Spicy Macaroni

Hello guys.... I have been asked by so many people that I have not been very active blogging. Yes, I have been very busy with some other stuff & hence got lazy. However my kitchen is always busy & I have been cooking all the time. The parties at my place are always on & I have been having friends come over for dinners at least once a month. I love inviting friends for dinner as much as I love cooking.

The weather here is Austin is bad now & it goes to - degrees most often.  This weather also makes me hungry all the time. You already know that I love other cusines apart from Indian & one of my favorites is (Italian) Pastas. I make them at least once a week. Mostly these are Indianised to suit our taste buds at home, But trust me... these are better than the restaurant bland ones. I mostly use the same sauce & just alter here & there to get a different taste. This is how I made these.

Making time: 30 mins
Preparation time: 20 mins
Serves: 3- 4 people

Ingredients:

• 3 cups macaroni or any pasta you like
• 1 cup Tomato puree
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tspn coriander powder
• 1 tspn cumin powder
• 1 tspn Red Chili powder (Skip it if you don't want it spicy)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 250 gms beef minced. (Alternate with chicken or any meat of your choice)
• 3 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
• water for boiling the pastas
• salt as per taste

Method:

1. Boil Pasta in a pot full of hot water for about 10 mins or until its cooked. Once they are cooked, drain them & set it aside
2. In the mean time, add oil to a big pot & fry the garlic until fragrant. Now add in the onions & fry them until they are pink.
3. Once the onions turn pink which will take about 4 to 5 mins, add in the minced meat to uit & give it a good mix.
4. Brown the meat for about 5 to 6 minutes in the pan. Now its time to add the Tomato puree & give it a good mix.
5. turn the flame to medium heat & add in the spices into the pan along with salt. Now add a cup of chicken stock, cover the lid of the pan & cook this for about 10 mins stirring in between. You need to be careful at this stage as the tomato sauce splutters all over. So make sure you are using a big deep sauce pan.
6. Generally in 10 - 12 mins the sauce is ready. Just taste the sauce and add in salt if required. The sauce will reduce in quantity & it get thicker. Incase the sauce is very thick add some water to get it to the right consistency.
7. Finally add in the cooked macaroni & give it a good mix.
8. Garnish the dish with Parmesan cheese before serving.
9. You would also add in basil leaves or even coriander for garnish

 

Vegetable & chicken Gratin

Rice is a staple food for we Indians & especially south Indians. We make Rice for Lunch & dinner almost every day. Well these days people are more health conscious & try to have Rotis instead of rice. In my place its mostly Rotis for dinner with vegetables & one non veg dish.

Indian moms mostly try & feed Rice based food to their little ones. Zion hates to eat from spoon these days & is interested in bite size food that can be fed with hands. Most of the days we make ghee Paratas or stuffed vegetable Paratas with chicken for him. Paratas are easir to feed as we don't necessarily need him to sit on his high chair. But feeding him rice is a big task:( . I try a make different style of dish in which I add rice & at the same time can be fed with hands like bite size food. I made Gratin for him with mixed vegetables , chicken & little rice. This is the first time I am feeding gratin & it was really yummy. It was a full balanced meal for him & definitely rich. For kids this is an amazing dish but for adults....hehehehehe watch out the calories:) This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 1 Potatoes cut into roundels
• 5 broccoli florets
• 1 carrot cut into long flat slices
• 1/4 tspn garlic
• Pinch of Nutemeg powder
• 1/4 cup cooked chicken cubes
• 5 Tbsp cooked rice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp butter
• handful of orange cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 Tbspn corn flour  mixed with little water
• half pot boiling water
• salt as per taste

Method:

1. Put the sliced Potatoes in boiling water & boil it for 5  mins. Now throw in carrots, broccoli & cook them for another 2 mins. Now drain water & set the vegetables aside
2. In a pan add in 1 tbsp of butter fry garlic until fragrant. Keep the gas on low flame & add in heavy cream. Keep stirring this.
3. Combine milk, corn flour paste, nutmeg powder & wait until it thickens like a sauce. Keep stirring whole you make this. Now the sauce is ready
4. You need to assemble all the prepared ingredients in a baking safe dish.
5. First line some boiled vegetables in the bottom, layer some chicken on top & then rice.
6. Pour in the ceamy sauce evenly on top of the rice.
7. Finally garnish this dish with cheese. Cover this dish with silver foil & bake it in a preheated oven at 200 degree for about 10 - 15 mins.
8. Once its a little cooled you can serve your kids this Delicious creamy, nutritious dish.

