The combination of cheese and mushrooms is like a match made in heaven. They compliment each other beautifully in each and every way. This is my version of a delicious vegetarian appetizer that is Italian.Whenever we hear Italian we think of pasta, but there's more to Italian food than just pasta. Italian cuisine is smplistic and is noted for diversity in taste in each different region.

Each dish uses only 4-8 ingredients and the chefs rely on the quality of their ingredients for a great taste.

 Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine and are found in abundance throughout the country.This recipe calls for ricotta but if you can't find it anywhere,just replace it with 1tsp of cream and mozzarella. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS               SERVES 3-4

20-25 pieces of mushrooms (preferably fresh ones)

1 tbsp olive oil

1tsp dried oregano

3-4 basil leaves

salt to taste (1/4th - 1/2 tsp)

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

For the spinach mixture

2tsp fresh cream 

50gms ricotta

salt to taste

1/2tsp crushed black pepper

50gms spinach leaves 

1/2 cup corn (optional) 

some cheddar for grating (optional)

 METHOD 

Hollow out your mushroom caps.

Combine everything for the mushrooms in a bowl and let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.Preheat oven to 160c.

Then in a pot of boiling water blach your spinach leaves for 2-3minutes and strain and immediately place under cold water. 

Once cooled, transfer to a pan and add your salt,pepper and corn. 

Saute for a few minutes and then add the ricotta and cream and mix till comined.

Place your mushrooms on a baking tray such that the hollow portion faces up and then stuff them with the spinach mixture and grate chedder on top. 

 Cook for 10 minutes or till the mushrooms are soft enough to eat.

05:54:00

I love eating chicken and hence I love cooking it too.Chicken is such a verstile ingredient , it goes with a plethora of spices , fruits and vegetables and thus makes for a perfect meal at any time. This specific recipe is just something that is very easy to make and is perfect for a casual dinner that has very few calories and is very tasty. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS                                    SERVES 6 

For the marinade

750gms boneless chicken breast 

1tbsp dark soy sauce

2tsp white vinegar

1tsp sesame oil

1tsp grated ginger

1tsp red chilli flakes

3/4th tsp salt

1tsp worcestershire sauce 

1-2tbsp light brown sugar 

For the sandwich 

1 loaf of bread 

lettuce leaves 

onion rings

cucumber slices

chipotle sauce 

METHOD 

1. Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a big bowl and mix till the chiciken is evenly coated.
2. Let it marinate in the refrigerators for 2 hours 
3. Heat some oil in pan and cook the chicken breastson a high flame till its charred and then on a low flame till it is white from inside  (8-10minutes) 
4. Cut the bread into slices and heat on a grilling pan. then spread chipotle on one side and place the vegetables and the chicken on it. Serve with some siracha. 

10:16:00

Bailey's is a famous brand of Irish whiskey that comes in a variety of delectable flavours. In fact the term Baileys is so widely popular that it has become synonymous with Irish whiskey. Anyway , I had a bottle of bailey's lying around that was about to expire and I thought why only drink alcohol when you can eat it too ! So I thought of making bailey's Icecream. And since I had the coffee flavour, I made BAILEY's COFFEE ICECREAM. And let me tell you that this ice cream is absolutely amazing. It's smooth , rich and creamy. The recipe is adapted from "THE ULTIMATE ICECREAM BOOK" by Bruce Weinstein. Enjoy ! 

INGREDIENTS     

Makes 2 quarts 

1/2 cup Irish whiskey 

3/4th cup sugar 

5 tsp instant coffee powder 

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups cream 

6 large egg yolks 

2 cups milk 

2 tsp vanilla essence 

METHOD  

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan , heat together the milk , sugar , coffee and salt till everything is disolved and the mixture is simmering. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks and slowly add half of your warm mixture to the yolks while whisking continously. 

Transfer this mixture back to the sauce pan and heat till it coats the back of a wooden spoon or till it reaches 170 degrees. 

Then pass it through a sieve and place it in an ice bath till it cools. Once this happens , whisk in your cream ,vanilla and bailey's and voila ! Your base is ready. 

