Homemade Badam Milk Mix | Badam Milk Recipe

Badam Milk Mix, a delicious and healthy nut mix that is used to make a healthy drink by mixing it with milk. Badam milk is quite popular throughout India and even considered as a luxurious food because of the addition of almonds which is quite expensive. 

Badam Milk can be made either with the freshly grounded almond paste or with the instant powdered mix. Making badam milk with the freshly grounded almond paste is little time consuming however making and storing this Badam milk power/mix in a container comes handy for making instant Badam milk.

So if you have never tried this homemade badam milk mix then do give a try ! It's so easy to make with a handful of ingredients and the taste and flavor are really amazing and way better than any store bought instant mix.

Almonds

Almonds are the key ingredient in this mix. So use a good quality of almonds for great flavor and richness. In this recipe, i have used cashews in addition to the almonds. In our family, we like the combination of almond and cashew more than the almonds alone.

But it's really a personal choice so you can make this mix only with almonds too. It tastes equally good.

Saffron 

Saffron is the key ingredient for that typical badam milk flavor. So buy a good quality of safron and use it generously. I'm the person who rarely uses saffron in my cooking and rarely buys & stock it in my pantry.  So always skip when the recipe calls for it.

But for this mix, i wouldn't make it without saffron so i highly recommend to use it generously in this recipe.

Sweetener

Today, i have used panam karkandu / Palm sugar candy for the sweetness since i'm giving this to my toddler also. However you can use plain white sugar too. 

Also i have used only 1/3 cup of sugar candy which is very less for the given quantity so you can use up to 1/2 cup of sugar. Keep in mind that you can add more sugar later while making the badam milk too if needed. So keeping the sugar as minimal in the mix would be great.

Other uses of Badam milk mix 

• You can use a couple of tsp of this mix in the pancakes , it would tastes awesome.
• You can also use it in the onion tomato based curries like paneer masala, chickpeas curry. Add a few tsp of this mix in the end of making curries, it gives thickness and richness to the curry and also the mild sweetness balance out the other spices.
• You can use this mix for making Badam kesar kulfi too.

Ok, now let's check out how to make this Badam Milk Mix.

Homemade Badam Milk Mix

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Health Mix | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Homemade Badam Milk, Badam milk, Healthy mix Badam Milk Mix, a delicious and healthy nut mix that is used to make a healthy drink by mixing it with milk.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Almond - 1/2 cup

Cashew - 1/4 cup

Cardamom - 7

Palm candy sugar / Panam karkandu - 1/3 to 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Saffron - a big pinch

For Badam Milk

Milk - 1/2 cup

Badam Milk Mix - 1 tbsp

Procedure

First heat a thick bottomed pan, add the almonds and roast till the skin starts to turn brown and then transfer the almonds into the mixie/blender jar.

Next add the cashews and roast till dark spots appear here and there and then transfer the cashews into the mixie/blender jar.

Finally add the cardamom to the pan and roast it for  2-3 mins and then  transfer that into the mixie/blender jar. Let the roasted ingredients cool a bit and then grind into a coarse mixture.

Then add the palm candy, turmeric powder and saffron and grind into a smooth mixture. That's it! Badam Milk Mix is ready. Store it in the airtight container and use as needed.

To make Badam Milk.

Pour the milk in a saucepan, add the Badam milk mix and bring into a boil. Delicious Badam milk is ready. 

Pour into the serving glass and garnish with a few strands of saffron.

Related : How to make Rosemilk at home

Notes:

• Badam milk can be served warm as well as cold. It tastes good either way.
• For 1 cup of milk, you can use up to 2 tbsp of badam mix. 
  
  
  

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Turmeric Milk / Manjal Paal, a delicious milk drink flavored with turmeric powder. In recent times, it's also called "Golden Milk". Interesting name, right ?

It's one of the common night time drinks during winter months when we grew up.  During winter months, as flu season is high, in order to avoid catching the cold, the elders in the family used to make this milk. 

