Keeping it simple

Lunch Today - Dal, dahi raita, bhindi masala and roties.

Planning for lunch on a working day can be done easily if you pick basic, simple dishes for the menu. Try and complete as much prep work the night before so the morning effort goes into adding the finishing touches.

Desi Tadka Pasta

My grandmother more often than not complains about how I keep bombarding her with flavours and ingredients for which she has not yet acquired the taste :). Hence, this time I tried a desi spin on making pasta using local ingredients - my granny loved the results and so did the rest of the family including me :).

So here goes, (the recipe makes enough to serve 3 people ):

What you would need:

- Ribbon Pasta - 3 to 4 fistfuls
- Mixed vegetables (cut in julienne style) - 6 to 8 cups
(I love my pasta loaded with veggies and for this recipe, I used potatoes, cabbage, spring onions, mushrooms, red onion, tomatoes, beans, green chillies and asparagus)
-Olive Oil
-Roasted Coriander and khus khus ground to powder
-Tomato puree
-2 cloves garlic
-Salt to taste

Prep :

For the pasta: cook the ribbon pasta in boiling water with a dash of olive oil and some salt. Drain, run under cold water and set aside.

For the Vegetables: Heat oil, add garlic and cook till light brown ad the onion and toss occasionally till translucent. Now add the vegetables that take longer to cook foll wed by the ones that take lesser time. Stir in the tomato puree, ground powder and little salt. ( As I like my veggies to be crunchy the cooking of the vegetables is very stir-fry style, also be careful on how much the salt you add at this stage as the pasta already has been infused with the same during the boiling)

Once the vegetables long enough to suit your taste, add these to the pasta and garnish with a drizzle of grated cheese.

Do try and let me know how it works, I would also be really glad to hear about any variations that you may have tried.

Cheers!!

Ridge Gourd Chutney

Made this tangy, spicy chutney as part of lunch today - great side accompaniment to the meal.

What you would need:
Ridge Gourd - 2 large
Mustard and Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon each
Green Chilies - 3
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Asafetida - Pinch
Roasted chickpeas - 2 Tbsp
Black split gram (Urad Dal) - 2 Tbsp
Refined Oil (I ran out of this so used Olive oil instead)
Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup (To get this soak a marble sized tamarind in water and extract pulp)
Salt to taste

Prep:
Heat Oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when they begin popping add the roasted chickpeas and black split gram. Once all these ingredients take a golden hue, add the chopped ridge gourd and turmeric. Cover with a lid and cook in low flame till the gourd is cooked. (You will need to periodically stir to ensure uniform cooking).

Once the gourd is cooked, turn off the heat and sprinkle salt to taste and mix, allow this to cool.
Grind the cooled cooked gourd along with the tamarind pulp.

The super yummy and tangy ridge gourd chutney is ready :). I like to eat this with rice, rotis and dosa's.

Many variations of the same can be tried:
1. Add a small eggplant chopped along with the ridge gourd while cooking
2. Add tomatoes while cooking the gourd
3. Replace the green chilies with dry red ones
4. Roasted peanuts when added while grinding the veggies also renders a unique taste

Try the basic recipe and do share if you tried any twist in it :). Cheers.

War of the Instant Noodles

First there was noodles, then along came smoodles and now we have foodles. The naming is possibly where the differentiation against Maggie noodles and new entrant Horlicks foodles* ends.

Foodles tastes just like Maggi noodles ( and possibly better, the quantity of the spice mix looked a little more than in the Maggi packs – which seems to lend a richer taste).

The verdict : When Maggie noodles and Horlicks Smoodles are so close in taste, texture, quantity and pricing I would not bother much about which to pick. Although I really like the aroma that comes only from cooking Maggi noodles .

* Horlicks smoodles claims to be a a multi grain noodle which comes with multi-vitamin enriched spice mix. Maggie has also being playing on the health angle by promoting its product as a healthy snack with its now popular tag line “Taste bhi Health bhi”.

Also did you know that there is a World Instant Noodles association?

When??!!

When will this convenience hit our city??

Pasta Mania -2

So, here is another quick easy and smoking version of a hot Pasta Salad.

What you would need : As always I recommend that you use your flavour profile to mix and match the quantities, just be careful not to overdo it though :).

Pasta- 2 cups (I used a combination of penne and fusilli)
Red Onion - 1 small
Tomatoes - 4 large
Capsicum - 3 large
Spring onion whole - 3 sprigs
Milk cream - 2 tbsp
Cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup
Green Olives
Black Olives
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper

Prep :
Cook the penne and fusilli in water with a little salt and a drizzle of oil (to avoid the pasta from sticking) - drain and keep a little stock aside.

In a wok, heat some olive oil add finely chopped red onion and half of the tomatoes. Toss around till they blend into a course sauce, add the milk cream and allow to thicken. Now add the chopped spring onions and toss. Remove from heat, add the capsicum and mix so that it absorbs the heat of the sauce. Toss in the pasta and mix. Put on slow flame and top with the cheese. In a bowl mix the remaining tomatoes(big chunks) and medium size chops of capsicum, add some olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix and add to the pasta. give a quick stir and serve hot.
I enjoy mine with a lot of fresh tomato and capsicum. Do try and let me know :).

Pasta mania - 1

I have had just about enough of cheesy creamy pasta, so I decided to take it on my self to make two simple variations of pasta that focus less on the dressing and a bit more on the pasta itself.

The first of which is a extremely simple : 'Penne in Eggplant sauce'.

What you would need : always I recommend that you use your flavour profile to mix and match the quantities, just be careful not to overdo it though :).

Pasta- 2 cups (I used Penne)
Eggplant - 1 medium
Spring onion whole - 3 sprigs
cherry tomato - 3 ( If you do not find these u can use any tomato with citrus notes)
Red Onion small - 1/2
Tomato puree - 2 spoons (If you do not have puree you can whip up some or use some ketchup)
Green Olives
Black Olives
Olive oil
Sal to taste
Cheese

Prep :
Cook the penne in water with a little salt and a drizzle of oil (to avoid the pasta from sticking) - keep a little stock aside

In a wok, heat some olive oil add thinly sliced eggplant and toss till brown and slightly crispy. Remove the eggplant chips and in the same wok add diced onions followed by the finely chopped tomato. Add the spring onions and toss, follow with 3/4 cup of the penne stock and simmer till the paste thickens. Add the tomato puree and close flame, grate some cheese , add the olives and the eggplant chips. Mix well.

Now lightly fold the penne into this sauce till the pasta is lightly coated, drizzle some olive oil and enjoy.

Although a huge fan of the traditional creamy pasta or the sundried tomato pasta I like to experiment with the simpler dressings. Do tell me how this turns out for you.