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Shahi Gola (Royal Ice Popsicle)

“Shahi Gola” in Hindi means royal ice ball or popsicle.Gola is a street food in India and it is a succulent ice ball with different flavours layered over it and ice is the major ingredient in it.
For this you need to make broken ice first.Pour water in your ice maker and put it in your freezer.After an hour or so, take out your ice maker and break the ice chunks into fine ice crystals.If you are making ice in an ice cube tray, then also it is fine. Simply take out the ice from the ice cube tray.

Take a big utensil and put all the ice in it.Use a hand blender to crush the ice nicely.Initially ,the ice would simply avoid the blender, but finally it would surrender to the supreme power of the ice blender and get crushed under it’s mighty blades.Then drain out the water, which is formed as by product of ice crushing, from that big utensil using a strainer .
To work out the remaining ice smashing effort; as we need fine ice, put all the crushed ice in a mixer grinder for further smashing and pounding.Turn on the knob to the setting no.”2″ on the mixer knob panel and within ten to fifteen seconds, you will see finely crushed ice and very small fine crystals of ice which are finely grounded.
Take a glass or a plastic glass or a mug and fill it nearly upto the brim with the crushed ice and insert a wooden or plastic ice cream stick inside it, placing it in the center of the ice ball, so that when you take out the ice ball or popsicle, then the wooden stick will hold it together.
(You can find wooden,plastic ice cream or popsicle sticks in your local market and they are to be used as the base for holding the ice ball together).

Now turn that glass upside down and take out the ice ball carefully.If you find that edges are unsettling, then use a spoon and straighten them out and if you find that the ice is lose in someplaces or that the ice ball has not formed properly, then using your hand, press the ice ball into a smooth round ball and the ice will hold it together.
Then again place the ice popsicle upside down in a glass, so that the various syrups can be poured over it.
Now the main part, to make the shahi gola. To make the shahi gola we will use seven different syrups which will give the gola varied tastes and it will look beautiful also.
Remember in shahi gola, you don’t pour the syrups all over the ice ball.The syrups are poured side by side in striations,making different designs.We can assume that the end product should nearly resemble a rainbow i.e. seven colours or atleast four different colours will show on the ice popsicle.
To make the shahi gola pour the syrups side by side on the popsicle, in the order given here:-
1.Cranberry syrup
2.Vanilla syrup
3.Kala Khatta syrup or raw mango syrup
4.Caramel syrup
5.Strawberry syrup
6.Pineapple syrup
7.Mango syrup
After you pour all these syrups over the ice popsicle, have a taste and check whether it is too sweet or is it too bitter.
If it is too sweet then add kala khatta syrup or the raw mango syrup and if it is too bitter then add the caramel or the vanilla syrup.You can even use a bit of sugar syrup on it as a topping.
The same can be made with nuts drizzled on it.

The main characteristic feature of shahi gola is that nearly all the flavours should be felt on tasting it, with sweet being its main base.
It is a refreshment for the royals which each and every human being is.

This recipe is my recipe and this is how I make shahi gola.

Eat healthy and be happy.
Enjoy the shahi gola.

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Neer Dosa

Neer Dosa or Akki Dosa.

It is a famous South Indian Dosa made only with rice. Dosa is generally a preparation made from a rice and lentil mixture, which is generally made of kolamb rice (arroz in Spanish , chaal in Bengali and chawal in Hindi) and dal (urad dal).

To make neer dosa or akki dosa you need to use only rice. The rice to be used is raw rice.The raw rice needs to be soaked in water for about three to four hours and after that the rice needs to be grinded in a mixer and then a thick batter is made.

Turn on the flame, put on a non-stick cooking tawa or a non-stick cooking pan and add oil in it. The oil can be olive oil, mustard oil,seasame oil or sunflower oil. As you wish.

The oil in the pan will get heated, then take the batter in a small amount in a wooden ladle and in circular motions, going round and round, spread the dosa on the tawa.

The dosa should not be made crisp,as neer dosa is soft and fluffy in texture and white in colour. The rice can be felt in its vein as human genome can be found in human gene.

It is generally had and served with Konkan curries and with other South Indian delicacies.

It can be had and served with chutney and sambhar also.

The most important factor of this dosa is,this dosa is fast to make, compared to other dosas.

Eat light, eat healthy and be happy.

Enjoy your dosa.

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My best friend- the Morning Sun

My best friend is the morning sun. At six thirty am, early in the morning, the sun is like a big red ball. It feels as if I can take shelter under it and the morning sun is sweet and very cute. Once I have seen the early sun, my day is set and then I can take on any challenge in any aspect of my daily life. The afternoon sun which is nearly always hot and blazing is not at all my friend. On the other hand the evening sun which sets off , to let the night takeover is also my friend, but it is not like the morning sun because at the evening, the sun is too tired to be sweet and cute.

The monsoon days are really very morose, as there is no sun visible and without my friend, my days also pass in a dull way. Thus, my friend says enjoy the drizzle and wait for the cloud to pass by, so that you can take a glimpse of the wet sun.

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In this summer – don’t forget to water your plants.

Most of us have plants in our homes. The indoor plants are a rage nowadays, specifically the good luck bamboo plants. The indoor plants such as the bamboo plants are needed to be watered every three to four days. As we all know, one has to be very careful with them during this hot and humid summer season. These plants need to be watered regularly. If you live in a place with the temperature rising above thirty degree Celsius, you will see that the plant has sucked all of the water in a day and it’s stems are dry and in need of water. These plants are sensitive to their needs and to keep them healthy, regular maintenance is needed. Same with the outdoor plants. They too need regular care. If you have a garden, whether big or small, appoint a gardener to care for your plants or you will soon find them withered and dying in this ruthless summer.

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A letter on a popular social media site- Can you sing a song nicely?

I received a letter in my account on a popular social media site. It was from an old friend. I hadn’t like the tune of a song and he was upset with me. I did my best to make him understand my view , but he cut off all his relations with me. For him that song was more like his favourite football team and there it ended. This had happened long back. We both had nearly forgotten about each other and suddenly, out of the blue, he posts a letter to me on social media site and it contained three lines –

Can you sing a song nicely?,

Your old friend,

XYZ.

I was baffled and I didn’t know what to reply. I left it there.

After thirty minutes there was another message from him, stating that he had become a successful music director and was creating more indie songs than the commercial ones and he was interested to know,if I would sing a jingle for his production.

 

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music director

I politely declined.

He replied-” I knew it, so I had the jingle recorded by a famous new comer,boo-boo and boo and go to hell.”

I didn’t reply.

I still don’t understand where was the need to contact me, if he had already recorded the jingle.

Sometimes tunes are more important than true friends.