Here is the step by step pictures:

 

Linguine

 

Pastas are such a popular dish these days. People are going so crazy about Italian dishes. Honestly speaking I have rarely enjoyed Pastas in the restaurants. Most of the time I find it very bland or very cheesy. I love to make my own version of Pasta's at home. My hubby loves to eat only Pastas & noodles made by me. I try to customise it to suit our taste buds. I make Pasta sauces in many different ways. This one is a tomato based sauce. This sauce can also be used for Pizzas. Its very easy to make & tastes very good. You can use any type of Pasta that you like. I have made this with Linguine. This is how I made it.

Serves: 4
Cooking time:30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Packet of Linguine
• one pot water
• 3 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 onions chopped
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 tspn red Chili powder
• 1/4 tspn coriander powder
• 1/4 tspn cumin powder
• 1 Knorr Chicken Cube or (Chicken stock)
• 200 gms chicken breast cut into cubes
• Handful of Mint leaves
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Boil a pot full of water & drop in 2 large tomatoes into it. Remove the tomatoes in 2 mins, remove skin & set aside to cool.
2. Now in the same pot add in the Pasta & cook for about 15 mins or as directed in Pasta packet. Drain the water & keep the Pasta aside
3. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces
4. In a large Pan add olive oil, fry ginger, onions until translucent.
5. Now add in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chili, cumin, coriander powder, chicken cubes , chicken pieces & cook this until fat separation.
6. Add about 1/2 cup of hot water to the sauce & cook for another minute or 2
7. Finally add in the Mint leaves, Linguine & Toss well. 
8. Garnish the dish with cheese

Note:

• Add the Pasta to the sauce just before serving or the sauce will dry off soon.
• If you are boiling Pasta ahead of time than add in some olive oil to the pasta so that it doesn't stick to each other.

 

Indian style Penne Pasta

I love Pasta especially when its made at home. I somehow have not enjoyed Pastas at the Italian resturants. Being an Indian & having so many spices in our food, its tough for me to eat something that is very bland & cheesy. Pasta Mania has some decent varities of Pasta & their pastas are well flavoured. Since I like Pastas I try & customise it the way I want when i make at home. This is one of the styke that I follow & here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup Pasta (Serves 4) boiled  (heat water and when its hot add the pasta salt & cook for about 5 to 8 mins or as mentioned in the packet)
• 2 large Tomato chopped
• 1 medium Onion chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic chopped
• 1 tspn chili powder
• Pinch of cumin powder
• 1/4 tspn of coriander powder
• 1 tbspn tomato ketchup
• 1/2 cup boneless small chicken pieces
• 2 Tbspn Olive Oil
• Salt to taste & 1/2 spn sugar
• Few coriander leaves for garnish
• 1/4 cup water
• Handful of cheddar cheese (You can add in more if you like cheese. you may add in Mozzarella as well. if you are health conscious then skip the cheese and it will still taste good)

Method:

1. In a Pan add 1 tbspn of Olive oil and fry garlic, tomato, onion. when this is cooked, remove from heat and once cooled puree this in the mixer or blender.
2.  Now in the same pan add in some oil and on low heat fry chili, Cumin, coriander for 10 seconds. (To make it more flavourful)
3. Now add in the puree, ketchup, chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add some water if required. Combine the pasta and simmer for a minute.
5. Finally add in the grated cheese coriander leaves and close the pan with a tight lid. Orelse, microwave this dish for a minute until the cheese is melted.