Add it to your ice cream machine as per the instructions and store in the freezer in an airtight container

06:16:00

Held through 5th-7th February this year , the Great Indian Golchakkar was everything that a great food festival should be. The highlights of the carnival were its good and ambience which were vibrant and extremely enticing. We were enthralled by the reception we received from a band of Indian musicians who were in bright orange attire and played some interesting tunes which were refreshing indeed and gave us a sense of what we were in for. 

  

The thing which makes a carnival authentic is the ability to be able to eat and roam around at the same time.  The GIG carnival not only provided such food but it was also high on entertainment quotient in the form of live performances and an array of stalls to shop from

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 Prateek kuhad , Papon and Karsh Kale were the highlights of the performances and created a vivacious environment that seemed to make the crowd gather and gaze with admiration. 

  

The Food –

Coming down to the most important part “The Food”. Let me say that it definitely did not disappoint. The various stalls spread throughout the venue offered palatable food in various cuisines rangers no from typical Indian to authentic Chinese to Italian. This unique blend gave us an opportunity to gorge on ample food all under one roof and satiate our taste buds.

  

   

So here’s what I had and what I liked

• From the Gol Bazaar ,which was decorated with cups hanging from the ceiling and was looking gorgeous , I had the Falsa Kulfi from Kuremal Kulfi Wala and I absolutely loved it. The masala on top was “The Icing On The Cake” and made it an absolute stunner. Who would’ve thought that kulfi and masala would make such a delicious combo! The Pao Bhajji from Mumbai area was average and could have been much better.
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•  Then we headed over to Zambar for some delicious Biryani , Chicken Curry and Chicken 65. Everything was amazing and had a brilliant lend of South Indian spices
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• We had momos from WoWmomo which were good but the momoburg was definitely better as it was yummilicious and something innovative
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• We had momos from WoWmomo which were good but the momoburg was definitely better as it was yummilicious and something innovative 
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• We had momos from WoWmomo which were good but the momoburg was definitely better as it was yummilicious and something innovative   

08:37:00

So a few months back , I had the pleasure of meeting chef Aditya Bal at the gourmet high street. I attended a class of his where he prepared a dish of pork , this dish was a twist on a traditional thanksgiving dinner and was absolutely delicious. Not only did we learn about the dish he also called me and another boy on stage to help cook along with him! This was an amazing opportunity for me and I loved talking to him about food as its not everyday that you find people who not only love food but actually make the effort to know about its origin. He is extremely sweet and it was indeed great to meet him and I look forward to visiting again next year.

 

 After meeting him and tasting his food I decided to buy his cookbook ( the chakhle India cookbook) , the cookbook has quite a good collection of mouthwatering Indian recipes and the hara bhara kebabs seemed to be delicious so I gave it try and what I got were some delicious, soft kebabs. I loved them and I can’t wait to try out more recipes from the book . Enjoy ! 

INGREDIENTS                   SERVES 5

2tsp cumin seeds

 

2 tsp coriander seeds

4 boiled potatoes

Salt to taste

1 knob ginger

2 cloves garlic

A  small bunch fresh coriander

A small bunch parsley   

1 green chilli

1 lime

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chaat masala

50 gm spinach

100 gm green peas

4 Tbsp cornflour

4 Tbsp bread crumbs

Salt to taste

2 tsp oil to shallow fry

 METHOD 

 Boil the water with salt. Add spinach and green peas into it .

Strain them and keep them in cold water for sometime.

Dry roast cumin and coriander seeds together in a pan. 

Pound them in a mortar and pestle.

In a blender add boiled potatoes, salt, dry roasted spice, fresh ginger, garlic, fresh coriander, parsley, green chilly, lime, turmeric powder, chaat masala, blanched spinach and green peas and little refined oil. 

Blend them together .

Put them in a bowl. Add salt, corn flour, bread crumbs, lime juice.

Mix them well.

Make round patties of it.

Fry the kebabs in a little refined oil.

 

08:24:00

 So I felt like making chocolate mousse the other day and didn’t have any cream ! And I thought that it was impossible to make a mousse without any cream and then I came across Passionateaboutbaking’s page. Which had this dark chocolate mousse recipe inspired by Heston bluemanthal. And what a great recipe it is , I made some changes of my own and it looked intimidating as I’ve always heard that chocolate and water do not go together at all.  

