Finally a Food Procesor I actually use

Although, I wouldn't call myself a gourmet, I do cook and enjoy good food. I am hoping to share more of my love of cooking, and challenges of feeding an Indian husband and American kids.

So I really loved this old food processor I had - it did everything I needed a food processor for, albeit noisily. It was cumbersome to use, consequently I used the shredder and slicer much less often than I liked to and usually had to consult the manual to get the shredding blade to work right. Then suddenly, it died and after kneading flour by hand for two days, I was in the market for a food processor. I asked some Indian friends and, god bless their patriotic heart, but they still don't think anything is better than a Sumeet. I was not too keen on a Sumeet. For one it comes with too many blades and parts, and I am seriously strapped for storage. Secondly, from my past experience I knew I won't use a machine that requires me to change parts often. I wanted something sleeker and given that I never grind dal for dosa or dahi vada, I did not need something that heavy-duty.

After a little more research I settled on a Cuiniart food processor which I bought at Costco. I have been using it for over a month and I am very happy with it. The best part about it is that for most of my daily prep work -chopping, kneading and pureeing, I don't even have to change blades. There is a special kneading blade for larger amounts of flour, but for our daily rotis I need only a couple of cups of flour. I have to change blades for grating and slicing but nothing else - the same base works for everything. The machine is also fast and quiet. It kneads dough in about 2 minutes. I have also used it for pie crusts, for making quick breads such as banana bread, pizza dough, for grating cheese and carrots, for mincing onions and slicing potatoes, for making chutneys and pesto, and for pureeing tomatoes and onions for sauces. I use it a lot more than my old food processor because it is so convenient to use, and because it doesn't take up much room, I can have it sitting on the counter. All parts are dishwasher safe (top rack) although I still wash them with hand.

The only thing I have been disappointed with is that I cannot use it blend a large amount of liquid to, say, make a milkshake. Although the container capacity is 11 cups, the amount of liquid you can add in it is much less. However, I realize that I rarely do that. Usually I make smoothies for my kids and that is just a glass or two. I had to make punch for a party once. I ended up pureeing the fruits with a little liquid in food processor, and mixed in the rest of the liquid with the puree in a separate pitcher. It turned out fine.

If you are in the market for a food processor, I would recommend it.