Shake it the Sharjah way!!

the thing about living in a hostel when you are a student living too far away from your hometown to be able to go back and forth during long weekends is, it exposes you to many things…..some good, some not so….but everything teaches you a lesson that you will never forget for the rest of your life……so the longish weekends I’d have at my disposal, I spent accepting every invitation from friends and classmates to visit their homes……the memories and experiences and some of the pictures that I managed are priceless……it also gave me the fabulous opportunity to partake of many meals lovingly prepared, many conversations and a peek into other people’s lives……..

The first time I visited kerala, was on one such weekend…..i remember it was the easter weekend….and I had my first full scale exposure to the heat, humidity, food, people and festivals of this state…..i was in love!! I can recall almost everything that I did those three days…..the food I ate and the walks on the beaches…..i also first sipped a milkshake in a beer mug!! Sharjah shake …… I don’t know how this drink got this name……I have asked around and checked on the internet….haven’t found any conclusive information….suffice to say that the intriguing name apart, this is one must do – must taste when one is in God’s own country…….apparently the birth of this drink happened in Calicut, circa unknown….and its popularity is spreading all over the state….. the ingredients are simple and available in abundance……made of milk and bananas, and frozen milk that gives it an amazing consistency, it makes for a refreshingly cool

indulgence that good for your bones too……sharjah shake is my entry to Beautiful Bones: an Osteoporosis Food Event, hosted by the lovely Food blogga Susan……the event calls for a calcium rich recipe to be made and posted in the month of may which is the osteoporosis awareness month…….milk is a rich source of calcium and so are bananas…..so Susan, this is being whipped up specially for you!!

To make the Sharjah Shake to serve two in regular glasses or one in a beer mug!!

(This is my version with lesser sugar)

500 mls frozen milk (I used low fat)

2 ripe bananas (about 1 cup of slices)

1-2 t sugar

A pinch of powdered cardamom seeds

1T bournvita (substitute with boost/ drinking chocolate or any malt / chocolate based drink)

In a blender jar, add all of the above ingredients and blend till everything is well incorporated and liquefied. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Land of beauty and a thirst quencher ~ Chaas

blue skies, crystal clear glistening waters of the Arabian Sea at Mandvi, Gujarat

the coast at mandvi

typical saurashtran meal

Gujarat is the land mf myriad shades….the land of beauty…..in people and nature….of rich cultural heritage…of arts and crafts….of a community that is knit together….of festivals and colours…and fabulous food….K’s parents migrated to Ahmadabad in 2003, K himself spent 6 years of his childhood growing up in Kutch in a place called gandhidham…that’s where his parents now live….since then we make one trip a year to spend with them ….i can go completely berserk shopping at law garden, rani ka ajeera or lal darwaza at one of the hundreds of shacks/shops selling crafts, arts, clothes and jewelry ….. not be disappointed at 2 a.m if I want to eat cheese sandwiches, or chaat or have an ice gola….… I love the place before this my only connection with Gujarat was that my mother studied there….graduation her career there…she always speaks glowingly of the people and the culture and the way it shaped what she became….so much was her love for the food from Gujarat, that khichdi and kadhi, shaaks of different kinds, shrikhand, aamras, khaari seeng and chunda was what I grew up on…..sadly, I don’t make much of these except for khichdi and kadhi which is on my top five comfort foods list…..

I was obviously very happy to see RCI – Gujarat…. instead of any of the elaborate dish, I planned to post of this fabulously versatile, thirst quenching drink “chaas” which no gujarati meal is without…..infact in households and restaurants alike, your glass of chaas will be refilled if you so much as tilt it half way through…..a super summer cooler….it can be your best friend if you want something light yet nutritious to fill you up…..

these beads are a thoran (wall / door adornment), made of beads and bells, their colours and tinkling bells are a delight as they sway in the breeze….i picked these up on my last trip from an artisan’s co-operative unit

Chaas is made of yoghurt …it is a spiced buttermilk….to be had on its own or to wash down a full meal….chaas can be mildly or strongly spiced, seasoned or not….the avatars it can take on are many….all delightfully satisfying …..this is off to RCI – Gujarat, hosted by Mythili of Vindu this month, and the brain child of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine….

Nature ka nasha ~ Kharbuza Shake

The honey dew melon that sat in the fridge for a few days made its presence felt by flavouring everything from the milk (vessel covered with a lid) to the butter (closed butter case)…… while K mentioned that the tea tasted different, I racked my brains about what to do with it…..we had so much fruit stocked up that cutting the melon open wasn’t such a good idea. One because we couldn’t finish it in one go, two because the cut fruit would rapidly lose its flavour and sweetness……we couldn’t take it out of the fridge cos it would just perish….talk about being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea….only this time it was the melon and the refrigerator……then I remembered that my favourite fix while at work at the fresh juice counter used to be “kharbuza shake”, creamy, frothy and totally yummy. Between trainings, while I took my breaks this was the only thing that I used to have time for and it was filling as well as nutritious…..most things that are healthy have a reputation of being tasteless, but not my tarbuza shake…it has a fantastic blend of texture, flavour and sweetness….with no added sugar (mostly)….its great as breakfast, with breakfast, or a snack supplement….so this is how the honey dew melon found nirvana…..4 glasses of fabulous shake….between K and i…..it was nature ka nasha all the way!! Cheers!!

this also is going off to Meeta for her Monthly Mingle…this month is Liquid dreams