Dry Fruits Milkshake - A tasty, healthy, energy booster

 
















Dry fruit Milkshake is a healthy, nourishing and energy boosting refreshment in summer. Anybody needing a quick supply of vigor and punch can have it. This could be served as breakfast supplement for kids, an energy booster after school or office for both old and young and of course a refreshing drink after fasting of Navaratri or any vrat (religious fasting). This is an assortment of nuts, grapes and fruits mixed with goodness of milk which provides a very filling meal for every one who wants to have a spike in his/her energy level.  This drinks is rich in Iron, Calcium, Potassium,Vitamin E, Fibre, antioxidants and Omega 3 fatty acid. In short it is beneficial for your heart, brain, skin and hair, prevents blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, thyroid and constipation. For more details about the benefits please refer to https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/8-amazing-dry-fruits-benefits-from-heart-health-to-thyroid-control-1678497. This milkshake is a super food which does not take much time to prepare and is one of the yummiest drinks. Your kids will fall in love for it. Here is the recipe….

There are many dry fruits available in the market and almost all of them can be used for the milkshake and depending upon your availability you can use few or all of them. I describe here my favorite ingredients and all others are optional.

You can watch the recipe in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f71NjBe1tfc&t=62s as well

Preparation Time: - 30 min

Cooking Time: - 5~10 min

Servings: - 2~3 persons

Ingredients:- 

1. 3 tbsp unsalted pistachios, shelled
2. 10 Almonds (Badam)
3. 10 whole Cashews (kaju)
4. 2~3 dried Figs (dried Anjeer) - optional
5. 4 unseeded Dates (Khajur)
6. ¼ cup Raisins (Kismis)
7. ¼ cup Walnut (akhrot)
8. 2~3 pieces of Apricot - optional
9. Pinch of Saffron (Kesar)
10. ½ tsp Cardamom powder (Elaichi powder)
11. ¼ tsp Vanilla essence
12. 2 tbsp Honey
13. 2 tbsp Powdered or crushed Sugar – optional
14. 2 cup or 500 ml toned Milk
    

Preparation:-

1. We need to peel the almonds now. For that put the almonds in warm water for 5 min.
2. In the meantime boil the milk and keep aside to cool down. If you use Tetra pack milk no need to boil. Once the milk is cooled to room temperature put it in Refrigerator.
3. Now put the almonds in cold water and after few seconds peel them. The hot-cold treatment will make the peeling easier.
4. Once almonds are peeled chop the figs and dates. If you are preparing the milkshake for your smaller kids you should avoid figs as their digestion may be affected by sour figs.
5. Shell the pistachios if not already shelled. Keep 1~2 pistachio and 1~2 almonds for Garnishing.
6. Now mix the almonds, pistachios, raisins, walnut, apricot, chopped figs and dates. I prefer to use black raisins as they are healthier than green ones but some kids may not like it. Hence the choice is yours to use the kind of raisins you want. Pour all of them in cold water and soak for 15 minutes.
7. Refrigerate the mixture for another 15 min.
8. Once the milk and the mixture is sufficiently chilled take out them. Strain the water from the dry fruit mixture with the help of a strainer.
9. Combine the dry fruits with 1 cup of milk and honey and blend in a mixer till smooth. You can use sugar if you want. The amount of sugar depends upon your taste.
10. Add cardamom powder, vanilla essence (optional – I do not use it) and rest of the milk—again blend it to make a smooth little bit frothy milkshake.
11. Pour them in 2~3 glasses and garnish with the pistas, almonds and few strands of saffron
    

Serve this shake as it is or you can refrigerate it for some time to have the chilled refreshing feeling.

Notes:-

• You can add a scoop of ice cream on top of it to make it more interesting but I do not prefer this.
• You can use Soya milk or almond milk instead of cow’s milk for making it a vegan recipe.                       

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As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.