Jigarthanda

     
          Jigarthanda is a drink very popular in Madurai, a city in Southern India. When I was a school going kid I used to spend most of my summer holidays there and this used to be my favorite drink. Though now it is available in some shops in Chennai too, taste wise still it doesn't come close  to what you get in Madurai. The main ingredient in this drink is badam (almond) gum which you get in medical stores (naatu (country) marandu kadai) in India. Whenever I have this drink now, it brings back those childhood memories..

Need To Have

• Badam Gum - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Evaporated Milk - 3 tins
• Sugar - 10 - 12 tablespoons
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon

Method
          Soak the badam gum in 4 cups boiling water, in the night. Next day morning, the badam gum would have expanded like jelly, ( it'll look like plain gelatine), drain the water in a juice strainer and keep it in the fridge. In the meantime, heat the evaporated milk and mix in the sugar well, remove, cool and add the vanilla extract to it. To this, add the cooled badam gum, mix it with hand or an egg beater and chill it. Serve it as such or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Sending it to Gayathri's Cook Spot for the Walking Through Memory Lane event,
               to Zesty Palette for the Sweet Luv event,
                to Srav's Culinary Concepts for the Dish For Loved Ones event,
                to Tickling Palates for the Let's Cook-Sweet Somethings event,
                to Spice N Sugar Tales for the Cakes, Cookies And Desssert event,
                to Good Food for the Just 4 Fun event,
                to Anzz Cafe for the Valentine's Special event and
                to Sumee's Culinary Bites for the Bon Vivant event.

Note
Do not use more badam gum, it expands so much, the amount I have given will give 8 to 10 servings.
Can use condensed milk also, in that case reduce the sugar and add some boiled milk to it.
Badam gum might be available in ayurvedic medical stores too, just ask around.
I have shown the badam gum in the picture, and also the final consistency of the drink.