Fruity Delight

Watermelon ginger mojito

Ingredients

500 ml fresh
watermelon juice (pulsed in blender and put through sieve)
500 ml pineapple juice
400 ml Sprite  
10 mint leaves  
20 ml ginger juice
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
A few lemon slices
Lots of ice

Method

Crush the mint leaves with sugar lightly. Mix in with all the ingredients and serve chilled.

Dairy free coconut jaggery panna-cotta

Ingredients
4 cups full fat coconut cream
½ cup
jaggery
1 tbsp
gelatine
for jaggery sauce
¼ cup
jaggery
3 tbsp coconut cream

Method

For the panna-cotta, sprinkle the gelatine over one cup coconut cream and wait for it to soften. After five minutes, gently heat the coconut cream and gelatine in a heavy bottom pan until the gelatine dissolves. Add the remaining coconut cream and jaggery and mix well. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Dairy free coconut jaggery panna-cotta

Now, to make the sauce, heat the jaggery with a tablespoon of water over medium heat until it becomes a completely caramelised liquid (no crystals). Add the coconut cream and whisk briskly and remove from flame. It should not be too light, keep on heat until the mixture turns a golden caramel colour.

Set the panna-cotta in eight bowls for five hours and once set, drizzle the sauce over the top and serve.

Garlic Butter Shrimp Salad with Coconut rice

Ingredients
500 gm de-veined cleaned
medium sized shrimp  
6 tbsp salted butter
10 cloves garlic chopped
Salt and freshly ground
pepper to taste
1 finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped
coriander
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
10 green olives chopped
1 raw mango chopped
1 ripe mango chopped
for coconut rice
1½ cups coconut water
1½ cups coconut milk
1½ cups rice
Salt to taste

Method

Heat the butter in a pan and lightly sauté the garlic. Add the cleaned prawns and fry till cooked (approximately six minutes).

Add salt and pepper and take off from heat. Keep aside. In a wide top fancy salad bowl mix the onions, coriander, ripe mango, raw mango, olives, olive oil, vinegar and lime juice. Add the prawns and mix well.

Garlic Butter Shrimp Salad with Coconut rice

To make the coconut rice, cook the rice in the coconut water and milk until all the liquid is absorbed on low heat with a lid. stir occasionally. Add the salt while cooking. Serve hot.

(Meghna Rao, entrepreneur and hotelier)

Lettuce cups

Ingredients
¼ cup soaked moong dal
1 cup cucumber cut to small cubes
½ carrot, shredded
Handful of
pomegranate seeds
1 ripe mango,
chopped
Chopped roasted almonds or peanuts or walnuts
A small piece of
ginger
A few green chillies
½ tsp rock salt
Coriander and red chilly for garnish
4-5 iceberg lettuce leaves

Method
Grind green chillies, ginger and rock salt to a coarse paste.

Add all the ingredients mentioned except lettuce leaves, and mix them well. Add the mixture to the iceberg lettuce leaves shaped to a cup. And garnish with coriander and sliced red chilly. You can also garnish the dish with grated coconut.

Lettuce cups

TIP: The lettuce cups can be made up with a bit of cooked tofu and paneer, fruits or sprouts, added to the above ingredients. You can keep innovating.

(Kalpana Ramesh, Co-Founder KAAVA Design Studio, Water Crusader and organic grower)