Avocado-Banana Milkshake (Smoothie)

Avocado is in season here in Sri Lanka and our group has been consuming the healthy fruit (or vegetable, if that’s the way you like categorizing it) enormously. Either prepared as avocado shake/smoothie as a drink or lightly pureed and sweetened with condensed milk and eaten as a dessert (the popular Filipino way of eating it), avocado is truly delicious. Wait …… I’m drooling just thinking of the greenish yellow, velvety, buttery flesh of the fruit .... so make that very delicious. :)

Taking advantage of the current abundant supply which also translates to very reasonable or inexpensive cost, we have avocado smoothie almost every day. Don’t be astonished. While we love it and there is no indication that we will develop a taste fatigue any sooner, I decided to effect counter measure early on and made an easy variation by blending banana into the luscious drink. The result is pretty fabulous and worthy of posting hence this feature now.

This is a nice addition to the several fruit shake recipes already posted here such as the exotic bael (beli fruit), guyabano (sour sop) and green mango (unripe); the typical ones like pineapple, mango, avocado and papaya; and mixed-flavor concoction like the mango-papaya. Since guyabano and avocado are my top picks, this new avocado-banana blend is another potential favorite for me ……… and just probably, yours too!

Bael or Beli Fruit and Smoothie

It is pretty exciting to find bael fruit here in Sri Lanka where it is popularly known as “beli” fruit. It is new to me and considered promising due to its perceived health and medicinal benefits. Bael is actually the fruit of a gum-bearing middle sized slender aromatic subtropical tree indigenous to the dry forests of central and southern India, southern Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. It is currently cultivated all throughout India, in Sri Lanka, northern Malay Peninsula, Java, Fiji Islands and surprisingly, the Philippines.

I cannot recall having encountered the exotic fruit anywhere back home in the Philippines where I have been to about less than 20 of its magnificent 7,107 islands. :-) It is reported to have first fruited in the northern region of the island of Luzon. While I came from the same island, only from the central region, the fruit seems very elusive and probably marketed only to small areas close to where they were produced and may have not yet reached our areas and key cities.

The tree and also the fruit are called by many other names, among them are “bilva”, “bel”, Bengal quince, stone apple, Indian quince, golden apple, holy fruit, “matum”, “phneou”, “bau nau”, “bilak”, “maja pahit”, “modjo”, “oranger du Malabar” and “marmelos”. Sometimes it is called elephant apple and wood apple although there is another popular wood apple in Sri Lanka which refers to a different tree or fruit. The tree grows up to 15 meters tall, with short trunk, thick, soft, flaking bark and spreading sometimes spiny branches with the lower ones drooping. It has a trifoliate leaves and bears fragrant flowers.

Papaya Shake (Smoothie)

The other day, I purchased two large papayas intended as fruit desserts for our group’s two successive dinners. The papayas which belong to the Mexican variety were quite enormous in size and had a weight of around 4 kilograms or slightly less than 9 lbs each. As expected, the flesh of the papaya had a striking yellow-orange color with a slight hint of pink-red hue. The sweet flavor was surprisingly as intense as that of the smaller Hawaiian variety. It was soft, juicy, sweetish, tasty and extremely refreshing. But even after seven members had been fully satisfied by the fruit after a meal, another slice remained. I stocked it inside the fridge and ate during breakfast the following morning.

But for the second fruit, I decided to make the excess slice into a stimulating shake or smoothie drink. After all, the particular papaya has great flavor and extra sweetness which I thought will work well in a smoothie. Previously, I already made a similar drink but using a combination of mango and papaya and posted it here. This time I want to try preparing another luscious beverage using papaya flesh only and some sugar syrup. Whilst I am not sure it can better the one with mango, I still believe the drink will come out good with its own distinct flavor.

Mango Shake or Smoothies

Since after preparing the stimulating “green mango shake” from the crunchy green mangoes harvested early on from the plant growing inside our backyard, the remaining abundant fruits have fully grown and matured. I picked some the other day with an intention to make them into the Filipino “burong manga” or pickled or fermented mango. Due to procrastination however, the fruits have inevitably ripen making them no longer suitable for pickling. Nonetheless, it did not make me sad or even a bit disappointed; after all, mangoes when ripe are even better.

As mentioned in my mango-papaya shake post, a ripe mango is sweet, peach like and juicy. Its flesh has a unique taste and texture which varies from soft, pulpy texture similar to an over-ripe plum to firmer flesh like a cantaloupe or avocado. The flavor is pleasant and rich and high in sugars and acid. The fruit is a favorite in many countries and one of the most commonly eaten fruits in tropical countries around the world. It is in fact considered as the apple of the tropics.

