Strawberry season is here, it coincides with the days of summer. I just loved, how beautiful this strawberry iced tea looks. This healthy, refreshing iced tea has a nice flavor of fresh and sweet strawberries and tartness of lemon. Enjoy this cold iced tea on a summer evening , it makes you relax and feels energetic.
     
     Ingredients

         10 Strawberries
         3 Lipton Bags
         3 Cups of Water
         3 Tsp of Lemon Juice
         3-4 Tbsp of Sugar or to taste
         Ice Cubes


    Method

• Boil 3 Cups of water in a kettle, pour this hot water to the tea pot. Put 3 tea bags to the tea pot. Cover the tea pot and leave it for 5 mins. After that remove the tea bags from the tea pots. Let it cool down for 10 mins.
• In a blender, add strawberries, blend it to a smooth paste without adding water.
• Strain the purred berries and discard the seeds.
• In a pitcher,  Mix together the purred strawberries, tea, sugar and lemon juice. In this stage, you can add more water if you want.
• Transfer this to a serving glass with ice cubes or refrigerate it for 15 mins.
• Garnish with sliced strawberry and enjoy.

     Tips

• Adjust the level of sweetness according to your taste.
• You can use Stevia instead of regular white sugar.
• If you find your ice tea is thick, make it thin by adding more water.
• Use chilled club soda in place of water for a different taste.
• You can add mint for a extra flavor.

   Health Benefits of Stawberries
   Source : Healthdiaries.com and Besthealthmag.ca

• The fiber in strawberries helps to keep digestion regular and lowers the blood pressure.
• High in anti-oxidants and excellent source of vitamin C.
• It boosts the immunity.
• It has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Good for eyes and bone health.

Dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice and black lentils. It is getting popular around the world because of taste and crispy texture. Thakkali paruppu dosai does not need any fermentation. There are two types of rice, one is parboiled rice and other one is raw rice. In this recipe I used toor dal , parboiled rice, tomatoes, red chillies coconut and spices. Addition of tomatoes gives tanginess and vibrant color, red chillies gives spicy taste, carbs and protein from rice and dal. So this dish gives you well balanced of all nutrients. Best accompaniment for this tomato dosa are coconut chutney or peanut chutney or sambar or podi.

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 Cup of Parboiled Rice
2 Tbsp of Toor Dal
3 Large Size Tomatoes, Chopped
2 Tbsp of Desiccated Coconut Flakes / Grated coconut
4-5 Red Chillies
1 Tsp of Fennel Seeds
Few Cilantro(Coriander)  Leaves, Finely Chopped
7 – 10 Curry Leaves
Salt to Taste
Oil as Needed

Method

• Soak the dal and rice separately for 5 – 6 hrs. After that wash the dal and rice in cold tap water.
• In a blender, add toor dal, rice, tomatoes, coconut flakes, red chillies, coriander(cilantro)leaves, curry leaves and salt, Grind it until the mixture turns smooth.
• Transfer this batter to a bowl, add fennel seeds and mix well. If you need more salt, you can add it at this stage.
• Add water if batter is too thick. Heat a dosa pan or tawa, take a ladle full of batter, spread it like thin dosa. Drizzle some oil over the dosa or in sides. Cook both sides until it turns crisp.
• Serve this dosa with your coconut or peanut chutney or sambar or podi. I had it with urad dal chutney.

Tips

• You can add chopped green chillies instead of red chillies.
• Always cook dosa in medium flame.
• You can add more tomatoes if your tomato are not tangy.
• You can avoid fennel seeds, if you don’t want.
• Adjust the number of red chillies according to your spicy level.
• You can add little jaggery if you want for a slight sweet taste.
• If you are making this for breakfast , soak rice and dal overnight and grind them in the morning.

Health Benefits

Tomatoes

•  Tomatoes are rich in vitamin A, C, K and Potassium.
•  They are a natural cancer fighter.
•  They are a good source of chromium which helps to regulate blood sugar.