 So the mousse turned out to be really well except that it turned grainy while I was whisking it but then I put it back on the heat and stirred for a few mins and whisked it again and that seemed to do the trick(just like mentioned) Enjoy!
  

INGREDIENTS 

265 grams bittersweet (%70 cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped

225g water

15g Rum 

2 tbsp sugar, optional

2 tsp instant coffe powder 

A pinch of salt 

 

METHOD 

Place a large mixing bowl on top of another slightly smaller one, filled with ice and cold water (the bottom of the large bowl should touch the ice). Set aside.

Put chocolate and water and coffee powder and salt  (also sugar and/or liquor if you’re using) in a medium-sized pan and melt the chocolate over medium heat, whisk this mixture continuously.(in case you are not using the liquor,just add 15more gms of water to the mix) 

Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl sitting on top of ice and water, and start whisking with a wire whisk (or an electrical hand-held mixer) until thick. Watch the texture as you whip and make sure not to over-whip as it will make the mousse grainy. If the mousse becomes grainy (which is possible at your first try), transfer it back into the pan, reheat until half of it is melted, pour it back to the mixing bowl and whisk again briefly.

Divide into serving cups and chill until set. 

 

05:07:00

 

 I love the combination of chicken with certain tangy fruits and oranges are my favourite. The sweet and tangy juice complements the chicken immaculately and perks up the flavour of the dish. So try this out and let me know what you think in the comments below.

 

INGREDIENTS                               Serves 4 

750 gms boneless chicken breast (cut into strips or cubes) 

2 fresh red chillies (chopped) 

2tbsp honey

1 cup fresh orange juice 

3/4th tsp salt 

1/2 tsp oregano 

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes 

1/4th tsp ground  black pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

1 tsp soy sauce  

2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp 

1 tsp minced garlic

 

 METHOD 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and let it sit for 2 hours or overnight. 
2. Heat a pan and add 1 tsp oil 
3. Put the chicken pieces or strips on skewers 
4. Add them to the pan and grill for 8-10 minutes 
5. Keep basting with the leftover marinade continuously and serve with Thai chilli sauce and chopped cilantro. 

                                        

05:04:00

 The word Biryani originates from the the word “birinj” which basically means rice. Biryani has been called a dish of royals for its unique blend of flavours and plethora of spices ranging from cardamom to cinnamon to saffron. It is a Mughalai dish and is usually prepared using mutton or chicken in India. This is different from pulao or pilaf in the way it is prepared , unlike pulao biryani is a mixture of the meat gravy and the rice cooked together. And so the gravy needs to be prepared separately. This is an amazing recipe and it is my mothers. You can go and check out her blog for more amazing recipes here Delectableplatter

Serves 4-6 

Ingredients:Oil. 1/4 cup

Bay leaf. 2nos.

Cumin seeds. 1 tbsp

Onion. 6 ( sliced)

Tomatoes. 4(finely chopped)

Green chillies. (4-5)(finely chopped)

Garlic paste. 1 tsp

Ginger paste. 1 tsp

Cinnamon. 2 sticks

Cloves. 5-6

Cardamom. 5-6(crushed)

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Garam masala. 1 tsp

Salt 2tsp

Red chili powder. 1.5 tsp

Ginger julienes. 1 tsp.

Basmati rice. 1.5 cups(soaked for half an hour and drained )

Water. 3 cups

Yogurt. 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves. 2 tbsp(chopped)

Mint leaves. 2 tsp(chopped)

 

Directions:

Soak rice for 1/2 hour

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan

Add bay leaf , cinnamon , cloves,cardamom and fry for a while

Add cumin seeds

Add onion slices and stir fry until it turns translucent 

Add green chillies garlic and ginger paste and sauté for a while

Add chopped tomatoes and fry till it leaves oil 

Add salt , chili, coriander powder,garam masala and mix it properly 

Add chicken and fry it for a while 

Add water and bring it to boil 

Add coriander and mint leaves along with rice and cook on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes  

Serve with raita and onion rings  

04:15:00