Calamansi Juice & other Uses of Calamondin or Philippine Lemon

It there is one citrus fruit that was used in cookery and mentioned with the most number of times in this blog; it is the internationally underrated fruit and cooking ingredients called “calamansi” or “calamondin” and sometimes “lemoncito” in the Philippines. It is usually referred to by many Filipinos living abroad as Philippine lemon, probably since a lemon is its next best substitute in preparing Filipino dishes that particularly requires the juice of the said citrus.

“Calamansi” is a small, about 3-4 cm diameter, round fruit with a striking greenish to orange color peel which although quite popular in Southeast Asia is less known and under utilized in many parts of the world. In the west it is variously known as acid orange, “calamondin” orange or Panama orange.

Kasoy - Cashew Juice and Nuts

There are three important things to remember about the fascinating work of nature called cashew or what is known as “kasoy” or “casuy” in the Philippines, "marañón" in Brazil and Spain, “cajou” or “caju” in Portugal, “acajaiba” or “acajé” in Tupi and “kadju” here in Sri Lanka, to mention just a few of its many names. First is the real fruit, second is the nut and third is the accessory fruit. Is that very clear? I know it’s not. :-)

The accessory fruit, sometimes called the false fruit or pseudo fruit, is the oval or pear or bell-shaped structure that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower which ripens into an attractive yellow and/or red but delicately soft body called cashew apple. This is what most of us believed is the fruit. It’s not.

Green Mango Shake (Smoothies)

The mango trees we have in our backyard are now in abundance with fruits. The enticing green fruits are still on an early stage but already driving us all into an uncontrollable state of salivation. Its alluring crunchiness that regularly greet us every morning as we leave for work, serves as a silent bombardment reminding us that we still have some “Ginisang Alamang” in the fridge waiting to be devoured alongside with its sourly-tasty flesh. Okay, I am drooling now. :-)

But since the fruits are quite a lot, we have options to use them in some other ways or preparations. While Sri Lankan and Indian usually use their green mangoes as vegetable cooking them with curry and other spices, the Filipino’s alternative way of enjoying the bounty harvest at its unripe stage is to make a refreshing and invigorating green mango shake or smoothies. With the summer season fast approaching, the sight of green mangoes hanging from the branches is simply awesome.

Avocado Shake (Smoothies)

Lately, I have been preparing and enjoying the goodness of fresh fruit shakes or smoothies. I already have 3 posts about the healthy and natural drinks namely, “Guyabano”, Mango-Papaya and Pineapple shakes. Well, it’s mainly because we have an easy access to several kinds of fruits harvested from the farms and backyards of local residents in our area. I’m pretty sure that we can consider the harvest organic and therefore it has the additional benefits health wise. Another reason is that they are really inexpensive and by buying, we are able to help the home growers. Frugality at its noblest form, you may say. :-)

Among the fruits I recently bought are nice avocados. So this time, I want to make avocado shake or smoothie. The drink is probably next to “guyabano” shake in terms of natural vitamins and minerals. Like probably most of us, I learned to like the taste of avocado when I’m already a grown up. Yes, I avoided eating the fruit when I was still young. But it is totally a different scenario now as I even search the fruits whenever I don’t find them from roadside fruit vendors.

The avocado, also known as butter pear or alligator pear and palta or aguacate in Spanish, is a tree native to the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and Central America. It is a commercially valuable crop whose trees and fruit are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world and some temperate ones like California. Avocado also refers to the fruit, a large berry that contains a large seed of the tree which may be pear-shaped or egg-shaped or spherical and green-skinned fruit that ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.

The fruit has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods such as high-fat meats and fish, dairy, etc is limited. A ripe avocado will yield to a gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is deep green near the skin, becoming yellowish nearer the single large, inedible ovoid seed. It is typically greenish yellow to golden yellow when ripe.

Avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, making an excellent substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content. The fruit is not sweet but fatty, distinctly yet subtly flavored and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is used as the base for the Mexican dip known as guacamole, as well as a filling for several kinds of sushi, including California rolls. Avocado is popular in chicken dishes and as a spread on toast, served with salt and pepper. Avocado slices are frequently added to hamburgers, “tortas”, hot dogs and carne asada.

In Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, South India and the Philippines, avocados are frequently used for milk-shakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts. In Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, a dessert drink is made with sugar, milk or water and pureed avocado. Here in Sri Lanka, it is a popular dessert once well ripened, flesh is thoroughly mashed with sugar/sugar and milk or treacle which I featured before.

For a single blending good for about 2 tall glasses, the few ingredients you will need are about 2 cups of peeled and sliced avocado, ¼ cup condensed milk, 1 cup cold water and about 1 tray ice cube, about 12 pieces.

To prepare, just put everything into the blender, cover tightly and pulse it several times until the ice cube and fruits are broken down and blended evenly with the other ingredients.

Pulse it a couple of times more until a smooth, rich and creamy consistency is attained. Don’t over blend.

Pour the drinks into tall glasses and serve. It’s refreshingly healthy. Enjoy! c“,)

Pineapple Shake (Smoothies)

The other day I purchased some locally grown fruits composed of pineapple, banana and avocado. The pineapple is quite large that after having some for our group’s dessert, I still have sufficient quantity to make a decent shake or smoothie. Since it has been a while since I posted the beverage Mango-Papaya Shake; I thought a pineapple smoothie is just the right drinks for the next post about healthy fresh fruit shakes.

Pineapple, native to the southern part of Brazil and Paraguay, is among the most commercially important plants grown worldwide. Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Philippines dominates world production with close to 4,000 millions tons combined harvests per year. It is the Spanish who introduced the bromeliad fruit to the Philippines and Hawaii in the 19th century. The Philippines with its vast plantations of the plants remains among the top exporters of fresh pineapple.

Pineapple is eaten fresh or canned and is extensively available as a juice or in juice combinations. It is used in desserts, salads, as a complement to meat dishes and in fruit cocktail. While sweet, it is known for its high acid content, perhaps malic and/or citric. It is a good source of manganese as well as containing significant amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin B1. So just like the “Guyabano” Shake I posted before, this beverage is must drinks for the whole family.

There are about seven common cultivar varieties of the tropical fruit. The variety popular in Sri Lanka locally known as “annasi” is quite different from the type common in the Philippine market called “pina”. While I find the Sri Lankan type crunchier, the ones in the Philippines are sweeter and juicier. Both varieties though are distinctly delicious and excellent culinary ingredients.

For a single blending good for about 2 tall glasses, the few ingredients you will need are about 2 cups of peeled and sliced pineapple, ¼ cup sugar syrup (or you can just dissolve 3 tbsp white sugar in ¼ cup hot water), 1 cup cold water, 2 tbsp powdered milk and about 1 tray ice cube, about 12 pieces.

To make, just put everything into the blender, cover tightly and pulse it several times until the ice cube and fruits are broken down and blended evenly with the other ingredients.

Pulse it a couple of times more until a smooth, rich and creamy consistency is attained. Don’t over mix.

Pour the drinks into tall glasses and serve. It’s truly refreshing. Enjoy! c“,)

Mango-Papaya Shake (Smoothies)

One of the most searched posts in this blog is the "Guyabano" Shake or Soursop Smoothies. I was kind of surprise to know that there are many people who are really interested in making the rich beverage. The other day I decided to make another shake/smoothies drink using fresh mango and papaya. I had this before and I really liked the combination of the taste of the two tropical fruits. And as expected it came out as another hit drink. The combined taste is so good you would wish you are in the beach.

Mango is native to Southern Asia, especially Burma and eastern India. It spread early on to Malaya, Eastern Asia and Eastern Africa and was introduced to Santa Barbara, California. Mango exists in two races, one from India and the other from the Philippines and Southeast Asia. The Indian race has flushes of bright red new growth that are subject to mildew and bears fruit of high color and regular form. The Philippine race has pale green or red new growth and resists mildew. Its fruit is pale green and elongated kidney-shaped.

The mango is the apple of the tropics, and one of the most commonly eaten fruits in tropical countries around the world. The flesh of a mango is peach like and juicy, with more or less numerous fibers radiating from the husk of the single large kidney-shaped seed. The flavor is pleasant and rich and high in sugars and acid. A ripe mango is sweet, with a unique taste that nevertheless varies from variety to variety. The texture of the flesh varies between cultivars, some having a soft, pulpy texture similar to an over-ripe plum, while others have firmer flesh like a cantaloupe or avocado.

