Celebrating India’s 61st Republic day with this tri color pudding, which represents the flag of India…

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, New Delhi. The different regiments of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force march past in all their finery and official decorations. The President of India who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute. The parade also includes vibrant displays, floats and traditionally ends with a flypast by Indian Air Force jets. Celebrations, though on a much smaller scale, are also held in state capitals, where the governor of the state unfurls the national flag.


The Indian flag was designed in 1921 by Pingali Venkayya, an agriculturist from Machilipatnam. The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolour of “deep saffron” at the top, “white” in the middle, and “green” at the bottom. In the centre features a navy blue wheel with twenty-four spokes, known as the Ashoka Chakra, taken from the Lion Capital of Asoka erected atop Ashoka pillar at Sarnath

The Saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The “Ashoka Chakra” in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of truth. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.

India’s National:

• Language- Hindi
• Anthem- Jana Gana Mana
• Animal- Tiger
• Flower- Lotus
• Bird-Peacock
• Dish- Rice and Curry
• Song-vandemataram
• Sports-Hockey

Tri Color Pudding:

For Green color pudding:

Ingredients:

• Avocado, ripe-1
• Pistachios, shelled-1/4 cup
• Milk- 1 1/2 cups
• Condensed milk- 4tbsp or according to your needs
• Agar-Agar strands- 6gm

Preparation:

• Place agar-agar strands in 3tbsp water and heat it by constantly stirring to dissolve in water. Strain it to remove any tiny strands present in it.

• Blend avocado and pistachios into a fine paste by adding little water to it.
• In a saucepan, heat milk and condensed milk.
• When it comes to a boil add the dissolved agar-agar and combine well.
• Remove from the flame and when it is slightly cooled, add the avocado-pistachios puree and combine well.

• Pour this mixture into a cake pan, dessert bowl or ramekin, after it cools down refrigerate to set.

For White color pudding:

Ingredients:

• Apple-2
• Almonds-1/4 cup
• Milk-1 1/2 cups
• Vanilla extract- 1tsp
• Condensed milk-4 tbsp or according to your needs
• Agar-agar strands-6gm

Preparation:

• Place agar-agar strands in 3tbsp water and heat it by constantly stirring to dissolve in water. Strain it to remove any tiny strands present in it.
• Blend apple and almonds together into a fine paste by adding little water.
• In a saucepan, heat the milk along with condensed milk and vanilla extract.
• When the milk comes to a boil, add the melted agar-agar to it and combine well.
• Remove from the flame and when it’s slightly cooled, add apple-almond puree to it and combine well.

• Slowly pour this mixture on top of the green pudding that has already been set in the refrigerator.

• Let it cool and place in the refrigerator for further setting.

For Orange Color pudding:

Ingredients:

• Cantaloupe juice or Carrot juice -1 1/2 cups
• Milk- 1/2 cup
• Condensed milk- 4tbsp
• Agar-agar strands- 6gm

Preparation:

• Place agar-agar strands in 3tbsp water and heat it by constantly stirring to dissolve in water. Strain it to remove any tiny strands present in it.
• Blend fresh cantaloupe and strain it to get the juice out of it and keep aside.

• Heat milk along with condensed milk.
• When the milk comes to a boil, add dissolved agar-agar and mix well.
• Remove from the flame, let cool slightly and add the cantaloupe juice to this.

• Pour this mixture on top of the white pudding that has already been set in the refrigerator.

• Again, keep this in the refrigerator for further setting.

• After the pudding has set well, cut into different shapes and serve.

Happy Republic day!

Yesterday, when I posted the Avocado Milkshake recipe, couple of my foodie friends shared more avocado recipes with me. I never thought that I could make such interesting dishes with this fruit. I would like to share those recipes with all my readers.

1. Avocado Chutney by ‘Chacko’s kitchen‘: This is a really easy chutney, you can have this with rice or rotis.
2. Avocado Drink by ‘Keep Learning Keep Smiling’: This drink is made with avocado, condensed milk and cold water.
3. Ganga, one of my good friends shared her tips to enhance the avocado milkshake that I had made. Add vanilla ice cream and vanilla extract with ripe avocados and blend along with milk.

If you know any interesting recipe with avocado, please share with me via comments.

A glass of Avocado milkshake is not enough, your taste buds will definitely beg for more…

Whenever I come across avocados in the grocery store, I ask them: Are you a fruit or a vegetable? And their answer is “I am definitely a fruit, but in some kitchen I am treated as a vegetable”. This is yet another fruit I had ignored all these years. The only dish I’ve tasted made with avocado is Guacamole, that too in restaurants. During my last grocery shopping, I invited some of these fruits to my kitchen and gave these buddies a special place in my refrigerator. Every time when I opened the refrigerator, I thought what I should make with these fruits. I was totally confused and so made them sit there for few more days.

Finally, when I felt that I am being mean to these fruits by not giving them the opportunity to be a part of my cooking, I took them out. At first, I thought I should just scoop the flesh, mash it and put some seasonings and have it as a dip. After a second thought, I felt I should put them in the blender along with milk and sugar and transform them into a milkshake. I went with my second thought.

When I had a sip of this milkshake, I felt terribly guilty for not buying these all these years. The milkshake was extremely delicious; it had a buttery and smooth finish. I didn’t think any further and gave all the avocados a milkshake makeover.

If you haven’t tried anything with avocados I would highly recommend this easy and quick milkshake, any one will fall for this the moment they take the first sip.

Not to forget the health benefits of Avocados:

• Avocado extract is good for prevention and treatment of breast cancer as well as prostate cancer.
• Avocados contain “oleic acid”, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol.
• Just a slice of Avocado improves your body’s ability to absorb carotenoid.
• Avocados are powerhouse of vitamin E.
• Avocados are shown to maintain good cholesterol while reducing the bad cholesterol.
• Avocado is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.

Avocado Milkshake

Yield: 2 glasses

Ingredients:

• Ripe Avocado: 1
• Milk- 2 cups
• Sugar or honey- 2 tbsp

Preparation:

• Scoop out the flesh and put it in the blender.
• Pour milk and put the sugar to this.
• Blend it until smooth and serve in a juice glass.

Tips:

• Use ripe avocados for making the milkshake.
• How to buy ripe avocados: Avocados are relatively firm, color cannot be trusted to determine whether they are ripe or not. A ripe avocado will yield slightly to the touch when pressed, and this slight softness indicates it’s ready to eat.
• It’s usually hard to find ripe ones, get the unripe ones and place them in a paper bag or on the kitchen counter to ripen it at home.