The foodie feeds

Hummus is a Levantine (eastern Mediterranean) dip that's made from chickpeas. After some not so successful attempts, I had almost given up on making it at home (something was always more or less or wrong). But recently while hogging on some awesome food at the Dubai Food Festival (#eattheworlddxb), I had a chance to attend a show by celebrity chef Suzzane Hussaini. With her hummus recipe and tips, I embarked on the journey to make the perfect Hummus again. And voila! You can get a hummus recipe anywhere online. But I am posting one here for reference. The Tips at the end of this post are what make all the difference. Ingredients: 1/2 cup chickpeas 1/2 tsp soda 2 tsp store-brought tahini paste (or 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 1/8 cup olive oil) 2 small cloves of garlic 2 tsp lemon juice or as per taste salt olive oil. Recipe for the tahini paste: 1. Light roast the sesame seeds. Do not over roast or make too dark. 2. Put the roasted seeds and olive oil in a blender and...

This yummy rum cake, not only completely eliminates the dreaded maida (all purpose flour) but substitutes it with iron-rich raagi instead. Add to that the goodness of dates and you have a winner! The original recipe comes from my young friend and neighbor Aditi Kulkarni. Thanks Aditi! I tweaked it a little to change some proportions and put measurements in cups instead of grams. Here it goes. * I have used Old Monk black rum for the recipe. For kid friendly non-alcoholic version use apple juice instead. Ingredients: Group 1: Dates- 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups chopped, Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped Rum/apple juice - enough to soak the dates and walnuts Group 2: Raagi flour (nachani) - 2 cups Coco powder - 1/2 cup Baking soda - 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder -  3/4 tsp Group 3: Butter (amul, regular) - 1/2 cup Oil (any, i used sunflower) - 1/4 cup Eggs -  4 Vanilla essence - 2 tsp Powdered sugar - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Recipe: 2 days before D-Day, add rum to the da...

[Comes close to: the Palak-Paneer sandwich in the Food Court at City Pride] [Serves 4] If you are like most other Indians, you like Spinach and Paneer (Cottage Cheese). And if your kid is like most other kids, he or she’ll probably savor the paneer but throw tantrums around the spinach. Trust sandwiches to ensure everything goes in the tummy! Palak-paneer sandwiches on the menu chart of a food court in City Pride, Kothrud seemed promising. And they did not disappoint. They seemed easy to make and victory followed in just one attempt. So here goes...   Ingredients: 1 bunch of spinach - chopped 1 small onion - chopped 1 cup paneer – crumbled. Homemade is best. 10 cloves of garlic – chopped fine. 1 tbsp olive oil. 1 tsp black pepper powder. Salt to taste.   ½ cup shredded cheese.   Bread slices or bread rolls (better) Recipe: Heat oil in a pan (Non-stick is better so that paneer does not stick) Add garlic and sauté. Add chopped spinach an...

[Comes close to: Olive Garden’s minestrone soup] [Serves 4] [Inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jflYa63XhE4 Watch it more for how this lady does it calmly with her little kids helping(?) around the stove. I could never do it!] I don’t remember a time when I walked into Olive Garden and walked out without having their Minestrone soup. I missed it sorely, here in Pune. Every restaurant in Pune that served Minestrone, thought it was tomato soup with pasta, or worse. The day I tried Minestrone soup which came as ‘tomato soup with a spicy tadka’ , my quest to find it in a restaurant ended. And a new quest began – to try it at home. The video recipe after some variations and some omissions (no celery and zucchini here) finally resulted in Nirvana – my home made chunky Minestrone soup. Mind you – you need a lot of ingredients, albeit in limited portions, so make sure you have made plans for what’s left over. Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil 1 cup chopped/shredd...

Soon after our marriage, when I was ready to cook the evening meal my husband said "You must be tired from work today, let mom cook." It took me a couple of weeks to realize that the thoughtful gesture was actually a sign of non-confidence on my culinary skills. I never liked cooking, I still don't. But what can a foodie who craves for Pesarattu dosa in California do?  Gather the stuff, put on the apron and turn on the stove! There have been many who have inspired me to experiment with food. My mom, the most methodical cook in the world, my mother-in-law who makes cooking look so easy, my kids who think I am the best cook in the world and my husband, the unforunate guinea pig; my friend Vinita Sawant who taught me nothing is impossible by trying out Bakarwadis in the UK, my friend Ketaki Kalgaonkar Apte who makes the best healthy dishes and believes in keeping recipes quick and simple and my friend Anuja Apte Kulkarni who's food blog inspires and entertains me.

[Exactly like : Barbecue nation's cajun potatoes. My husband thinks mine are better :) ] [Serves: 4] When we told our son we would move to India from the US, he was disappointed. "I'll miss my school, my teacher, my friends." Then he paused and said, "But we'll be able to go to Barbeque Nation!!" That's what that restaurant means to him and to me. So the next time we went there I knew I had to feel the ingredients in one of our favorite dishes - "Cajun potatoes". After a couple of trials I found success with this one. I didn't have Cajun spice and didn't have the patience to find it, so I just used red chilly powder. It turned out just like the one in the restaurant. Only difference was I made more sauce since I like it that way. You'll be amazed at how easy it sometimes is to make restaurant style food at home. So here goes - Ingredients - Baby potatoes - 12-15 Onion - One small (Indian. If you are in the US, take 1/4th...