FETTUCCINE IN CREAMY MUSHROOM AND BASIL SAUCE

I love pasta!!! And there are so many good places in Pune that serve good Italian food. This was my first attempt at cooking Italian so the ingredients maybe unorthodox and the method too. But the result was fabulous and my friends loved it.

Ingredients:-

·        Store-bought fettuccine

·        Fresh cream

·        Mozzarella cheese

·        Sour cream

·        Milk

·        Garlic

·        Butter

·        Basil leaves

·        Button mushrooms

·        Parsley

·        Salt

·        pepper

                                     Preparation:-

·        Melt some butter in a pan.

·        Add chopped garlic and sauté for a minute.

·        Add chopped mushrooms and sauté till they’re cooked completely.

·        Add one tablespoon of sour cream and equal amount of mozzarella cheese.

·        Add about 2-3 crushed basil leaves, finely chopped parsley and stir.

·        Add about half a cup of slightly warm milk. (the amount of milk may differ according to your preference of sauce)

·        Add salt and pepper.

·        Cook the fettuccine in salted boiling water. It should be cooked but firm to bite.

·        Add the cooked fettuccine to the pan and coat it with the sauce.

·        Garnish with basil leaves or parsley and serve hot with a slice of bread. 

POHE / BEATEN RICE

Ingredients:-

·        1 large bowl of beaten rice/pohe

·        1 onion diced

·        2 green chillies cut into small pieces

·        3-4 curry leaves

·        Coriander finely chopped

·        Groundnuts about 20gms

·        Mustard seeds

·        Cumin seeds

·        Turmeric powder

·        Salt

·        Oil

Preparation:-       

·        Wash the beaten rice/pohe in water and leave aside to soften.

·        Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Fry the groundnuts in the oil till they darken a bit. Remove and keep aside.

·        Add mustard and cumin seeds to the oil. Let them crackle. Add curry leaves, chillies and onions. Sauté till the onions change their colour.

·        Add a pinch of turmeric powder and the groundnuts.

·        Add the beaten rice and salt and stir properly till all of it is yellow in colour. Add the finely chopped coriander and mix.

·        Serve hot with a dash of lemon juice.

Note: - Pohe can be made in many ways. Instead of onions you can add sliced potatoes. In this same recipe you can add tomatoes or green peas. Serve with grated fresh coconut spread over it.

On the menu tonight: - moong dal and crispy potato bhaji/batatyacha kachrya and chapatti along with papad and fresh mangoes!!!

Moong dal

Ingredients:-

·        About two fistfuls of moong dal

·        1 diced tomato

·        3-4 cloves of garlic

·        1 green chilli

·        Mustard seeds

·        Cumin seeds

·        Asafoetida

·        Curry leaves

·        Finely chopped coriander

·        Turmeric powder

·        Salt

·        Oil

Preparation:-

·        Cook the moong dal in a pressure cooker.

·        Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them crackle. Add a pinch of asafoetida, curry leaves, garlic and chilli.

·        Add tomatoes,a pinch of turmeric and salt.(adding salt helps cook them faster)

·        Add the cooked moong dal and some water and bring it a boil.

·        Add the chopped coriander and serve hot with roti or rice.

Crispy potato bhaji/batatyacha kachrya  

    

   Ingredients:-

·        Two large potatoes

·        Oil

·        Salt

·        Turmeric powder

·        Red chilli powder

·        Mustard seeds

   Preparation:-

·        Thinly slice the potatoes into small triangles.

·        Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Let them crackle.

·        Add a pinch of turmeric and the sliced potatoes.

·        Add a tablespoon of red chilli powder and salt. Mix it properly the potatoes.

·        Cook for 20-25 minutes without a lid, stirring occasionally.

·        Serve hot with roti.

Roti/chapatti

       Ingredients:-

·        Wheat flour

·        Salt

·        Oil 

        

        Preparation:-

·        Add salt to the wheat flour and knead it into dough.

·        Take a small amount of dough and roll it into a small circle the size of your hand. Apply a little oil on half part of the circle and fold the other half over it. Do the same process and fold the dough into a triangle. Dust some flour over it and roll it out thinly till it is about 5 mm thick or less.

·        On a preheated flat pan, roast it properly on both sides. Dab some oil or butter while roasting.

·        Serve hot with bhaji or dal.

RICE BALLS

In this recipe I have used leftover rice from the night before. It’s a nice dish which can be served as an appetiser.

Ingredients:-

·       200gms plain cooked rice

·       1 egg

·       2 tablespoons corn flour

·        Fresh ground black pepper

·        Salt

·        Mozzarella cheese

·        Basil leaves

·        Bread crumbs

          Preparation:-

·        Beat an egg into the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

·        Add 2 tablespoons of corn flour and mix it properly with the rice.

·        With wet hands, take a small amount of rice and flatten it on your hand. Keep a cube of mozzarella cheese and one basil leaf on it. Take some more rice and cover the mozzarella. Roll it into a ball.

