Tag Archives: vegetariankhana

Dal Pakwaan

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Dal Pakwaan

 

Dal Pakwan is a sindhi breakfast. It is crispy puris made of all purpose flour (maida) and topped with chana dal mixed with onion, tomato, sweet and spicy chutneys and lots of fresh coriander. I don’t know its Rajasthan connection but I remember eating it in Ajmer where it is sold as a street food. This might not be the most authentic version of dal pakwan as I have made modifications for taste and presentation.

Dal Pakwan

Traditionally pakwan is a big circle shaped crispy puri with the topping of dal. I wanted to make bite sized snacks which are easier to eat so I made them in different shapes like taco shell, canapé, and also in square shape for the ease of serving and eating. I also substituted half of all purpose flour for whole wheat flour. You can add any herbs to the pakwan dough to add a flavor to the puris. Remember to poke the puris with a fork before frying. You can also use this dough to make canapés to fill with dal or any other savory filling.

Dal Pakwan

For the dal too, I have added mung dal and toor dal to the recipe as suggested by a friend from Jaipur where it is a popular dish. It turned out healthier and tastier. You can also add deseeded and finely chopped cucumber to the topping. Chaat masala also adds to the taste.

Remember to keep the dal very thick. Mix the tomato onion mix just before serving and serve immediately to avoid the snack getting soggy.

Dal Pakwan

Ingredients

Serves 4-5

For Pakwan

  • ½ cup all purpose flour (maida)
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour (aata)
  • 1 tsp pepper powder
  • ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil to fry

For Dal

  • ¼ cup split green gram (mung dal)
  • ¼ cup split pigeon peas (toor dal)
  • ¼ cup Bengal gram (chana dal)
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida (heeng)
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 tomato finely chopped
  • 2 green chillies finely chopped
  • 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
  • Few pinches rock salt
  • Few tea spoons lime juice
  • Few tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped
  • Few tbsp sweet chutney
  • Few tbsp mint chutney

Recipe

For the Pakwan

Mix together the flours, black pepper powder, ajwain, 2 tbsp oil, salt, and little water to make stiff dough. Cover and keep aside for 10-15 mins. Knead again and divide into equal number of portions. Roll and cut each portion into a shape of your choice. Poke with a fork at 2-3 places and deep fry in hot oil until its crisp.

Pakwan is usually big and circle shaped. I wanted to make bite sized snack so I cut them in small 3 inch circles and squares.

For dal

Wash and soak the dals for 1 hour. Pressure cook with salt, turmeric and asafoetida till the dals are cooked (2-3 whistles). Do NOT add too much water. The dal needs to be fairly thick. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker and mix the dal lightly and keep aside.

In a bowl, mix together chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, roasted jeera powder, rock salt and little lime juice.

Just before serving, add the onion tomato mix to the dal and put it on the pakwan. Top it with mint chutney and sweet chutney as per taste. Garnish with lots of coriander. Serve immediately.

 

Gulab Jamun

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Gulab Jamun

When I decided to start a food blog and was thinking of recipes to include, this was the first recipe that came to my mind. Gulab jamun; this is perhaps the best of the sweets that my grandmother makes. I have very fond memories of helping my grandmother roll the gulab jamuns. As an 8-9 year old, I used to feel so proud to have contributed to a recipe.

Though I am not a fan of oily and fried food, this is an exception. I do not prefer gulab jamun made in oil. It has to be made in ghee (clarified butter). I think that is what gives it the yummy taste and aroma. Fresher the ingredients, better the taste. There are various versions of this sweet too. You can stuff it with mishri, chironji, or any other dry fruit of your choice. Though I do not try to modify such time tested recipes, this time I tried using chocolate chips as a stuffing and was happy with the result.

