Hot Chocolate

Here’s the secret weapon when making the best homemade hot cocoa… use the best quality cocoa you can. Sometimes this means a darker cocoa, and this is a good thing. All the sweetness of the marshmallows really cuts into any bitterness and just leaves you with a perfect cup!
This is quite possibly the perfect fall afternoon snack. And Thanksgiving Day snack. And Christmas Day snack.
Let’s just say it’s a great snack, shall we?

Health Benefits

1. Chocolate may prevent memory decline. Scientists at Harvard Medical School suggest that drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day could help keep the brain healthy and reduce memory decline in older people.
2. Chocolate and heart disease risk. Research, published in The BMJ, suggests that consuming chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third.
3. Chocolate and stroke. Canadian scientists carried out a study involving 44,489 individuals and found that people eating chocolate were 22 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those who didn’t. Also, those who had a stroke but regularly consumed chocolate were 46 percent less likely to die as a result.
4. Eating chocolate during pregnancy may benefit fetal growth and development. Good news for expectant mothers: eating 30 grams of chocolate every day during pregnancy might benefit fetal growth and development. This is the conclusion of a study presented at the 2016 Pregnancy Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Atlanta, GA.
5. Chocolate may streamline cognitive function. A study published in the journal Appetite, suggests eating chocolate at least once weekly has the potential to improve cognitive function. Pressed for time to down that Hot Chocolate? Just pour it into a Vaya Drynk and sip on the run!

Ingredients

milk: 3 cups

heavy cream: 1 cup

Sugar: 1/2 cup

unsweetened cocoa powder: /4 cup

Kosher salt: a pinch

milk chocolate--chopped: 6 oz

pure vanilla extract: 1 tsp

marshmallows: for topping

whipped cream: for topping

How To Make Hot Chocolate

1. (1 cup = 255 ml)
2. In a large bowl, soak soya chunks in hot water for 15 minutes. Squeeze out the water from soya chunks and transfer to bowl.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, chilli powder, and salt to taste. Combine all the ingredients well, adding 1 tbsp. water if needed.
4. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying or shallow frying.
   Fry until soya turns crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove soya with a slotted spoon and set aside.
5. In a large kadhai (or wok), heat 1 tbsp. oil on high heat and sauté garlic. Add onion, green onions, and bell pepper and sauté well.
   Add chilli sauce, vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well.
6. Add in fried soya chunks and mix well.
7. Garnish with additional chopped green onions.

Trivia

1. One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons.
2. Soybean oil provides an environmentally friendly fuel for diesel engines.
   During the Civil War, soybeans were used in place of coffee because real coffee was scarce.
3. 98 percent of the soybean and livestock farms in the country are still family farms.
   U.S. farmers first grew soybeans as cattle feed.
4. 45 percent of the world’s soybean acreage and 55 percent of production is in the United States.
5. Soy ink is used to print newspapers and textbooks.
6. Soybean is used in plastics, wood adhesives and textiles.