Ingredients

1 large Italian or French bread split into 10 slices

Softened Butter Spread (1/3 cup)

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3 crushed garlic cloves

3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp Chilli flakes and basil

Recipe

Mix butter, oregano, cheese and chili flakes together in a medium bowl. Add crushed garlic cloves to the mixture.

Spread the mixture on the bread slices

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Bake the bread for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Once baked, add some basil/pepper on the bread and serve with a dip of your choice. Enjoy!

900 gm Chicken boneless

1 medium Onion

1 Bay leaf

5 Cloves

5 Cardamom

1 inch Cinnamon

5-6 Clove flakes

2 Star anise

1 tsp Ground cumin powder

1/2 tsp Chilly powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

25 blanched almonds

1/2 inch Ginger

5 cloves Garlic

3 tablespoon Yoghurt

3 tablespoon Fresh cream

Recipe

Cooking tip: As far as possible, always take out the ingredients in a plate 5 minutes before you start cooking. If the chicken was kept in a freezer, make sure you defrost it.

Grind ginger,  cloves of garlic and blanched almonds, with little water, in a blender and keep it aside. Wash the meat and pat it dry. Cut the meat into narrow pieces.

Fry the meat pieces in oil till golden brown.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a dish and allow the oil to strain. Next  warm a little oil in a pan and add bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, star anise (optional) and cinnamon. Fry till the bay leaves turn dark brown on a low flame. Add chopped onion and fry for two minutes. Add the ginger garlic almonds paste and fry till oil leaves the side. Now add cumin powder and chilly powder and fry for 2 more minutes. Whisk yoghurt and add 1 tblsp. Mix well for 30 seconds and slowly add the remaining yoghurt. Continue mixing, add chicken and fresh cream to the paste and cook at high flame for a minute.

Now lower the flame, stir the chicken well and cook for 15 minutes. Add garam masala and coriander leaves and cook for another five minutes.

Remove it in a dish and serve with hot bread/chapatis

Check out some more Chicken recipes here

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups sour cream

1 cup whipped topping

3 1/2 (3.5) tablespoon sugar (I prefer brown sugar)

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. You can even use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract instead of nutmeg

Recipe:

Take a bowl and mix sour cream, sugar cinnamon and nutmeg/vanilla extract. Refrigerate it for 45 minutes. Now add whipped topping to it and refrigerate it for another 15 minutes.

Cut fruit of your choice such as apples, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, oranges, peaches, watermelon into pieces.

Tip: If you are using bananas or apples, dip them into lemon juice. This prevents discoloration.

Place the fruit dip in the center of the plate, with fruits around the dip and serve!

Image courtesy [cracker and cheese]

Ingredients:

4 eggs

50 gms of lettuce leaves

1 tomato seeded and chopped

1 onion cut into cubes (green onion is awesome)

3 tablespoon of vinegar

2 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon of crushed black peppercorn

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt to taste

Recipe (Serves 2):

Boil eggs in water for 8-10 minutes. While the egg’s boiling, wash the lettuce leaves in running water and keep the leaves in a bowl of ice-cold water. After about 5 minutes, cut the lettuce leaves and keep them aside. Chop the onion into cubes. Remove tomato seeds and chop it into small pieces.

Now after the eggs have boiled, cool them, peel off the shell and place in cold water for about 2 minutes. Cut the eggs into pieces (do not make it too small) and gently mix the eggs with the lettuce leaves, onion and tomato. Make a dressing by mixing salt, crushed black peppercorns, white pepper powder, vinegar, mustard powder and olive oil.

You can now enjoy your salad with your partner!

Check out some easy salad recipes here

Ingredients:

Peels from 1/2 kilo ridge gourd (also known as Toree, Turai, Dodka, Shirale, Heeraikai, Peerkangai),

3-4 green chillies; slit vertically,

1 tbsp white sesame (til),

Salt to taste,

Oil for tempering.

Method:

Wash the ridge gourd and then peel them. Pat dry the peels with paper towels. In a pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add all the peels to it. Roast on low-medium flame, stirring occasionally.

When they begin to brown and turn crisp, remove from flame. Grind them to a coarse powder. Add salt to it and mix well.

In a small kadhai or pan, heat oil for tempering. Add white sesame and cover immediately. Else the sesame seeds will splutter all over the place. Uncover after few seconds and add green chillies.

Stir and add the ground peels. Mix well, cover and cook for a minute or two. Serve hot with chapatis or dal-rice.