So the weekend came and went. Mumbai was really hot this weekend and since I'm planning to get my killer tan at the swimming classes , I stuck indoors. I always plan to get a lot of stuff done over the weekend, primarily in the house clean up department, but very little actually gets done. With husband and baby at home, if anything the house looks even messier on Monday than it did on Friday. There was a time when I would really fret about this and drive myself up the wall and send hubby and baby scuttling to their respective hideouts, but now I've given up. I still make plans, I start the weekend all gung ho - but as soon as the newspapers and all the supplements make themselves into the door, I just give in to the temptation of curling up on the sofa and reading recipes into the sunset.

 It is really a very very strange thing about me and I think most foodies that we like to read very very complex recipes that use exotic ingredients and state of the art gadgets to make. It's something like science fiction to us I think.. I don't think anyone ever attempts these recipes. Nor do people go looking for these astronomically priced dishes to taste them - but we LOVE to read about them. It's like  food porn maybe - you imagine and you feel happy.

So there I am snuggled in a corner with my weekend hobby - reading recipes - when the phone rings -

Oh! its my friend! "Come over for lunch" I say.

 And then as I put down the phone I'm racking my brains for the simplest recipe which does not require fancy ingredients and that will fill really jam the satiety centre of the brain And of course not require too much scrubbing of dishes later.

So on the menu now is

1. Jhatpat chicken - without chopping
2. Garlic bread with cheese - the healthy way
3. Chocolate icecream

JHATPAT CHICKEN - without chopping

1. Wash up a kilo of precut skinless chicken - 1Kg
2. Peel and halve 1/2 a kilo of medium sized potatoes
3. Take a pressure cooker ( I like to use pressure pans from prestige because theyre easier to cook in)
4. Heat a tablespoon of oil in the pressure cooker
5. Add 2 tablespoons of Biryani masala / Biryani pulao masala (these are must haves for Sunday emergencies)
6. Fry the masala for 30 seconds
7. Tip in the chicken and the halved peeled potatoes
8. Add salt to taste and a cup of water
9. Close the cooker and give it one whistle on full flame and then reduce the flame and give it another whistle
10. Turn off the gas and allow the cooker to cool
11. Open the cooled cooker and heat the dish uncovered for 5 minutes on full flame so that some of the fluid evaporates and the gravy thickens
12. Serve

GARLIC BREAD WITH CHEESE THE HEALTHY WAY

Well of course the garlic bread is baked by the baker - not me certainly!

1. Slice the garlic bread with a bread knife such that the slices are still held together at the bottom of the loaf
2. Take 2 teaspoons of butter in a bowl and mix in a tablespoon of grated cheese. If you have the time and can allow the butter to melt good - if not - just mix extra hard
3. Spread a little bit of this mixture in between the slices
4. Preheat the oven at convection mode at 200 C for 10 minutes
5. Place the loaf on a baking tin and put it in the pre heated oven to bake for 10 minutes at 200 C
6. You're ready to serve

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

When I have my way it is always Mississpi mud from Baskin Robbins

WE HAD A GREAT MEAL AND RELIVED SOME GOOD OLD TIMES BEFORE WE LIVED IN THIS MAD RUSH CALLED A METRO

If you try this recipe Id love to hear from you