Gulab Jamun can be enjoyed warm and cold both. It particularly goes well with Vanilla Ice-cream. Warm Gulab Jamun with a dollop of Vanilla Ice-cream tastes delicious. What else, it is indeed a quick dessert.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

Makes 10 Gulab Jamuns

  • ½ cup dried whole milk (khoya/mawa)
  • 1 tbsp  Indian cottage cheese (paneer)
  • 1 tbsp multipurpose flour (maida)
  • 2 pinches soda
  • 3-4 pinches cardamom powder (ilaichi)
  • Few chocolate chips
  • 8-10 strands of saffron (kesar)
  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • Pure ghee to fry the gulab jamuns
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • Chopped almonds for topping

Recipe

Crumble or grate mawa and paneer. Add maida, soda, and cardamom powder. Mash all the ingredients using the heel of your palm and keep mixing till you get an even mixture. If you find the mixture too dry, you can add 1 tablespoon water at a time till you get a soft dough. Divide the dough into 10 portions and roll into balls. You can add the stuffing at this time. Press the ball to make a hole, add the stuffing, seal the ends and roll into a ball again making sure there are no cracks.

Heat sufficient ghee in a thick bottomed deep pan/kadai.  Fry on sim gas till golden brown. Do not over crowd the pan. Once you put the gulab jamuns in hot ghee, do not put spoon in the pan till the balls come up in ghee or they will break.  Fry gently and drain and keep aside.

In another pot, heat sugar and water till the syrup becomes light golden. Add saffron strands. Do not over boil the sugar syrup. It should be boiled enough to be sticky. Switch off the gas as soon as the syrup startsbto boil and let it cool a little. Add the gulab jamuns to the syrup when it is warm. Let the gulab jamuns soak in the syrup for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can garnish them with chopped almonds or pistachios.

Tomato Garlic Dal (Lentils cooked with Tomatoes and Garlic)

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Tomato Garlic Dal (Lentils cooked with Tomatoes and Garlic)

Dal is a part of everyday meal in India. It is a preparation of lentils with different spices and vegetables. Dal rice or dal roti is a staple diet of most of the Indian homes. Tomato dal or tamatar ki dal is one of the simplest and common dishes in Indian kitchen. You can call it the Indian comfort food. This dish is simple, tasty, and full of nutrition.

Onion and garlic are kind of banned in my home and that explains my love for these two flavors. I love the burnt garlic flavor in this dal. Plain rice or jeera rice is the best complement for this dal but I like it with hot rotis too.

Tomato Garlic Dal (Lentils cooked with Tomatoes and Garlic)

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 1 cup split pigeon peas (toor/arhar dal) washed and soaked for 15 mins
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 8-10 curry leaves
  • 2 green chillies slit
  • 2 dry red chillies
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic sliced
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 2 medium sized tomatoes washed and chopped
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp garam masala
  • Approximately 3 cups of water for cooking the dal
  • 1-2 cups of water (if required in case the dal is too thick)
  • 2 tsp of ghee/oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

Recipe

Pressure cook the dal in 3 cups of water with salt for 3-4 whistles. It should be cooked enough to be mashed when you mix it. Once the cooker is cooled, mash the dal and keep aside.

Heat ghee/oil in a kadhai or pan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once the seeds pop, add curry leaves, green chillies, and ginger. Cook for 30-40 seconds. Add garlic and cook till the garlic starts browning. Add onions and cook on low flame till onions start browning.

Add tomatoes and salt. Remember the dal already has salt so add salt for tomatoes only. Cook on low flame till tomatoes are cooked and can be mashed with the back of a spoon. Add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, and garam masala. Mix well and cook till oil separates.

Add the cooked dal to this and mix well. If the dal is too thick you can add ½ to 1 cup of water. Some people like the dal thick while some enjoy a thinner consistency so add water as per preference.

Check for seasoning and add salt or spice as required. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped coriander and serve with hot rice.

Naan Roti (Naan Bread)

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Naan Roti (Naan Bread)

Naan is one of India’s many famous foods after tikka masala and samosa. It is a tear drop shaped, oven-baked (called tandoor in India) flat bread made with all-purpose flour (maida). It is also known as naan bread and is served with curries or kebabs. Making naan at home is not as tough as it looks. You do not need the tandoor. You can make it in oven or even on a thick griddle. Most of the ingredients are easily available and you can even add the topping of your choice to make it more flavorful.

Just make sure to rest the dough for enough time and cover it well while resting. Some people use eggs for a softer naan but I don’t see any major difference in the softness with or without egg if you use milk to make the dough. You can experiment with the shape and toppings. You can add nigella seeds (kalonji), sesame seeds, kasuri methi, garlic, olives, or fresh herbs like coriander and mint.

