French cuisine is characteristic of elegance in the simplest of preparations. Time to consume a full course French food takes up to 4 hours. This is since the French people savor every morsel and gulp of drink slowly and want to treat their guests with long friendly talk.

Dates is a dessert fruit and is a hardy crop that can survive with very less available water for months. Earliest recorded history shows to have been originated from Iraq and the wine preparation with the dates, traces back to Egypt.

India is known for festivals and many of our festivals are colorful and filled with a variety of food, snacks, clothes and decoration. South India has its share of festivals and among them is the Aadi Pandigai which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu to welcome the monsoon. This Aadi month falls between July 15th and August 15th. This Aadi month is also the beginning for festivals in South.

Italian cuisine is famous for its lasagne, pasta, salad, and pizzas.Making Pasta follows an extrusion process through which either wet or dry pasta are made and pasta comes in more than 300 forms and shapes. Pasta is either cooked alone and served with sauce or condiment, or as a part of soup-type recipes, or incorporated into baking dishes along with other queues of ingredients to make various recipes from pasta. Pizza is usually cooked on an open or closed bread platform with sauce, cheese, and vegetables or meat.

An evening walk with old friends on a chat street could result in tasting many appetizers and chats to find you so full that you might even want to skip dinner. Appetizer menu on mehndi nights or receptions and weddings of your dear ones might have sometimes caused you the same effect. The desire and craving that the appetizers create, can sometime stand second to none.

Someone has rightly said ‘Breakfast like a king, Lunch like a prince and Dine like a Beggar’. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it fuels up your body and leaves you energetic for the entire day. Have you ever wondered why the name Breakfast? Breakfast simply means Break-The-Fast. With this meal of the day, we usually break the fast as we intake our food after the minimum gap of six to seven hours.

There are days when guests or best friends drop in with a very short notice during evenings. Or they just surprise you by a phone call from right 2 blocks away from your home. To treat them for their lively visit becomes your sweet responsibility then. What if you can chat and make easy and quick Indian Snack recipes that need less than half hour?

Monsoon in India has brought in cloudy weather in many parts of the country despite it rains or not. It is very cheerful for everyone when the first rains fall and then, gradually, the enthusiasm reduces with increasing frequency of pours. Weekends might get less exciting when you have to look up the sky to access the possibility of rain, every time you decide to go out. Monsoon food, fritters and warmth of freshly cooked meals smell divine and sounds welcoming during these days.

Desserts are comforting recipes after spicy lunch or light dinner. Desserts are an unexpected craving during any time of the day for dessert lovers. Various cakes, tarts, ice creams, cookies, pastries, custard and sweet preparations are considered as dessert. A majority of them are high in calorie and fat content. But the unused fats gradually get accumulated as obesity and people with idle fats are easily tired to do everyday chores.

What comes to your mind when we say Mughlai food, which is one of the most popular Indian cuisines around the world. Its richness, right? The richness of its food comes from the use of exotic spices, dry fruits and nuts which were used back then in the kitchen of the royal Mughal emperors to prepare their food. Many states from North India specially Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have inspired from the Mughal Empire when it comes to the food. It even represents the cooking style used in Hyderabad, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Rajasthan has a rich heritage of royal bloodline and the Rajasthani cuisine is inspired by war zone foods and kingly foods. Usage of high dairy products and less water is seen, owing to the state’s arid climate. Milk, buttermilk or ghee are included in almost all the Rajasthani recipes. Use of bajra, gram flour, jowar, can be observed widely. Rajasthani thali is generously spiced and garnished. Honouring guests is a part of their culture and they regard it as a high value to be a perfect host.

Are you feeling hungry and want to have a delicious 3-course meal?  Italian Cuisine is one among our favourites because of their easy and simple to cook recipes and relished by many. Here is an interesting Italian menu - get ready with some pasta, cheese, bread and vegetables and you will have soup, starter, main course and dessert. Try these recipes and enjoy your night with wonderful Italian delicacies.

We have all had those moments of panic when the doorbell rings and we open the door only to face the totally unexpected guests. If there’s Murphy’s Law equivalent for entertaining, it will say Guests will arrive when you least expect them and don’t have anything at home to serve them. You don’t have any provisions or fresh vegetables in the house and unexpected guests do drop by and your innate hospitality of “Atithi Devo Bhava” won’t allow you to get away without feeding them the best. Even if it is a surprise party you will still need to make sure you entertain and serve them with food and fun. You have hardly any time to go shopping or even order food from outside. These situations call for creative thinking and right action to step up smartly. So we have explored for some easy solutions to the problems.