The papaya is believed to be native to southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It is now present in every tropical and subtropical country. There are two types of papayas, Hawaiian and Mexican. The Hawaiian varieties are pear-shaped fruit generally weigh about 1 pound and have yellow skin when ripe. The flesh is bright orange or pinkish, depending on variety, with small black seeds clustered in the center. Mexican papayas are much larger and may weigh up to 4 kilos and be more than 15 inches long. The flesh may be yellow, orange or pink. The flavor is less intense than that of the Hawaiian papaya but still is delicious and extremely enjoyable.

The fruit is ripe when it feels soft, softer than a ripe avocado and its skin has attained amber to orange hue. The fruit's taste is vaguely similar to pineapple and peach, although much milder without the tartness. A properly ripened papaya is juicy, sweetish and somewhat like a cantaloupe in flavor, although musky in some types.

To make the Mango-Papaya smoothies I used about 1½ cups each of the flesh of the ripe fruits. The mango is of the KC mango variety popular in Sri Lanka while papaya, harvested from our backyard, I believe, is the Hawaiian type likewise common in the Sri Lankan farms and markets.

For a single blending good for about 3 tall glasses, the few ingredients you will need are ¼ cup sugar syrup (you don’t have it? Ok, dissolve 2~3 tbsp white sugar in ¼ cup hot water), 1 cup cold water, 3 tbsp powdered milk and about 1 tray ice cube. In my "Guyabano" Shake post, I used honey instead of sugar syrup, both are alright. The choice is yours.

To make, just put everything into the blender, cover tightly and pulse it several times until the ice cube and fruits are broken down and blended evenly with the other ingredients.

Pulse it a couple of times more until a smooth, rich and creamy consistency is attained. Don’t over mix.

Pour the refreshing drinks into tall glasses, add some garnish and serve. Enjoy! And while you start to sip the cool goodness, imagine yourself sitting along the famous beaches of beautiful tropical countries. You can choose from either Boracay or Palawan of the Philippines or Unawatuna or Hikkaduwa of Sri Lanka. It will taste even better that way. c“,)

King Coconut (Thambili)

The gorgeous Sri Lankan coconut above is called King Coconut or “Thambili” in the local language (Sinhala). This coconut variety is indigenous to the country and a common sight in most Sri Lankan home garden and backyards. While coconut cream or milk is a common and very essential ingredient in the Sri Lankan cuisine, it is not what makes this coconut extremely popular. It is the sweet and refreshing water of its fresh tender fruit which is a hot favourite among residents and tourists or visitors.

The young coconut water is probably the most nutritious wholesome drinks that the nature has provided for the people of tropical countries like Sri Lanka. It is the natural isotonic beverage with almost the same level of electrolyte balance as we have in our blood. It is considered by many as a “Fluid of Life” and its nut a “Living Pharmacy”. It could be. Tender coconut water promotes digestion, acts as urinary antiseptic, contains organic compounds with growth promoting properties and helps in the quick absorption of drugs by its electrolyte effect in the blood.

With the many benefits one can get from drinking the tender King Coconut water; it is consumed by the thousands every day. The presence of sugars in the form of glucose and fructose form an important constituent of the natural drinks. No wonder, bunches of the fruits can be seen on many wayside kiosks throughout the country. A short pull over by the road is all you need to avail of the very delicious beverage during hot season. Just a few quick chops of the skilled vendor and you’re in for a very invigorating experience.

And sometimes the drink isn’t all. Depending on the age of the young coconut, but if you're lucky you get to enjoy the young flesh as well. Its soft, spongy, milky, tasty and nutritious kernel called the “londha” is an additional treat. It can be eaten straight off the split coconut by scooping it with a sort of scraper shaved off from the nut shell which most people do, or by scooping it with a spoon. I prefer the former. It’s more natural and cool.

Other countries like India, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia and our beloved Philippines also have King Coconut. Back home, I believe it is called Golden Coconut. c”,)

Another Interesting Citrus of Sri Lanka

Our security guard regularly gives me some citrus fruits harvested from his own backyard. One type is the “Ambul Dodang” which I make into very refreshing lemonade that I posted before. The other one is the Calamondin or Calamansi (also known as Philippine lemon) which all Filipinos are very familiar with and like so much as a juice drink or as marinating ingredients for meat or souring agent for various Filipino dishes such as “sinigang”, “kinilaw”, etc. But the other day, he brought me a new variety locally called “jama naran” which is quite interesting. It looks like the Philippine “dalandan” or sweet orange (Citrus aurantium) only it’s very sour and with just a very small hint of sweetness.