As with other recipes on this blog, this is my family recipe of naan. There are different ways of making the dough and cooking the naan. You can make it in an oven, use any thick bottomed utensils like kadhai or cooker, or a clay griddle. My mom makes naan on the griddle used to make rotis at home and she even cooks the naan like she cooks the rotis. Naan can be served with tikkas, kebabs, dal, and curries. It is best eaten hot.

Naan Roti (Naan Bread)

Ingredients

Makes 6-7

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup curd
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 3 pinches soda (appx half of 1/4th tsp)
  • 1 ½ tbsp. oil
  • Little water

Recipe

Take flour in a wide big dish. Make a well in the centre and add salt, sugar, soda, curd, oil, and milk. Make a soft pliable dough using little water at a time. Keep it aside covered with a wet cloth for one hour. Knead it again for few mins (3-4) and divide into 6 rolls.

Take one roll at a time and roll it into a 6-7 inch disc on a lightly floured surface. At this stage you can add the seasoning you prefer. Roll it once or twice for the seasoning to stick to the dough.

Cook it in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees until it is crisp and light brown. Brush liberally with butter/ghee.

If you do not have an oven you can cook it on a griddle too just like you would cook roti. Brush it liberally with butter/ghee and serve hot.

Savory Tarts (Katori Chaat)

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Savory Tarts (Katori Chaat)

Festivals of India are as colourful as the country itself. Holi was more colourful when we were kids and lived in the old city of Hyderabad. Sadly, it just turned into a holiday as we grew up and started working. This festival of colors has made it back into our lives with the arrival of our little monster Aryan. My mom used to prepare lot of finger food or snacks for us during festivals like Sankrantri and holi as we did not have time to sit and eat a proper meal. This is one of them. Katori chaat (Savory Tarts if you like a fancy name). Here is a healthy version of the katori chat that my mom used to prepare for us during festivals.

Traditionally, katori chaat is filled with potatoes and chana, but I like it with the sprouts. Since I was baking the tarts instead of frying them, I decided to go with this healthy filling that is made at my place. You can prepare the sprouts in advance to save time. Steam, boil, or pressure cook the sprouts with salt.

Readymade tarts are easily available at supermarkets in India so if you live in India, you can save yourself the time and effort of making these tarts. But if you want to try these baked tarts, these are not tough to make. You can make them in advance and can even freeze them for later use.

Toppings in chaat are always as per taste. You can add the sweet chutney, chilli powder, and other spices as per your taste. If you are making this for a group of people, you can just keep the toppings, filling, and tarts together and people can make their chaat as they like. Do not prepare the whole tart with filling and topping in advance or else it will get soggy. This Indian chaat is perfect for a DIY snack when you have a group of people with different tastes. Happy Holi!

Savory Tarts (Katori Chaat)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup mung sprouts boiled
  • ½ cup moth sprouts boiled
  • 2 inch piece ginger grated
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 green chilli finely chopped
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 small tomato chopped
  • 3 tbsp tamarind chutney
  • 3 tbsp mint chutney
  • 4-5 tbsp sev (nylon sev)
  • 2-3 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1-2 tsp cumin powder
  • Salt to taste

For Tarts (makes 12-14 cups)

  • 50 gms all-purpose flour (maida)
  • 2 pinches baking powder
  • 25 gms butter
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp carom seeds
  • 2 -3 tbsp milk

Recipe

Combine flour, baking powder, carom seeds, and salt. Rub in the butter using your fingertips. The mixture should resemble bread crumbs. Add 2 tbsp milk and make a stiff dough. Add little more milk if the dough is too dry to combine. Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, knead again and roll out the dough into a sheet (approximately ¼ inch thick). Cut rounds using a cookie cutter (appx 3 inches) or small bowl. Press the rounds in a tart mould or a cupcake mould. Prick at 2-3 places using a fork.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees and bake at 230 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Heat oil in a kadhai or non-stick pan. Add grated ginger and green chilli. After 30-40 seconds add the sprouts and salt. Mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes and switch off the gas. Cool the sprouts and keep aside.

Whisk the yogurt with salt and keep aside.

