Lemon Squash

After reading all the ingredients on the store bought lemon squash bottle, it reminded me of my home science class in school (9th grade) where we made fresh lemon squash and served it to our class and other teachers. School days are always memorable! :)

It is not that I never buy store bought syrups or squashes, but it is fun to try and make it at home and avoid preservatives, artificial colors and artificial flavors as much as possible. Also making and sharing with friends and family is fun.

So if you have a lemon tree at home, you need not wait. This is an easy recipe to store and make delicious lemonade whenever you need it.

This will also be a fun activity to involve kids during their summer break. Kids love and enjoy lemonade. I introduced math concepts of ratio and proportion while making simple lemonade in class. Recipe for 1 cup of lemonade was given to students. They had to calculate the recipe for 4-5 cups and prepare lemonade by stirring sugar in water and then adding lemon juice and salt. At the end they get to enjoy their delicious and refreshing lemonade!

Here are fresh lemons from my cousins backyard. It was fun picking fresh lemons for this recipe :)

I will also make some fresh lemon pickle with these :)

Mix 2 cups sugar with 1 cup water. 

Simmer for 5-7 minutes till the syrup turns transparent.

Fresh orange and lemon juicer.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice. 4 lemons yield more than a cup of juice! :)

Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to cooled syrup. Mix well.

Use a strainer and a funnel, transfer lemon squash concentrate in a bottle. 

Refrigerate the concentrate and use whenever needed.

To make a quick lemonade: Add 3 tbsp. of concentrate to a cup of chilled water and ice. Add a pinch of salt and enjoy!

Deliciously refreshing lemonade!

Using fresh mint from my patio, I made fresh Minty Lemon Squash or you could also make 

Ginger lemon Squash or Minty Ginger Lemon Squash or make you favorite martini.

Muddle mint leaves and lemon squash concentrate and a pinch of salt. Use a martini shaker. i do not have a martini shaker so I just use a pitcher and my wooden muddle.

Mix 2 tbsp suagr with 1 tsp. salt in a flat plate.

Apply lemon juice to the rim of your glass and dip it in the sugar mixture.

Pour muddled minty lemon concentrate in your glass.

Pour club soda or regular chilled water to the concentrate.

Minty Fresh lemon Soda for my husband!

Enjoy Chilled Lemon Squash!!

Double Batata

Batata means potato in Kutchi :) So basically this recipe is a simple potato fried twice. It is my dads favorite recipe and he came up with this name calling it Double Batata. He would always ask my mom to make double batata for him instead of simple french fries. Fried twice, potato gets crispier and tastes delicious with spices and lemon.

Since I found the baby potatoes, I thought of making my dads favorite snack :)

You could also use regular potatoes. wash and peel them and cut them into large pieces.

Since I had these baby potatoes, I did not peel them. Instead, just washed and scrubbed them well with my potato scrubber :) It is so cute, isn't it?

Heat oil in a frying pan and fry potatoes till it turn slightly golden brown.

Drain excess oil on paper towel and let the potato cool.

 

Use another paper towel to place it on top on the potato gently press it to flatten it.

Press it as thin as you like but avoid crumbling it.

Deep fry flattened potatoes again for a minute or 2 till it turns crisp.

Drain the oil well and rest of paper towel too.

Immediately sprinkle salt, red chilli powder and coriander powder.

(Avoid coriander powder if you are using it for fast)

Squeeze fresh lime over each potato. It will help spices to stick onto the potato too.

Garnish with cilantro.

 Serve and Enjoy!!

Papad Canapé

A fun twist to masala papad! These canapés are nothing but roasted papad topped with crunchy veggies, chatpata chaat masala and tangy & spicy chutney.

Masala Papad reminds me of street food in Mumbai. It is on the streets where the veder roasts the papad over chacoal heat to make it fresh and crisp. He them loads it with chopped veggies and chutneys. Get creative, add chutneys or spices of your choice and enjoy the crunchy crispy snack.

This recipe is a perfect BBQ buffet recipe too. When all the ingredients are laid out, your guests can easily assemble the little papad canapes for themselves. The reason I call it canapes is that the papad available in the store here are not big like that back home. Khichiya/rice flour papad are available in small 3-4 inch disc size and form nice bowl shaped or canapes when roasted.

Lately, I have been making these a lot for my parties, and they have never let me down.

Check out my step-by-step pictorial recipe:

I use Khichiya papad, a variety made of rice flour. They are thicker and hardier compared to regular papad. As a result they do not soften or limp easily with veggies. You can roast them over charcoal heat or spray some oil and microwave for 1 minute. You can microwave and keep them ready in a large air tight container and then make these delicious veggie topped canapes for your guest or let them help themselves.

To roast over flame, do not touch the papad to the flame.

I have two layers of steel mesh to avoid papad from touching the flame. 

Use a pair to tongs and flip the papad every 2 seconds. Longer the papad stays closer to the heat it will get charred. It will also try to curl up. Do not worry make these little papad tacos:)

 

Here are papad roasted in microwave and stored in a large box and served for friends.
Spray some oil and microwave 3-4 papads for 1 minute.

To cook them over charcoal heat.

Or keep it on the top rack of the grill and close the grill for a minute.

Get all your toppings ready!

Chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, cilantro, and sev (crisp chickpea noodles)
Red garlic chutney and Green Cilantro chutney

Brush some melted butter over the papad. it prevents the papad from getting soggy.

Sprinkle some chopped onions.

Chopped tomatoes

Chopped cucumbers

Chopped cabbage

Sprinkle some chaat masala/ Chaat masala is a tangy spicy powder. 

Add some garlic and cilantro chutney

Sprinkle crisp sev and fresh cilantro.

Add chopped grapes or apples or pomegranate seeds or chopped mangoes too for sweetness.

Enjoy Crisp Papad Canapé!