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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Gulkand/Rose Jam Iced Tea


How was the weekend gals? For us I feel it flew away in a jiffy-we did so many tasks. We planted seeds in the pots and cleaned the balcony, then went for cycling till tower of London and came back home all tired, tanned and hungry. I mentioned in my last of Green Chutney that I planned to keep the menu simple and quick-so yes pani puri it was. I made puris/golgappe at home from scratch. There is nothing better than fluffed puri and tangy cold pani in summers-ah divine. Saturday afternoon we slept and slept and it was so much needed. We have been busy all the weekends from past 2 months thus the afternoon sleep was just blissful.

In the evening we were trying to solve the new jigsaw puzzle we have brought and it was then when Mr. Husband demanded to have some ice tea. I asked which ice tea-lemon? He said-no no something different and not very tangy. Hmmm! OK I replied. I have used flavored tea bags in the past and made this iced tea. But I wanted to try to something new ,only fruit I had in the fridge were oranges and he already said nothing zingy, so rose spread/gulaknd finally grabbed my attention.


Tea and Rose Jam
A month back when I was looking for gulaknd in Indian grocery store, I had tough time, no one knew what gulkand is. I explained in the best way possible to the shopkeeper and finally he said-oh you want rose spread. Rose spread?? Well that’s a fancy name-isn't it?? Those of you don’t know- gulkand is like jam made with rose leaves and sugar. It is used in ayurvedic medicines and is very popular in India, Pakistan and Turkey. It is one sweet medicine that has many benefits but most importantly it has cooling properties and thus it is beneficial in alleviating all heat related problems like tiredness, lethargy, itching, aches and pains. Anyways I like dollops to gulaknd in milk or sometime in mouth directly ;-)

So Gulkand Ice Tea was sweet, refreshing and cooling.  I couldn't take very good pictures Now moving to the recipe.



Ingredients:
5 cups water
10 ice cubes
1 teaspoon honey
2 tea bags
5 tablespoon Gulkand/rose jam/rose spread
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rose water
1/4 teaspoon chaat massala- Recipe HERE

Method:
Boil the water. Take from the heat and let tea bags simmer in it for 20 seconds. Strain the water in a jug.
Take the hand blender and blend it with 5 ice cubes, gulaknd, chaat massala, honey and lemon juice.
Let the mixture cool. Finally serve with ice cubes.



Notes:
You can also roohafza/rose syrup instead on honey.
Don’t let tea bags simmer in hot water for long, as it will make it bitter.

15 comments:

  1. Lovely refreshing drink, looks so inviting and your clicks are so perfect.

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  2. looks very tempting & refreshing!!

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  3. Itni mithi chai ke baad kya hua? details? no, thick hai, love the idea of this tea.

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  4. sounds and looks very cooling. I looked for gulkand and didn't find any in the shops in London... next time will ask for rose spread or better still get it from India.

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  5. Very innovative, refreshing drink.. bookmarked!!

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  6. Looks so refreshing. wish to taste it :)

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  7. Hmmm refreshing treat for the summer..tea powder click is my fav

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  8. Definitely refreshing drink, very inviting and well presented.

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  9. Even though it's winter here, I can't resist myself from having a glass of this iced tea <3 Awesome post, awesome clicks, Shweta :)

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  10. Looks very refreshing and inviting drink..

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  11. So inviting and refreshing.... :)

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  12. They look awesome and with an rising temperature, this is an winner recipe :)

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  13. Refreshing tea... great clicks too!!

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  14. very interesting recipe.. i hav a very faint memory of eating gulkand which my dad once brought home in my childhood.. It is not very popular in Kerala. but I remember it was sweet n good:)

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