Pasta Arrabiata

Pasta is one of my most favorite and easy dish.Pasta Arrabiata is nothing but pasta cooked in red tomato sauce.This item is available @ Hotel Havens Sampoorna,Besant Nagar. That is were I tried this menu and it was quite exotic!!! This is my best and easy option when I don't have much time to prepare dinner.

Ingredients

1. Pasta -250 gms
2. Olive oil/Cooking Oil- 3 tbsp
3. Garlic- 3-4 pods(Chopped)
4. Onion chopped-1(Chopped)
5. Chilly flakes -1 tsp
6. Bangalore Tomatoes-3 (Blanched)
7. Salt as needed
8. Sugar- 1 tsp
9. Parsley- 1 tsp
10. Basil -1 tsp
11. Oregano- 1/2 tsp

                                                          

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, chopped onion and saute till Onions are transparent.
2. Grind the Blanched tomatoes into a puree in a mixer and add it to the above pan.
3. Add chilly flakes and mix well and allow the tomatoes to get cooked well.
4. Add salt, sugar, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano and saute well.
5. Cook pasta till Al Dente.
6. Once the raw flavor of tomatoes goes off, add the cooked pasta to the above sauce and gently toss it.Ensure the pasta is fully covered with this tomato sauce.
7. Serve the pasta hot:)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Ensure you use tomatoes that are less sour.I used Bangalore tomatoes.
2. I used dried Parsley and basil.This is available at Nuts 'n' Spices and you can easily get hold of them.
3. Adjust chili flakes according to the spice needed.

Cashewnut / Kaju Pulao

Cashewnut Pulao is one of my favourites whenever I am at Hot Chips Restaurant.A mild aromatic pulao seasoned with roasted cashewnuts and ghee.This is a very simple yet delicious and rich pulao that can be done in a jiffy.The coconut milk adds to the rich taste and hence I have used it.

serves:3

Ingredients

1. Basmathi rice-1.5 cups
2. Cashew nuts-2 tbsp (chopped into medium size)
3. Onion - 1 big (thinly sliced lengthwise)
4. Coriander leaves-fistful
5. Green Chili-2
6. Coconut Milk- 3 cups (diluted - 2 cups milk with 1 cup water)
7. Ghee-1 tbsp
8. Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
9. Salt to taste

Masala Ingredients

1. Bay Leaf - 1 Medium or Big
2. Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
3. Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
4. Cloves - 2-3
5. Green Cardamom- 3 
6. Black Cardamoms - 2 
7. Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
8. Star Anise - 2
9. Mace/Japathri -2

Method

1. Rinse well and soak Basmathi rice in water for about 30 mins.

2. In a pan, heat some ghee,add Bay leaf and saute for 2-3  mins.

3. Add cumin seeds and fennel seeds.After they crackle,add all other masala ingredients and saute for 2 mins on a low flame.

4.  Add Onions and green chili. Saute well until onions turns translucent. 

5. Add Ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell of garlic and ginger goes off.

6. Strain the soaked rice,some chopped coriander leaves and add it to the above pan.

7. Mix the rice well with masala and saute well.

8. Once the rice is mixed evenly and gently with the masala paste, remove the pan from the flame.

9. Transfer the rice to a pressure cooker,add salt and diluted coconut milk.

10. Cook the rice as mentioned here for 1:2 ratio.

11. Roast the cashew nuts in a tsp of ghee until they turn light brown in color.

12. Mix the roasted cashew nuts with cooked rice gently. 

13. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and some roasted cashews and serve hot with spicy accompaniments. 

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Instead of coriander,you can use mint or celery leaves.
2. Remove the bay leaf from rice before serving as it is used only for infusing aroma.

Spiced Cajun Potato Wedges

If you want to make an easy crispy quick bites for your guest, this is an apt choice. Potato wedges are a frequent menu in any of the Italian restaurants or pizza corners.This is an easy quick and simple recipe and can be made in no time. If you are planning for a quick and interesting starter, check out this recipe right away.
There are 2 methods listed here in the below post, one is baked method which consumes less oil. The other one is deep fry method. The deep fry method is a fool proof method and you get nice crispy potato wedges in a jiffy. People who don't have oven can use this method.The disadvantage is that it consumes more oil. On the other hand, baked wedges consumes less oil, but crispiness depends on each oven settings.Do try out both the methods and adopt whichever is convenient for you:):)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1. Non starchy Potatoes-3 medium sized
2. Red Chili Flakes-1 tsp
3. Mixed Italian Seasoning -1 tsp
4. Pepper powder-1 tsp
5. Garlic-5 pods (minced finely)
6. Oil-3 tbsp (Olive oil or any other cooking Oil) - If used in oven
7. Cornflour - 2 tbsp (required if deep frying method used)
8. All purpose flour - 2 tbsp (required if deep frying method used)
9. Oil for deep frying
10. Salt to taste

Method 1- Bake using Convection Mode Oven

1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly.Cut them into wedges as shown in the picture without peeling the skin.

2. Par boil the chopped potatoes wedges in water for 2-3 mins with some salt.

3. Strain them,pat them with a dry towel and place them in a bowl.

5. Take oil in a bowl. Add the red chili flakes,pepper,salt, minced garlic,seasoning to the oil and mix well. Now, marinate the potato wedges with this mixture such that the potato wedges are covered nicely with the marination.

