The foodie feeds

I love cheese, Parmesan the most. I love chicken, grilled the most. The nutty taste and gritty texture of parm, makes it a perfect choice to add texture to my grilled chicken. This chicken is easy to make, and uses very few ingredients. Here's the list 2 boneless chicken breasts 1 tsp garlic powder 1 to 2 tsp chilly powder 2 tsp Italian seasoning Store brought bread crumbs or  better, home made (just crush 1 wheat toast in the mixer) 1 egg 2 tbsp all purpose flour (maida) olive oil grated parm (be as generous as you want) Recipe: Slice the chicken breasts butterfly style (starting with the thicker end, cut through the chicken breast paralled to the cutting board).  (img source: www.finecooking.com)       This gives a thin chicken slice which works well for this recipe. A thick, fat chicken breast takes          longer to cook and feels tasteless. Spread the pieces in a bowl and add olive oil, salt, red chilly powder, garlic powder and italian seasoni

Since the time I have got the cast iron skillet, i have been wanting to do anything and everything in it. This was going to be my first time baking in it, and boy it did not disappoint! Turns out, the cast iron skillet is perfect for baking because of the even heat distribution and it's natural non-stick property. I have made breads before (check out another mouth watering recipe - Cheesy Garlicy rolls )  and had tried Focaccia in a regular oven tray too. So if you do not have a cast iron skillet, worry not. Follow the same recipe in your favorite baking dish. Roll your sleeves, let's get started. Ingredients: For  the bread - 1 cup all purpose flour (maida) 1 cup wheat flour 1 cup water 1 tsp active dry yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 1 tsp honey 2 tsp salt 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp Italian seasoning For the toppings - butter, olives, red pepper cut into pieces, garlic (5-6 big cloves), Italian seasoning, mozarella/parmesan cheese (optional) Recipe

Never one of my family’s favorite vegetables, the ridge gourd would sit in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator waiting patiently wondering, “mera number kab ayega?”. Finally, there would be nothing else left to cook so I would make the sabzi and the day would end with frowns on the dinner table.   This changed when a friend invited me for a lovely Andhra style lunch where I tasted this chutney for the first time.   Packed with the goodness of all things healthy, this chutney is a good and tasty option to sneak that ridge gourd onto the dinner plate. Thank you Sri for this easy yummy recipe. Making it is very easy, but there are a handful of ingredients. However most of these are always available at home. Here goes -  Ingredients: 1 medium ridge gourd (dodka, turai) 1 tbsp chana daal 1 tbsp udad daal 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tbsp sesame seeds 3 red chillies (or more if you want it to be spicy) 1 tsp tamarind paste ½ tsp jaggery Salt as per taste

If there's one thing that goes best with a paratha  or thalipeeth it would be the white homemade butter. Of course when you live outside India, it becomes impossible to get it or make it (since we normally don't boil the milk or separate the cream and save it to make butter).  But there's a way.  And it's pretty straight forward. All you need is a hand mixer and plenty of strength in your arms (as it can take a while). Ingredients: As far as ingredients go, you need just one and that's Whipping cream. I bought a 1 L whipping cream tetra pack. Recipe: As far the recipe goes, again there's just one thing to do. churn, churn and churn. It may be easier if you have a standing automatic churner. I didn't so I had to hold on to the hand mixer and keep churning for about 40 mins.. Here is a picture of how it looks at each step and a little description explaining how it should feel like. 1. The whipping cream is milky. Keep churning. 2. Soft peak

Halloween is just around the corner, so I thought it would be a good idea to share my Pumpkin soup recipe. The soup is extremely easy to make, and since I have a soup maker at home, it is also very convenient. You can change quantities of the ingredients based on your liking or based on how much quantities you have available. It will still turn out delicious!  Ingredients: 1 bowl cut pumpkin pieces 3/4th bowl cut carrot pieces 1 medium onion 1 big clove garlic 3-4 black pepper kernels salt to taste 1/4th cup milk (optional) Recipe: 1. If making it in a soup-maker, just add all the ingredients (except the milk) in the soup-maker with water, set the soup style to 'smooth' and your soup is ready in 23 minutes! Then pour in a vessel and bring to boil with the milk. Some like the creamy texture that comes with milk; I don't, my mom does. It's up to you. If you don't want the milk, just pour the ready soup from the soup-maker into your servin

There are some sweets that look very royal, very fancy; yet when you start making them, you realize how easy they are to make. Malai sandwich is one such. Time and patience, are however, essential here. Malai sandwich is not quick to make, but that's only because it involves a lot of sitting time. Ideally the rasgullas should be made a day in advance so that they have soaked in the syrup and have become sufficiently sweet. Making the malai sandwich is a three step process - 1. making the paneer 2. making the rasgullas 3. making the sandwich The problem in my house is that my kids will want a bite or more after every single step. So by the end of the second step half of it is gone already. In fact there have been times when we have never reached the malai sandwich stage ;)  When you do though, it's worth the wait! So let's get started. Ingredients: For the rasgullas: 2 litre milk (I generally use 1 ltr full cream milk and 1 ltr low fat; all low fat is ok