Lemongrass Ginger Tea with Honey and Mangoes... Cheers to the Winners

Finally I am here with the winners of Royal Feast - Biriyani and a cold drink to toast the winners. Days are becoming harder with the snow fall, yes snowfall in February and it is affecting every aspect of everyday life.

I am not a person to mourn but when the normal walk to work poses a risk of a fall and fracture, it is only then the seemingly innocent things don't appear innocent ... I mean the snow.

Now to the recipe , well this is not a recipe in the true sense. It is just plain tea..:)

The market is flooded with various flavoured varieties that you go for a spin when you want to make a choice...

Ginger and honey makes a wonderful combination no matter what and we know what the nutritional benefits are. This is very a simple drink to brew the golden liquid, chill to a cold splash , add some fresh fruit and serve with a mint leaf.

The drink is very refreshing and the fruity bite at the end of the drink is yummy.... at least for me. You can skip the addition of fruit completely and have the tea without the fruit. The fresh mangoes infuses a mild fruity flavour to the drink and you can have this drink when it is warm which actually soothes your throat.

This can be made ahead of time.If you want to serve it cold brew the tea about 5-6 hrs ahead of time but if you want to serve it warm just an hour before serving time would be sufficient.

For the recipe:
Honey and ginger flavored herbal tea bags: 5-6
Hot water: 500 mls.
Cold water: 500 mls.
Runny honey: as per your taste.
Lemon grass stalk [chopped]: 2
Fresh mango pieces: 1 cup.
Fresh mint leaves: a handful.
Ice cubes: as required.

1. In a tall jug pour the hot boiling water. Add the tea bags and chopped lemongrass to the water and let it sit for 1/2 hour.
2.After 1/2 hour filter the brew into another jug. Discard the tea bags and lemongrass pieces.
3.Add the cold water, honey and mix well. Refrigerate until cold.
4.Half an hour before serving add the mango pieces and refrigerate until serving time.

Serve topped with ice cubes and fresh mint leaves.

Before announcing the winners, here are some of the entries that were sent through email to me.

Shrimp Mushroom and Potato Biriyani from Anu.

Nadan Chicken Biryani from Ganga who has also sent in three other entries.

Mutton Biriyani

Arabic Chicken Biriyani

 Prawns Biriyani with Vegetables

There is a visual feast waiting for you from Asiya Omar. Her blog Samaithu Asathalam is truly a treasure when it comes to food. It mainly features non-vegetarian food mainly from the Muslim community [which is my favourite] but she also posts about poetry, real life experiences, short stories etc.

She has authentic traditional recipes from "Melapalayam" which is a small town in Thirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu.

She has sent in a video link for "Nellai Mutton Biriyani" which is just awesome. Thanks Asiya akka for this link... I really enjoyed watching the making of yummy biriyani.

Do check out the link here : Nellai Mutton Biriyani .

I used random.org to generate the numbers and the numbers are : 9 and 73

It is Christy Gerald of My Kitchen Flavors and Lubna Karim of Kitchen Flavours.


Congrats girls ... Do send me your address to my  email id : kaarasaaram@yahoo.co.uk as soon as possible and I will post the cookbook to you guys.

One condition though .... pleased do cook a recipe from the book and post it in your blog for our enjoyment...:))

Thanks to all the participants who have linked their tasty recipes to the event and making it a success. Cheers to all and hope everyone has a fun time... Congrats once again to the winners  ...

Do send in your entries to the other event "CWF-Sesame Seeds" happening here ...



Enjoy...



Scribbled by Reva.