Garlic have been used for ages in many countries, the vegetable is low in calories which are flavourful and also contains amazing health benefits. We all love the aroma of roasted garlic that crosses our nose, it makes us feel hungry and stimulates our taste buds. It can instantly make the dish tasty by adding few cloves. Garlic has been used continuously till date because of its health benefits and definitely its flavor and the best part it you can have them in its raw form too.

Cucumber is widely used as a salad in many households and it becomes a little boring and repetitive to eat it raw every time. But did you know this versatile vegetable not only makes a cool and refreshing summer treat but can also be used in different dishes. It can be used in sandwiches, salads, gravy vegetable dishes, dry vegetable dishes, cocktails, smoothies, soups, dals and many more. No matter how you use it, it always makes the dish even more tasty.

We all get reminded about Masala Dosa, idli, vada when we talk about Tamilnadu Cuisine, but there is a lot more than idly, vada, dosa, and sambar. The food is very and will make your taste buds go crazy. In Tamil Nadu has a lot of sub-cuisine in them like Karaikudi, Chettinad, and kongunadu.

The combination of vegetables, dry spices and coconut is to die for! The rich taste, flavour and the aroma of these coconut based gravies can make anyone hungry. Coconut based gravies are majorly made in South Indian and Goan households and are served along with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee. The Coconut gravies are either made with the use of fresh grated coconut or coconut milk. Coconut milk is made by mixing the grated fresh coconut with water and then the milk is squeezed through a cheesecloth.

Soups are commonly enjoyed before a meal as an appetizer - it is a liquid food where we cook the meat or vegetables in water and add few spices to them to give a good flavor. Soup is an important dish to a meal; like salads, soup also has many health benefits that do good to our body. Few even follow a diet where they just consume soup which is a healthy diet that can be followed, it might sound difficult but it works out pretty well. 

Gluten is a composite of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and other closely-related species. Though wheat stands next to maize and rice as staple food of the world, some health problems arising due to its gluten content cannot be overlooked. Long term consumption might bring gluten-related disorders like coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity and certain allergies relating to digestion and skin. Gluten-free diet improves general digestion and avoids the possible effects of gluten-containing foods.

The newlywed couple needs to work together in the kitchen to achieve harmony. Daily chores go on smoothly only when all members of the family work in sync. Too busy in studies and career, young women might be aware of basics of cooking and might want to learn more once everyday cooking begins. Also, this Aadi masam/ Ashaada maasa* could be tough time for South Indian grooms having blessed with pro cooks as wife. Now that the new wife is off to her parents’ place, it could be tough to cook just about anything like in bachelor days. It is always good for amateur cooks to try new recipes and get perfect with their cooking skills and get used to cooking.

Potatoes are considered to be the best comfort food for all let it be in any form, a lot of us simply indulge in them. Potatoes are a staple food in many countries and is consumed in very large quantity all around the world. It is a vegetable which is easy to store and use and one can easily whip up a quick dish out of potatoes and serve them immediately when we have sudden guests over.

Yogurt is a favorite dairy product for most of us. You can have a yogurt plain or you can whip it along with fruits or sweeteners by spoon of sugar or honey to it. Yogurt is produced by fermenting milk with a starter culture like Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Lactobacillus casei. These beneficial bacteria are known as probiotics that are known to improve digestion and prevent common gastrointestinal disorders. Read more about the benefits

Someone has rightly said, “The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you are hungry again” and you can’t just resist that craving. It’s a fact that everyone loves Italian food, whether he/she is a kid or an adult. From Pizza, Pastas to Soups, this cuisine offers such a wide variety of food which is absolutely delicious. Traditionally, Italian cuisine includes ingredients like breads, tomatoes, all kinds of meat, fish and cheese and the combinations of these food items are just amazing.

So let's make cooking for just one exciting. This week, we have an exiting and yet simple menu that you can whip up in 45 minutes with a little planning. Apart from the Carrot Pulao, Raita and the Bean Sprout Salad, you have not just added the vegetables, but also the vitamins and protien to make a complete meal. And what is most fun is the treat that we can give ourselves once a week with a Fruit Trifle. So go ahead, make the recipe for yourself and if there are leftovers, dont forget to take it to school/ college or work and share it with your friends.