which are naturally umami-rich foods containing glutamate.
The term umami means savoury in Japanese and “in the simplest of terms refers to the things that make us go mmmm,” according to Laura Santtini, creator behind TASTE No. 5 Umami Paste.
Last week I had a “taste” of TASTE No. 5 Umami Paste and met genius Laura herself! Putting umami in a tube is definitely genius – a little bit goes a long way and just a small squeeze into pasta sauces, spreads for fish, meat or tofu, or a dollop into risotto or a soup is like adding an exploding “flavour bomb” to your dish. “Turning it up a notch” has never been easier…now all you need is the masala! 
Umami as a taste is prominent in Japanese cuisine and on the surface would not appear to be present in Indian dishes as parmesan, shiitake, truffles and even green tea are not a part of the traditional Indian flavour profile. Indian cooking gets it’s savouriness from onions, tomatoes and the spices themselves. However one researcher Yoshinobu Sei, recognized examples of umami do in fact exist in Indian cuisine–one example would be a South Indian-style fish curry. In the article, “Indian Cuisine and Umami” (Food Reviews International, 1998), Sei suggests the introduction of Chinese foods in India brought the umami taste to the Indian table.
Whenever I visit India I tend to gravitate to the Indian-Chinese fusion fare, also known as Hakka appearing on popular restaurant menus. Hakka cuisine is a marriage of umami, sweet and salty tastes with a hit of fresh green chilies for the heat factor. Can I say mmmm?
Speaking of mmmms, TASTE No. 5 Umami Paste mixed with Arvinda’s Madras Masala would make a serious combo. Try it!
Listening to: Lovers in Japan by Coldplay.
Posted in Cool Finds | Tagged madras masala, Garam Masala, Indian, Arvinda's, cuisine, umami, Taste No. 5, Laura Santtini, shiitake mushrooms, truffles, parmsan cheese, Hakka, Chinese, fusion, mmm, flavour bomb, savouriness | Leave a Comment »
Pav Bhaji demo in action! Mary Luz Mejia who was a wonderful hostess is on the left.
Thanks to everyone who joined us at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre for our Canada Day Indian Street Food demo – the weather was beautiful, the harbourfront was rockin’ and there were a sea of people in red and white!
I contemplated wearing my 2010 Olympic red & white mittens to show my Canada Day support…
Was lucky enough to snag these prized pair of Olympic memorabilia mittens!
…but was happy the weather is beautiful and mittens are not required for at least another four months!
We ate Pav Bhaji on Canada Day – the perfect ‘portable’ picnic food for an outdoor celebratation. I was so happy the crowd loved it even though nobody from the group had ever tried it before (except the ‘sound check guy’, who just returned from India).
See my traditional tawa ~ just like a street food wallah!
I used my mother’s traditional tawa, a stainless steel skillet used in India by most street food vendors (wallahs).
Fred’s Bread (Pizza Bianca) was the perfect bread to use for this dish. There were many ‘mmmms’ from the crowd!
Fred's Bread (Pizza Bianca) is one of Toronto's top artisan bakeries. It was perfect for Pav Bhaji!
I’ll join the lovely Mary Luz Mejia again on August 13th for the Hot & Spicy Festival. This time I’m teaming up with Mexican pastry chef Elizabeth Rumebe of Amaranto Creations for an Indian-Mexican dessert fusion – our recipe testing session had delicious results!
Mary Luz and I were chatting yesterday about the similarities between Indian and Mexican cuisines and noted the parallels between the two cuisines is amazing. Join us in the conversation on August 13th and you can try our Indo-Mexican creation!
Listening to: Captive by Sarah Harmer.
Posted in Appetizers & Soups, Authentic Indian, Entertaining, Events, Trade Shows, Benefits, Street Food, Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Vegetarian | Tagged appetizer, Arvinda's, Canada Day, curry masala, Entertaining, Fred's Bread, Harbourfront Centre, Hot & Spicy Festival, Mary Luz Mejia, Pav Bhaji, Pizza Bianca, Vancouver 2010, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
My refreshing start to summer!
Summer officially started this week but with it’s early arrival, I’ve been drinking this Chai Infused Hibiscus Water since last month! With thirst levels higher during summer months, it’s easy to take in lots of calories with an array of different beverages. This is natural, low cal and very refreshing!
Loose Leaf Hibiscus Tea
Hibiscus is known to lower high blood pressure and lower cholesterol. A beautiful sunset red colour I like to pair my hibiscus water with strawberries which are in season right now! Enjoy them in everything while you can. I’ve infused the tea with Arvinda’s Chai Masala. With just one sip your palate gets pleasantly mild hints of cardamom and cloves.
Ingredients:
1.5 L water
2 tbsp. hibiscus tea
1 tbsp. agave nectar, to sweeten
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Arvinda’s Chai Masala
a dozen organic strawberries, sliced or muddled
Method of Preparation: Bring water to a boil. In a tea ball, add hibiscus tea and Arvinda’s Chai Masala. Steep hibiscus tea in a pitcher for 5 minutes. Stir in agave nectar.
Leave at room temperature until cools down. Refrigerate to chill. Stir in lemon juice and strawberries. Serve on ice!
Hello summer!
Listening to: Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity) by Incubus.
Posted in Cold Drinks, Entertaining, Indian-Inspired | Tagged Entertaining, chai masala, Indian, beverage, Arvinda's, chai, cardamom, cloves, summer, refreshing, hibiscus, water, strawberries, drink | Leave a Comment »
Listening to: Oblivion by Wintersleep. Seeing them tonight – I’m so hyped!