6. Spread these wedges on an oven safe tray.

7. Pre-Heat the oven for 200 degrees C.

8. Once the pre heat temperature is reached,place the tray inside the oven and bake them for 20-25 mins until the edges turn golden and crispy.

9. Once they are baked,pat them with dry tissue to remove excess oil.

10. Serve the hot potato wedges with sauce or any other Cheesy dip.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Boiling the potatoes initially helps in reducing the baking time and also makes the wedges crispier.
2. Since, we use baking technique, this consumes less oil.
3. Pre heat temperature varies from oven to oven.Hence,you need to study your oven settings.

Method 2 - Deep Fry Method

1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly.Cut them into wedges as shown in the picture without peeling the skin.

2. Par boil the chopped potatoes wedges in water for 2-3 mins with some salt in hot water.

3. Strain them,pat them with a dry towel

4. Take a mixing bowl, add cornflour, flour,salt , pepper,chili flakes,garlic pods and seasoning. Mix well.

5. Take a zip lock cover, add the above mixture and the par boiled wedges to it and shake well. Ensure the wedges are coated well with the mixture.

6. Freeze the zip lock for an hour.

7. After an hour,heat oil, when the oil is nice hot, add the frozen wedges one by one until they are fried completely and turn into nice golden brown color.

8. The wedges are nice crispy outside and soft inside. Serve them with hot piping sauce.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Since we are adding frozen potato wedges into oil, the oil might splutter. So exercise caution while frying.
2. Ensure the oil is hot before frying, else the wedges might absorb too much oil and may not turn crispy.
3. Adjust the heat of the oil as we do not want the potato wedges to be burnt either.

Baby Corn & Capsicum Masala

For all those baby corn lovers out there, try this recipe which definitely meets the restaurant standards.Serve this as an accompaniment to rotis or chappathis.This is a very rich side dish that can be prepared easily at home.Now,stop paying for an expensive price tag at North Indian/Punjabi restaurants and check out the below recipe :)

serves:4-5

Ingredients

1. Baby Corn - 6 -7 Nos. 
2. Tomatoes - 4-5 medium sized(chopped) 
3. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp heaped
4. Green Chilies - 2 
5. Fresh thick yogurt - 2 tbsp 
6. Fresh Cream - 3 tbsp
7. Capsicum - 1(Cut into medium sized shapes) 
8. Onions - 2 medium sized(Chopped) 
9. Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek leaves - 2 tsp 
10. Bay Leaf - 1 medium sized 
11. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp 
12. Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp 
13. Coriander Powder/Dhaniya powder - 2 tsp 
14. Cardamom powder - 1 tsp 
15. Cumin Powder/Jeera Powder - 1 tsp 
16. Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp 
17. salt to taste 
18. Oil - 1 tbsp 

                                

Method

1. Cut the Baby corns into medium sized length.Boil them in hot water for 5 mins with a pinch of salt.

2. Grind the tomato,green chilies and yogurt in a mixer into a puree.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf and saute for 2 mins.

4. Add the chopped onions,capsicum and saute till onions turn transparent.

5. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for few mins till the raw flavor goes off.

6. Add the puree to the above pan and saute till the raw flavor of tomato goes off.

7. Add all the "powders" mentioned in the ingredients column and mix nicely.

8. Allow it to boil on a low flame for about 10 mins.The gravy will slowly start to thicken.

9. Add salt as needed to the gravy and mix well.

10. Add the Baby corn to the above gravy and mix gently.

11. Add some fresh cream and mix well for a creamy consistency and to balance the taste.

12. Crush kasuri methi and add to the above mixture and saute well.

12. Baby corn & Capsicum Masala is now ready to be served hot along with rotis,chappati,phulka or naan.

Restaurant Series #3

I had invited my cousin and her husband for a lunch on a Saturday noon.Since, it was lunch,

I wanted to restrict to south Indian meal course. I was running short of time to prepare a soup and that alone has been skipped.You can refer to my soup recipes listed under menu card.Check out the below recipes that I had prepared on that day.

Menu

1. American Corn Cheese Balls
2. BisiBela Bath
3. Curd Rice
4. Orange Smoothie

Orange Smoothie

Orange smoothie is a perfect beverage for a hot summer.I prepared this one fine weekend when I had invited my cousin and her husband home for lunch.Orange is all time refreshing and when you want to have it in summer...It's out of the world!!! Check out the recipe for this Tangy Delight.

Serves: 3 medium glasses

Ingredients

1. Fresh Orange Juice - 2 Cups
2. Chilled milk - 1/4 Cup
3. Vanilla Ice Cream-1 scoop
4. Vanilla Extract-1 tsp
5. Ice Cubes-4-5
6. Sugar as needed

Method

1. In a blender, add all the milk,ice cream,orange juice,sugar and vanilla extract and blend at a high speed.

2. Serve Chilled with with Ice cubes.

Blanching Tomatoes

Steps

1. Boil the tomatoes nicely in water for 5 mins on high flame.
2. You can notice that the skin starts peeling off. (as shown in the first pic).
3. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water,strain them and wash them in cold water.
4. Try removing the skin of the tomatoes with your fingers and it peels off so easily :)