Our Saffron Almond Chicken Qorma was featured on Saturday in the Gastropost print edition in The National Post! It was hard to choose which curry to send in for the "mission" of the week but then I finally picked this mild favourite. W.P

A simple yummy starter or a complimentary item to your soup course, Pan Con Tomate (Spanish Tomato Bread)  is absolutely delicious and oh so simple. You don't always have to serve garlic bread with soup- mix it up a little with this classic Spanish favourite. I am not a fan of eating raw tomatoes so when I tried it for the first time in Barcelona, I was wary. A bite later I was hooked. 30 bites later, I was in love and didn't stop the rest of my trip. I tried everyone's tomato bread! I kid you not. I will say this though- if you are not fond of garlic at all, then skip this recipe. Let me know what you think! I served this recently as a part of a fusion menu that included Mushroom and Potato Bisque in the soup course. Sometimes simple really is perfectly wonderful. 

W.P

"I get so stressed out every time I invite a lot of people over. I am never happy with how things turn out with my party”. I have heard this so many times.

With the schedules we have nowadays, it’s important to have a few handy tips on how to please a crowd without exceeding your budget and with a stress free smile on your face. So here is part 1 of a 2 part series I wrote for Zardozi Magazine on how to entertain for a crowd.

Look out for part 2 next Wednesday!

W.P

First of all, how adorable do these mini "pizzas" look? Imagine serving these up at your next party or munching on them while sitting out on your patio (if only the weather would let us do the latter of course). I know some people aren't able to tolerate raw mushrooms unfortunately; however, as Nida suggests, you can use zucchini or tomato. I personally love the meaty texture portobello mushrooms add. Enjoy Tuesday's Raw/Vegan Tip! W.P

Sometimes your body is craving certain things and mine keeps craving pizza lately. Since I can't have pizza all the time and making the cauliflower crust pizza is time consuming (its delicious I assure you). Here are some ideas to throw together your very own raw vegan mini pizzas!

If you don't like mushrooms, try using a beefsteak tomato slice as your base or 1/4" thick slices of zucchini.

Here are ingredients you may need depending on your preference:

portobello mushrooms
avocados
fresh raw dates
sun dried tomatoes
tomatoes
onion
olives
fresh herbs
raw coconut cheese (h/t raw is my religion)

Super easy raw vegan ketchup: process dates, tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes in a processor or blender
Coconut cheese: mix coconut flesh (mexican white coconut) with fresh herbs and raw vegan vinegar in a food processor

How to prepare:

Assemble per your taste buds and enjoy!

Hat Tip: Raw is my religion

Nida Kazmi
Twitter: @Nida84

"When life gives you lemons... You squeeze it onto your Nihari!"- Aunty's Kitchen. 

We love all things fusion here at Kitchen Cultures as you know. So when we got the chance today to visit a cute spot I had been following on Facebook and Twitter, I was really, really excited. A.K had no idea what I was going on about when I was trying to explain why we have to go to Aunty's while we were in Waterloo. She said "let's just go there" as we passed a couple of well known chains. I said "No! I have been seeing all these delicious updates on FB, I have to see what this place is all about- how can I not visit a joint that focuses on fusion!?"

Half an hour later, we were happily chatting away with the management/owner who happened to be in the restaurant at the time, complimenting him on the aptly named "fusion" dish we had just had: Spicy biryani rice drizzled with butter chicken sauce with a side of shwarma chicken & herbs, topped with fries and tangy "chaat" masala. Sounds ridiculously indulgent and wonderful? Well it is. It's like some of my favourite foods decided to elope and get married. Seriously! I was only able to eat a third of the plate you see in the picture so I have loads left for dinner and I know I am going to savour every bite, as this is not something I will be eating again for a long time. 

For those of you who are in Waterloo, definitely go down to Aunty's and let us know what you thought. I cannot wait to see what these young entrepreneurs come up with next. I am looking forward to hearing all about their new dessert selection. It's so much fun to meet people who love experimenting with food as much as we do. We discussed some great ideas and traded tips including how to cook different types of rice and secrets on how to get chicken super juicy! I guess when you get a couple of foodies together, it's always a blast. 

Check out their menu and let us know what you think!

W.P