To be honest, this doesn't need a recipe at all :-) . After boiling the milk, turmeric powder and  some sweetener is added to the milk and it's served warm. It's as simple as that. In addition to the turmeric powder , you can also add  a pinch of pepper powder too.This drink is really soothing to your throat and indeed it's delicious.

As i'm back from a 3 month trip to India a couple of days back, the weather here in Canada seems more harsh than usual hence i'm making this turmeric milk at night time to keep me warm and cozy.  That's the reason for this post here now :-)

Before moving on to the recipe, let's check out some FAQs.

What is  Panam Kalkandu ?

Panam Kalkandu is a type of sugar from the palm tree, it helps to soothe the throat. So usually we add this as a sweetener in Turmeric milk. But you can use regular sugar or honey too.

What are the other ingredients that can added in the Turmeric Milk?

In addition to the turmeric powder, you can add the pepper powder too especially when you have cold. It really helps to reduce the symptoms. 

Turmeric Milk | Golden Milk | Manjal Paal

Preparation Time : 0 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Drink | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Turmeric Milk, Golden Milk, Manjal Paal, Healthy Drink Turmeric Milk / Manjal Paal, a delicious milk drink flavored with turmeric powder.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Milk - 1 cup 

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp

*Panam Kalkandu - to taste

*Panam kalkandu is a type of sugar from the palm tree, it helps to soothe the throat.

Procedure

First add the milk in a sauce pan and bring into boil. 

Switch off the flame and then add the the turmeric powder and the panam kalkandu(Got the panam kalkandu from the srilankan store and it's called as "kallakaram" there! ). Instead of panam kalkandu, you can use any other sweetener like sugar, honey etc.

That's it, Delicious Turmeric Milk/ Manjal Paal is ready.

Related : How to make Panakam/ Panakaram

Notes: 

• Don't add more turmeric powder than the mentioned quantity, it doesn't taste good.
• Like i said, you can add any other sweetener you like or even without any sweetener also you can make this.
• I highly recommend to have this as warm. 

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How to make Indian Masala Chai | Ginger Cardamom Tea

Indian Masala Chai is a sweetened tea beverage made by boiling the tea, milk and some Indian spices together.  If you have followed me on IG and had a chance to see my daily stories, you might already know my love for a good cup of chai.

Nowadays, I think that the Indian chai doesn't need any introduction, right? The most famous coffee house, Starbucks has already started to sell the Indian masala chai in their cafe. But the commonly used term "chai tea" to mention "Indian chai" is a bit confusing for me when I heard it for the first time. Actually the Hindi language word for tea is 'chai', so the word "chai tea" sounds repeating to me. Anyone with me or am i the only one who thinks that the term "chai tea" is weird ?

Ok, let's leave the name conundrum! First let me answer the common myths about Indian Chai. Typically in our homes, we don't add a lot of spices in our tea on a daily basis. The most common flavor is either ginger or cardamom or both.

Besides, we don't prepare masala chai powder in bulk for household purposes. So the masala chai that are available in North American restaurants or cafes is not how we prepare at home. Indian household chai recipe is a simple straightforward milk tea with one or two spices. That's it ! 

Let's see some FAQs about Indian Chai before moving to the recipe

What's the proportion of milk and water in the chai?

There are  no hard and fast rules here. You can add more or less milk as per your liking. I prefer my chai with 1:1 ratio of milk and water.

What % of milk is good for chai ?

Ideally full fat milk tastes great. But for daily intake, i prefer to make the chai with 2% milk. But you can use whatever you like!

What's the best tea powder for Indian Chai?

In India, I prefer to use red roses. Here in Canada, I like red label brands or any tea powder from Indian brands.

Why is my chai pale in color instead of dark color?

The color of the chai solely depends on the tea powder. If the given quantity of tea powder doesn't give the dark color, you can add a bit more but keep in mind, more tea powder makes the chai bitter.

Is it ok to make chai without sugar?

Yes, absolutely fine. Or you can use any sweetener or sugar alternative also.

