Something smooth

Kandla Nijhowne

I’m a staunch smoothie devotee. It’s a delightfully cool tuck-in with minimal effort and maximum pleasure. Adding a seasonal fruit to the usual ingredients lends a totally new dimension, so in step my favourite apricots! These golden orbs are blissfully fragrant, sweet and juicy. Once blended into a smoothie, they add a tangy appeal to the healthy glassful. I even pop in some strawberries when I can lay my hands on them. The more the merrier?

Apricot smoothie 

The ingredients 

• 1 banana, 5 apricots, ¾ cup strawberries
• 6-8 leaves of mint plus extra to garnish
• 200 gm thick yogurt
• ½- 1 tbsp honey
• 1 cup orange juice (or milk)

Method

• Halve each apricot, remove the stone and chop the fruit, leaving aside a few slices for garnishing.
• Hull the strawberries, reserve one or two and chop the rest.
• Place the chopped banana, apricots, strawberries, mint, yogurt, milk (or orange juice) and honey in a blender jar.
• Add ice cubes and whiz till you have a smooth puree.
• Pour into chilled glasses and serve with a slice or two of the reserved fruits and a sprig of mint. Voila!

Note: The amount of honey you use depends upon the sweetness of the fruit and your personal liking. As a rule smoothies are meant to be thick. If you like them so, then place all the chopped fruits in the freezer for several hours prior to the blending. Subsequently you won’t need to dilute the smoothie with any ice. You can make a great smoothie by substituting these fruits with mango, kiwi, peaches or pineapple. The list is endless.

(Nijhowne is a Chandigarh-based culinary expert)