Though I have not eaten this type of citrus in the Philippines, our friends from Bohol confirms that they have the same kind of fruits in their province. They said they eat it with salt and they like it a lot. According to them it is called “ukban” in their place and not really very abundant, can only be found in the farms/private lands and are not sold in the market. The fruits are sparkling green with shades of yellow and the skin is smooth and shining. It is such a pretty fruit but really pretty sour. :-)

While it‘s ok to eat as it is with the addition of small amount of salt, I find it very difficult. Maybe because we are used to eating a really sweet “dalandan” back home and eating one as sour as the variety that was given to me is really a feat to carry out.

But it’s not all bad. Like Calamondin, “jama naran” has its own advantages. By just the simple addition of some sugar and cold water to its juice, you’ll be in for a truly tangy, tasty and refreshing juice experience.

To do it, first wash the fruits well. It sure may look gorgeous and clean but the skin might be home to some dirt (or worst minute insects or its eggs) which you don’t want to be incorporated into your drinks. Slice the fruit in half, using a strainer squeeze the juice into a pitcher.

The rule of thumb is to add two parts of water for every part of juice and of course, some sugar to balance the sourness. You are at liberty to adjust the amount of water and sugar according to your personal preference and taste.

The secret to a superb lemonade or citrus juice like this is, in the sugar. Using sugar syrup will give the best result. But since most of us don’t have sugar syrup all the time, let me share with you what I do. In about half a cup to 1 cup of very hot water, dissolve the sugar by stirring. Once the water is clear and you cannot see any suspended sugar particle anymore, add enough cold water to attain the right quantity. Slowly add this to your juice and continue stirring. Pour into tall glasses, add some ice cube and serve.

Enjoy! It’s a drink not just refreshing but packed with energy boosting vitamins and minerals. c“,)

Guyabano Shake (Soursop Smoothies)

I recently bought two beautiful “guyabano” (soursop) from a backyard fruit grower in our area of residence. The fruits are so large that when they ripe at the same time, our group composed of 7 members could hardly consume all the delicate flesh. Not wanting to waste any portion of the rich creamy pulp of the wonderful produce considered by many as “miraculous fruits” due to its numerous healing properties and a reported potential cure for cancer cells, I thought making a “guyabano” shake is the next best thing to do.

The “guyabano” (soursop) or the fruit from the graviola tree belongs to the family of Annonaceae and identified as a relative of “atis” (sweet sop or sugar apple). The heart shaped to sometimes oblong fruit has a dark green, leathery and spike-like skin that measures from 8 to 12 inches long and can weigh up to 2.5 kilos. When ripe, its fruit is colored light yellow and soft. The tree is relatively small. It usually grows from 8 to less than 20 feet high and is sensitive to very cold temperatures. It requires a lot of water, warmth and humidity and is usually grown in the tropics.

A native of tropical America, “guyabano” was introduced into the Philippines at an early date and is now cultivated in all parts of the Archipelago. The plant grows in any kind of soil, but a fairly deep, friable soil of volcanic origin is conducive to growth and fruiting. It thrives very well from sea level up to 500 meters above sea level. In limited extent, it is cultivated commercially in Central & South America, West Africa, South Florida and of course Asia.

“Guyabano” is one of the healthiest fruits known to man. The flesh of the fruit consist of a white edible pulp that is high in carbohydrates (particularly fructose) and contains considerable amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, potassium and dietary fiber. It is low in cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium.

Aside from being a good health food, “guyabano” also taste delicious. While it is commonly eaten raw, its fruit is also processed into candies, tarts, shakes (smoothies), ice-cream, sherbets and other beverages. An assortment of punch and cocktail drinks can be made by mixing the nectar with wine rum or cola drinks or buko (fresh coconut) juice and ice.

So for the excess flesh of my huge “guyabano”, we will make a smooth and luscious shake drinks. For a single blending good for about 3 tall glasses, we will need about 1 ½ cup “guyabano” flesh, pelled and seed removed, ¼ cup skim milk, ¼ cup honey, 1 cup ice cube and 1 cup cold water.

The process is pretty simple. You just have to put everything into the blender and pulse it a couple of times until a smoth, rich and creamy consistency is attained.

Pour the shakes (smoothies) into tall glasses and serve. It goes well with your favorite snack or even on its own as a truly refreshing drinks.

“Guyabano” shake, though it’s quite getting popular over the years, is still underrated. For me, it is so good that it deserves a lot more attention and praise than what it is currently getting. c“,)