Cheese

Best Indian Style Chicken Nachos – how to construct the perfect Nachos

January 30, 2018 By Asha Shivakumar

The BEST Indian style chicken nachos ever!!!! The thin crisp corn chips with the spicy chicken mince, its so so good. And it’s all in one single pan. MINIMAL CLEAN UP! YES!!!! Hit in all parties!!

I sit here, a fully shot and styled post staring at me and I am blank. I’ve made these Indian style nachos for years now, but how am I not finding the words to describe a dish that disappears in minutes of getting to the table.

It’s one of my best back-pocket meals, the chicken mince. One I can make on short notice, assuming that I can get my hands on the freshest mince from my butcher. It’s one of the things I get asked plenty of times:”can you share your Indian style nachos”. It’s one of those recipes that missed getting into my book MASALA AND MEATBALLS, it sure gave a tough fight with hush puppies:)….

Twice Baked Potato with Pepper Jack-Cauliflower-Peas Stuffing (Indian style)

November 14, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

A perfect snack, side or a light lunch. These twice baked potatoes are stuffed with a spicy cauliflower peas stir fry that’s mixed in with pepper jack and wild rice. It makes for an amazing Thanksgiving side, as well as a light, delicious lunch.

It’s okay to be an Idealist, I guess!!

Maybe you’ve been called a dreamer your whole life—by others and by yourself. Are you the person spending half your time envisioning what you’d love and want to do or be?

I see some of you nod in agreement. I also see my parents shake their head side to side and saying, “That’s not reality, step down my dear…”

Trying to bridge the two worlds, the practical and the reality, is a dreamer’s challenge….

Garlic Chicken – Garlic Chicken Egg Cheese Dosa

October 6, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

Garlic chicken stuffed inside dosa with a layer of egg and cheese. So good, a crowd pleaser and an easy lunch box treat.

Dosa is probably one of the top South Indian foods that’s loved by many. If you are garlic lover, you will love this chicken, if you like dosa and garlic, then this is the recipe for you. This Garlic Chicken Egg Cheese Dosa is a favorite of our home.

There’s probably as many dosa varieties as there are burger varieties. There’s the popular paper dosa, which practically is like a golden thin crispy paper roasted in ghee, masala dosa, uthappam, vegetable dosa, rava dosa-a favorite of mine, ragi dosa, neer dosa, wheat dosa and many more….

Paneer-Bhaingan Bhurji /Eggplant Cheese spread Bruschetta

June 14, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

An easy appetizer to sip with some wine. Eggplant with Paneer scramble aka Paneer-bhaingan bhurji is so good topped on a lightly buttered and toasted french bread. The perfect summer pick me up. Thanks to Revol cookware for sponsoring this post.

Right now, I am over the moon thrilled and thankful to all of you for reading my previous post about my book announcement. It has been one of the most read posts in the last many months and that shows how supportive you are. Thank you!! I will fill in more details very soon. For now, sharing one of the dishes I enjoy making for company or just for the family with some rotis.

Indians have a love affair with paneer. Before we were introduced to mozzerella, parm or all the variety of cheese that’s available now, we knew only paneer in India. It’s often compared to ricotta or halloumi. We use it in curries, grill it and even deep fry it. I often find myself scooping just one more nibble of chewy, milky-tasting paneer from the dish long after I’m officially full. It’s that delicious….

Rustic Spring Sweet Kale and Egg Tart

May 24, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

I absolutely enjoy turning salads into something special and this Rustic spring sweet kale and egg tart is one of my favorite ways. Easy to entertain with and put together. I am so happy to partner with Taylor Farms to bring this recipe with one of my go to salad kits.

When I moved from India some 20 and more years ago, I was shocked when people served salads. It always left me hungry and craving for my carbs. Eating habits are something we grow up with and I did not grow up having salads, yes a cucumber salad with onions and tomatoes, if you can even call a salad. That was the most adventurous I got.

As years went by, I really have come to love a good hearty salad. Given a choice, salads are not something we gravitate towards, even on a healthy day. Although not a huge fan of having salads on it’s own, I’ve found ways to incorporate and enjoy a good healthy green salad. I may have a wee bit of an obsession to add salads to everything. I add it to stir fry, noodles, even my South Indian style potato fry….

Matcha No-bake Cheesecake bars flavored with cardamom

February 24, 2017 By Asha Shivakumar

This time it’s this beautiful, luscious, simply easy, smooth cheesecake with a hint of this naturally enhancing matcha and a rich cardamom flavor hidden. Add the Toffifay, the caramel hazelnut chocolate treat to elevate the dessert. One bite of this will make you want to stop and think of every little thing you have just experienced. Then you might not want to stop at one slice:)

For the love of chocolate, Matcha and all things pretty.

For me the end of winter is all about open windows, fresh chilly air, full of grassy smell and leaves scattered everywhere. The mild heat from the fireplace spreading around, and snow on the mountain tops slowly melting away. Water dripping from the windowsill, a strong desire to wear a lacy dress and wander the vintage streets, camera in one hand to take pictures of the beautiful green mountains. A hope for something new, something fresh and something beautiful.

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Malpua (Sweet Pancake) Stuffed With Ricotta-Coconut Rum Cream

October 24, 2016 By Asha Shivakumar

“Alcohol and desserts are pretty great on their own. When combined, the results are often epic”. – Ash

Diwali is right out the corner. Colors, lights, fireworks, clothes, family, friends, parties, dancing, and, of course, we can’t forget about the food. There is so much food and sweets. I love the spirit of this festival. It has the spirit of coming together, laughing over mugs of coffee and tea, snacking, and just relaxing. One of the specialties of Diwali is the snacks that are prepared days before the actual festival…

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Bruschetta with Persimmon Chutney

November 4, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

Happy November!!

There’s something about the cooler weather, twinkling stars as early at 6.00 p.m., and all the festive pumpkins and persimmons in the grocery store. Everything screams of holidays, parties and food. Everyone gets in the mood of perfecting their pies, the sides and their birds.

The appetizers are some of the last to be remembered. Don’t you think?

I have a great one for you. Just make a lot of it and have some bottles of chutney ready to go for your guests, they’ll want it.

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Malpua (Sweet Pancake) with Pistachio Cream(Halwa)

March 4, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

It’s Holi!!! It’s the Festival of Colors.

I didn’t really experience Holi when I grew up. We South Indians did not celebrate it. So, my memories are just seeing few of neighbors running around and dunking each other in color.

That changed though after coming to the States. It was a Culture Adventure overload.

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HARISSA-MANGO PANEER AND PEARL BARLEY-DILL SALAD

January 17, 2015 By Asha Shivakumar

This month was my whole grain month. As I measured out the barley to cook that morning, I did not realize that I had to be creative about how I made use of it for the next three days.

Little did I know that after you have a decent portion of this grain, you won’t be hungry for hours. But isn’t that a good thing? Oh well, maybe. For me, it was ok. So, long story short, I cooked 4 cups of barley which turned out to be around 8 cups of cooked barley. The kids were very apprehensive at the sound of the grain but it turned out they enjoyed it especially when I paired it with something they love….