Mango Mint Cooler

Mangoes! They seem to make summer worthwhile. I see no reason to look forward to summers if it were not for these fruits. And the many other fruits that make an appearance for a short while each year. Raw mangoes start appearing a little before their fully ripe siblings. We bought some mangoes and I only wanted to make a chutney. But with the temperatures soaring to 46 C, a chutney or thuvayal was the last thing on my mind. I had a bunch of fresh mint leaves and decided to make this drink. It was great as it is and also as a mixer with vodka.

1 cup Raw Mango, peeled and diced

1 tbsp Roasted Cumin Powder

1 tsp Rock Salt, powdered

1/4 cup Mint Leaves, chopped

2-4 tbsp Sugar

Cook the mangoes with the rock salt, cumin powder and sugar, using a little water if necessary. Cool for a bit and grind to a paste with the mint leaves.

This mixture can be mixed with water (1:3 ratio) and makes for a great mixer as well. Pour over lots of ice and bid summer goodbye!

Lime - n - Lemony Mojito

Favourites. I've found that they always seem to change with time. My signature drink used to be the Screw Driver for as long as I remember. Somewhere along the line, I had an affair with the Cosmopolitan. Then I gave up the long legged pink beauty for the tall, dark, handsome drink. The Long Island Iced Tea. But in the midst of all this, I developed a taste for the Caipiroska and its rum based cousin the Mojito.


The bartender at our favourite restaurant, Earth, makes the best virgin Mojito I've ever had. I've been wanting to make this drink at home. For the very first time, I had all the ingredients (or at least some decent substitutes) at home. The timing couldn't have been better as I was browsing through Mansi's blog the same day and I found her recipe for Old Fashioned Cuban Mojito with Lime and Mint. I modified it a bit and S made this lovely cocktail for us last weekend.

4 fresh Mint Sprigs
2 tsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Lime Juice
60 ml Dark Rum
300 ml Limca
2 Limes, cut into quarters
Ice cubes, crushed

Crush the mint leaves along with the brown sugar and lime pieces. Divide this mixture into 2 glasses. Pour in the lime juice and the rum. Add the crushed ice cubes and top with Limca.

Since this drink had Limca, lime juice and lime wedges, it was especially tangy. This is my entry to this month's Monthly Blog Patrol of Coffee's blog, which is guest hosted for the first time by dear Sig. Now, Sig posted her AFAM Pear entry earlier today, despite having to plan for a trip. The only way I can thank her for that entry is by returning the favour. So Sig, this one is for you.

Coriander Mint Tomato Chutney

If it is bread I must eat in the morning, then I can probably have it with jam or jelly once a week. The rest of the time I need something salty/spicy. Again, as I put up with GERS, I cannot have spicy food in general, and definitely not in the morning. So, I eat toast with leftovers, with "pitti chitni", a very typically konkani gun powder, with pitlay, or chutney.

Just about the time I moved to Bangalore from Hyderabad, a colleague and friend, Priya, invited me to stay over. She and her husband, Arun, treated me to a nice dinner at Little Italy. The next morning Priya set out to make breakfast. She has this cute little kitchen garden and grows herbs and even baby tomatoes. She just went out there and picked up a little of this, a little of that... maybe this would go well too... oops, what about that one there... in they all went ...into the blender and what came out was a tasty spread.

So, this recipe is thanks to her.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Coriander Leaves

1/4 cup Mint Leaves

2 pods of Garlic

1 Tomato

1 green Chilli

1" piece of Ginger

Salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients to a coarse paste in a mixer. Eat it with just about anything. The tomato adds the tang to this chutney where lime juice usually does the trick. I spread it on toast and the bread went down faster than it usually does.

I am sending this to Trupti at The Spice Who Loved Me for WBB # 12 : Spice it Up! as my second entry. Trupti has recently been invited to be a guest writer on the Food Network of Canada's food blog. Congratulations Trupti!