·        Roll the rice balls in bread and deep fry till golden brown.

·        Make as many rice balls from the rest of the mixture.

·        Serve hot. The mozzarella inside melts and gives it a very gooey centre. 

DAL

There are many ways in which you can prepare dal. Dal is essential in almost every regional staple diet in India. In this recipe I have used toor dal (pigeon pea)

Ingredients:-

·        100gms boiled toor dal.(It must completely cooked through. Any dal does cook faster and nicely in a pressure cooker)

·        1 diced tomato

·        Finely chopped coriander

·        Turmeric powder

·        Red chilli powder

·        Mustard seeds

·        Cumin seeds

·        Asafoetida

·        Ghee(clarified butter)

·        Salt

·        2 Mint leaves

       Preparation:-

·        Heat ghee in a wok. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let them crackle.

·        Add a pinch of asafoetida and the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes completely.

·        Add a pinch of turmeric and ½ -1 tablespoons of red chilli powder. Add the cooked toor dal and stir nicely.

·        Add water and salt to taste and bring it to a boil.

·        At the last moment add the chopped coriander and mint leaves.

·        Serve hot in a thali with vegetables and roti or with rice.

KAYRAS

Since its the mango season and raw mangoes (kairi) are available everywhere there have been a lot of mango dishes in my home. This is one of them. It’s kind of sweet and hot at the same time. Kayras keeps for more than a week when refrigerated. It is a side dish served with roti and vegetable preparations along with the chutneys and koshimbir

Ingredients:-

·       2 medium sized diced Green/raw mangoes

·       1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds (methya/methi seeds)

·       ½ tablespoon mustard seeds

·       Jaggery

·       Oil

·       Red chilli powder

·       Salt

Preparation:-

·       Heat oil in a pot. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.

·       After the seeds crackle add the mango dices.

·       Add a pinch of salt, ½ a tablespoon red chilli powder and a little water. Cook the mango completely.

·       When the mango is done, add jaggery (amount equal by weight as the mangoes)

·       Bring it to a boil. It should be slightly viscous when done.

·       Store in a jar, preferably in a fridge.

PAV BHAJI

Pav bhaji is to Indians what burgers or ribs are to Americans. It’s our own chatpata street food. Now anywhere you buy pav bhaji here the ingredients are the same. Potatoes, tomatoes and maybe green bell peppers. But my mother used to put everything that was available into pav bhaji. It’s much healthier this way. So here goes...

Ingredients:-

·        4 diced potatoes

·        4  diced tomatoes

·        250gms  cauliflower

·        100/150gms diced green bell peppers

·        50gms cut French beans

·        4  diced onions

·        100gms blanched green peas

·        100gms diced carrots

·        3 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste

·        Pav bhaji masala (which is available in any grocery shop readymade)

·          Garam masala

·        Red chilli powder

·        Turmeric

·        Salt

·        Coriander

·        Butter

·        oil

·        bread/pav/buns

             

                               Preparation:-

·       Boil the potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, French beans.

·       Heat oil in a wok. When it is hot enough add the ginger-garlic paste and 3 quarters of the diced onions. Sauté till the onions change their colour.

·       Add the tomatoes and cook them completely.

·       Add a pinch of turmeric and the green peppers and peas.

·       Add about 1 ½ tablespoons of red chilli powder, a tablespoon of garam masala and pav bhaji masala.

·       Add the boiled vegetables and slightly mash them as you stir the mixture.

·       Add salt, some coriander and just enough water to make it liquid.    

·       Ladle out some of the bhaji in a dish, sprinkle some diced onions and coriander and a big dollop of butter.

·       Serve it with toasted bread/pav/buns.

Note:-for cheese pav bhaji, just grate some cheese over the bhaji before you serve it.

ROAST CHICKEN THIGHS

Now this is my recipe. Did not learn it from my mother or anybody else. I’ll admit it was an experiment and it turned out to be good. So here you go J

Ingredients:-

·        Two chicken thighs. (I used venky’s frozen chicken but fresh would do better I think.)

·        6-7 cloves of garlic

·        Olive oil

·        Ketchup

·        Rosemary

·        Chilli flakes

·        1 onion

·        Coriander

·        Honey

·        Salt

           Preparation:-

·        Clean the chicken properly, skin intact.

·        Make a couple of slits along the chicken.

·        To make the marinade, crush the garlic cloves.

·        Add two to three tablespoons of ketchup, chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like it. I like everything quite spicy so I do use an awful lot of chillies and ginger and such), one tablespoon of honey, and a couple of rosemary sprigs, salt and a generous amount of olive oil. Mix it properly.

·        Rub this mixture on the chicken and leave it to rest for at least an hour or two.

·        Arrange the sliced onions in a plate. Rest the chicken on it and sprinkle the coriander over.  

·        Roast in an oven for 20-25 mins on each side.

·        Let it rest just a little before serving.

Note: - I made this in a microwave. No idea what to do with a normal oven. So anyone experienced enough please tell me how long it takes to cook chicken in it.