How to make Indian Masala Chai

Preparation Time : 2 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Masala chai, Ginger Tea, Ginger Cardamom Tea, Ginger Cardamom Chai,Indian Masala Tea, Chai Tea, Chai Latte Indian Masala Chai is a sweetened tea beverage made by boiling the tea, milk and some Indian spices together.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Milk - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Tea powder - 4 tsp

Sugar - 3 tsp

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Green Cardamom - 2 

Procedure

First, in a sauce pan, add the water & tea powder. Next peel the ginger and crush both ginger and cardamom roughly(bring out the flavor well) and then add into the sauce pan. 

Bring into boil, then add the milk. 

Next add the sugar and again bring into boil and let it simmer for 2 mins. Then strain the tea and it's ready to serve.

Flavorful Indian Masala Chai is ready. Serve it with your favorite biscuits or crackers. 

Notes:

• Add more or less of sugar as per your liking 
• Instead of white sugar, you can use the brown sugar also.

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Panakaram | Panakam | Traditional Drink | Summer Drink

Panakaram /Panakam, a delicious cooling drink prepared from lemon. For many temple festival in south tamilnadu, this panakaram(that's how we mention  "Panakam" in south tamilnadu) and neer moor are the most distributed drink to the people. 

In my school days, i had fond memories of having them druing ther thiruvizha(temple car festival) in my home town, Tirunelveli. During that time, people used to make panthal(small temporary store) on the road side and bring the panakaram and neer moor(Both are real thirst quencher and keep you cool in hot sun) in a large vessel to give to all the people who pay visit to the car festival. 

Amma says that in those days, the panakaram was mainly made with tamarind, instead of lemon. For tamarind panakaram, soak the tamarind in water, extract the pulp and add water as needed and add the remaining ingredients as such in the ingredients list. 

Even now, in certain temples, they do the same. When talking to Amma over phone last week, she mentioned that she prepared this panakam for around 100 people to distribute to the nearby Amman temple on Aadi Velli(Friday of Aadi(Tamil) month), since then i was craving for this delicious drink and made this few days back 😊 .

 Now let's check out how i have prepared this delicious panakaram with lemon.

Panakaram | Panakam | Traditional Drink

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Panakam, Traditional Summer Drink, Panakaram Panakaram /Panakam, a delicious & traditional South Indian drink prepared from lemon.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Lemon - 1/2
Jaggery - 3 tbsp
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

First measure and take the jaggery in a bowl, add water, let it sit for couple of mins or until the jaggery dissolves completely.

Strain the jaggery water to remove the impurities, then add the lemon juice squeezed from the 1/2 of the lemon.

Next add the salt and cardamon powder. Mix it all well together and the panakaram is ready.

Delicious Panakaram is ready to serve.

Related:How to make Neer Moor

Notes:

• Ground the jaggery into fine powder using hand motor and pestle or mixie to dissolve it easily.
• Salt really enhance the taste, so highly recommend to add.
• You can use ice water for chilled drink.
• In addition to cardamom, you can add pinch of dry ginger/sukku powder too.
• If you have tulsi, add few leaves. I can't source it here, so skipped it.
  

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Chia Seed Lemon Drink | Chia Seed Detox Water | Detox Water

Chia Seed Lemon Drink, a simple to make detox water at home with easily available ingredients from your pantry. When i saw the word "Detox water" for the first time, i wondered what is it ? Actually it's a infused water with fruits/vegetables and if you have it on empty stomach in the morning, it's said to help remove the toxins from the body and keep you energetic throughout the day. 

I'm not sure about all that claims about the detox water, but i wanna change my morning coffee routine to some what healthy drinks.So for the past couple of months, i have been drinking this lemon water with chia seed for twice or thrice in a week instead of my morning morning coffee and really like it, that means it deserves a post here. 

Chia Seed Lemon Drink | Chia Seed Detox Water

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 1 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: International
Chia Seed Lemon Water, Chia seed Detox water, Detox Water Chia Seed Lemon Drink, a simple to make detox water at home with easily available ingredients from your pantry.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Chia Seed - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Procedure 

Chia Seed Mango Pudding for healthy breakfast !!

