Almond Poppy Seed Drink

Almond Poppy Seed drink

Personally, I do not attach much importance to new year. I fell time is a continuum and for our convenience we divided it into the way we follow today. It seems a bit philosophical, but that’s how I feel about it. Having said that, I am aware that many attach more importance to new year, especially the first day so I thought I will post a recipe on this day. I wanted to post a recipe I learned from my grandmother as I thought it would be a nice way to preserve it while we move forward in time. I did make some modifications to the recipe to make it suitable for us. This is the drink my grandmother would make when we have mouth ulcers. It is one of those recipes that serves as medicines for an otherwise annoying problem. It is quite tasty so you can have it once a week even if you do not have mouth ulcer. Poppy seeds are obtained from the opium plant but do not have the bad effects of the drug itself. On the other hand, it is said to help in nervous disorders and acts as pain killer. It also has essential fatty acids and I am guessing it is for these reasons that it gets used in this recipe. Here is the recipe...

10-12 almonds, soaked and skinned

1 tablespoon poppy seeds, soaked in hot water for about an hour

1 generous pinch of saffron

2 glasses of milk

Sugar to taste

Grind together the almonds, saffron and poppy seeds and once finely ground, add the milk. You could steep the saffron in some hot water/milk to extract the flavour better

Add the milk and required sugar.

Barley Kheer

Barley Kheer

I do not know why but I do seem to have been left with a liking for sweet dishes after both my pregnancies. While I would not say I have a sweet tooth now, I am not all that hesitant to try sweets. To me, moderation is the key and being clever about what I add to my food makes all the difference. I normally make a kheer or any other simple sweet on Fridays and recently I tried barley kheer. It was ok but not that I would have blogged about. I then decided to refine the recipe to make it more similar to almond kheer and did some modifications, bingo! The use of barley, I think, would make this suitable for diabetics as well as people on 'diet'. Barley has plenty of good fibre, an important part of a healthy balanced diet. It also has a low glycemic index and that in simple terms, just means it will not shoot up the blood glucose soon after you eat it. A food with high glycemic index, like white bread, polished rice etc. would cause the blood glucose to rise soon after consumption. For diabetics, it is very important to avoid the fluctuation in blood sugar.

If you want to replace the dairy milk with any other milk, like almond or oat milk etc., you may do so but make sure it is okay to let that milk boil, if not just add it before serving. Adjust the quantity of sugar to taste. I like it less sweet so I get to enjoy the flavours from saffron and the nuts. If you like it thicker, add some more barley.

For one serving:

1 tablespoon barley, pressure cooked or well cooked by any other method

Sugar to taste

2 teaspoons of powdered nuts like cashew, almond, pista

Some chiroli seeds

Pinch of saffron

1 cup milk

Grind the barley well and pour it into a sauce pan, add some water and bring to boil. You need to stir often else it will stick to the bottom and burn

Add the milk and required sugar and allow to boil

Add the ground nuts and saffron and boil for couple or minutes. If you have the time, steep the saffron in some hot water so it releases its flavour quickly before adding.

Garnish with chiroli seeds and serve chilled

Low fat Almondy Apple Strawberry Milkshake

Low fat Almondy Apple Strawberry Milkshake


I quite like milkshakes because they are an easy way to have fruits and get your five a day portions. However, some people may be wary of taking milk due to varied reasons like calories, fat, lactose intolerance etc. Although I am not too worried about these at the minute, my interest was in increasing the fibre content in my diet. For that reason and also in the interest of folks who are looking for milk substitutes, I chose oats milk for this recipe. Oat milk is naturally cholesterol free and lactose free and has cancer preventing phytochemicals too. I went for the store bought oat milk although it is not difficult to make it at home. This milkshake is rich in antioxidants, fibre and many other trace nutrients essential to keep the immune system functioning well. I added very little sugar and stuck to unrefined brown sugar. The flaked almonds are optional as some people may not like the little bites and nutty flavour from them in a milkshake.

3 glasses oats milk
2 tablespoon flaked almonds
5-6 strawberries (I used frozen)
3 apples, cut with skin
2 teaspoon brown sugar or any other sweetner of choice

Combine part of the milk, all apples and strawberry together and blend. Add sugar, almonds and more milk and blend further

Serve chill!