Take the chia seed in a bowl, add the water and set it aside for minimum 1 hr to bloom or until it becomes all gel like consistency.

Pour the chia gel in a serving bowl, squeeze the lemon juice and add the honey.

Mix it all well together and then add the water. Again mix it well and serve it with lemon wedges.

Tada, Simple Chia seed Lemon Drink is ready to serve. If interested in more chia seed recipes, check out this chia seed mango pudding or Raspberry chia smoothie or oatmeal recipe  

How to add chia seeds  in Smoothies 

Notes:

• The given quantity of the ingredients are based on my liking, you can add more or less of any ingredients as per your liking.
• You can soak the chia overnight in the refrigerator.  

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Cucumber Juice | Cucumber Lemon Juice | Summer Drinks

Cucumber lemon juice, a perfect thirst quencher on summer days. It's one of my recent favorite juices to have on hot summer days. 

Cucumber has more than 95% water hence it's perfect to include in your diet on summer days to keep you hydrated. Mostly we like to have them sliced or used in raita as a side dish. 

But when i browsed through pinterest a while ago, i came across this cucumber juice and really like the idea of making  juice with cucumber, so later whenever i have bulk cucumbers in hand, without second thought, i made this juice. 

Here in the juice, i have used salt to season it, but instead of salt, you can add sugar/honey too. It's really up to your preference whether you want salty or sweet juice.

Cucumber Juice | Cucumber Lemon Juice

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 1 
Recipe Category: Juice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Cucumber - 1 
Lemon - 1/2
Salt - 2 pinch
Pepper - to taste
Water - as needed

Procedure

First peel the cucumber and slice them roughly, put the cucumber slices into the blender.

Add enough water and grind them into smooth puree. Strain the cucumber puree.

Squeeze the lemon juice and add salt and pepper as per your taste. 

Stir well and it's ready to serve. Tasty and cool Cucumber Juice is ready.

Related:How to make pineapple raita

Notes:

• You can have this juice as it is without any straining too.
• If you like mint flavor, add few mint leaves while grinding the cucumber.
• Serve fresh for better taste.  
  

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Fig Milkshake | Dried Fig Smoothie | Smoothie Recipe

Fig Milkshake, a healthy and creamy milkshake made from the dried figs. This milkshake is one of our recent favorite drinks, it tastes so good on its own and quite filling too. Actually this milkshake was inspired from the dates milkshake. 

When we were in Bangalore, ST was quite fond of dates milkshakes that were available in his office canteen, even he noticed how it was prepared in the canteen and told me, but as i'm not a big fan of dates in drink, i never attempt to make it at home.

Now coming to figs milkshake, whenever we go to Costco, we have the habit of buying MORE. Sometimes I wonder how the bag that looks so small in the store has turned into a huge sack at home !!! It's just me or anyone else who has the same experience. 

That's how a large bag of figs got into my pantry, after munching them for a while, I was really bored . That's when I remembered the dates milkshake and prepared the same way, replacing dates with figs and it turned out so creamy and delicious. Guess this is the perfect & delicious way to finish the remaining figs!!!!  

Fig MilkShake

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Smoothie | Recipe Cuisine: General
Fig Milkshake, Dried Fig Smoothie Fig Milkshake, a healthy and creamy milkshake made from the dried figs.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Dried Fig - 6
Warm Water - 1/2 cup
Honey - 1 to 2 tsp
Milk - 1 to 1&1/2 cup 

Procedure

Soak the figs in warm water for 20 mins, then add into the blender jar along with the soaked water and honey.

Blend into smooth paste, then add milk into jar and again blend it until all combine together.

That's it, Yummy and creamy Fig Milkshake is ready.

Related: How to make Strawberry Lemonade 

Notes:

• Soaking the figs helps to grind them easily.
• Don't discard the soaked water, it has lot of flavor.
• Adjust the milk as per the consistency you want.
• If you want mild sweetness to your smoothie, you may not need the honey, just the sweetness from the figs is enough.
  

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