Just before serving, fill the tart with appx 1tbsp of sprouts. Top it up with yogurt (appx 1 tbsp), tamarind chutney (as per taste), mint chutney (as per taste), chilli powder (1-2 pinches), cumin powder (1-2 pinches), chopped onions and tomato (few pieces), sev (3-4 pinches), and chopped coriander. Serve immediately.

Manchurian Pav

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Manchurian Pav

Manchurian Pav or Manchuria Pav as it is known in Hyderabad is a street food from Hyderabad. It is a twist to Pav Bhaji and what a yummy twist! I love it. Despite the fat. That is why I decided to try making it at home so that I can make it healthier. I am yet to find a city (with exception to Mumbai) where you can get yummy food 24×7. Street food in Hyderabad is amazing. The city is dotted with tons of stalls selling roadside snacks. One such place is a juice/pan shop called Mayur. I don’t know if this dish is available elsewhere but I love it at this place.  I always prepare extra bhaji and freeze it for the days I am too tired to cook. It comes in handy for quick snacks like this one.

This snack should be cooked on high heat throughout. Idea is not to let the capsicum lose it’s crunch or not to overcook the onions. It should be cooked but still crunchy.  You can cook it in butter if you like but using oil or even olive oil does not alter the taste a lot.

This dish gets soggy very fast. You need to make it just before eating. You can prepare the ingredients in advance and cook it just before eating/serving. This is a perfect snack with evening tea or for that 5 pm hunger. You can enjoy this Indian fast food with hot tea or finish it off with a glass of chilled juice.

Manchurian Pav

Ingredients

  • 2 Pavs/burger buns cut into 8 pieces each
  • 4-5 tbsp bhaji
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 small green chilli chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger finely chopped
  • 1-2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 tbsp onions chopped
  • 2 tbsp capsicum chopped
  • 2 tsp pav bhaji masala
  • ¼ tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp fresh coriander chopped
  • 1 tbsp sev
  • salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a deep pan or kadhai.  Add ginger, garlic, and green chillies and cook for a minute. Add onions and cook for a minute or till the onions are translucent. Add capsicum and cook for 30-45 seconds. Add pav bhaji masala, garam masala, bhaji, and salt. Mix well. Add the pav pieces and mix well. Transfer to the serving dish and top it with sev and chopped coriander. Serve immediately.

Toast Cups

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Toast Cups

Toast cups or mini quiches as they look like are a quick way to upgrade a simple toasted sandwich to look like a gourmet snack . It is a very easy dish to make. Bread is rolled, cut, and baked into cups, filled with different savory filling, topped with cheese, and baked into delicious hot snacks.

You can practically fill the toast cups with any filling you like. I like this Mexican filling with corn, capsicum, and paneer. The Mexican taco spice mix or the chili spice mix adds a new flavor and spice to the filling. It also makes it quick to cook.

You can choose to cut the edges of the bread if you like. Rolling the bread will make it easier to cut it and fit in the muffin mould. To add flavor to your toast cups, you can brush the cups with olive oil mixed with dried herbs like oregano, basil, thyme etc. You can use any cheese you like to top the toast cups. If you want to prepare the dish in advance, you can prepare the filling and toast the cups lightly. Assemble and bake the cups just before serving. This snack tastes best when it is hot.

Ingredients

  • 12 slices of bread with the edges cut
  • ½ cup boiled/steamed sweet corn
  • ¼ cup mixed bell peppers chopped
  • ¼ cup paneer chopped
  • ¼ cup onion finely chopped
  • 35 gms Taco seasoning/any Mexican seasoning
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp water
  • Cheese to taste ( used cheddar cheese)
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, paneer, and sweet corn. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the taco seasoning and 2 tbsp water and mix well. Taste and add salt if required. Cook for 3-4 minutes mixing in between. Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.

For the toast cups, roll a bread slice using a rolling pin. Cut a circle using a cookie cutter or a sharp edged bowl. Divide the circle into two. Adjust the semi circles in a muffin tray to make a cup. Follow the same procedure for rest of the bread slices.  Spray the toast cups with olive oil. Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake the cups for 10-12 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven. Add a table spoon of filling in each cup. Top it with grated cheese and bake for 8-10 minutes till the cheese melts. Serve hot.

Dal Baati Churma

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Dal Baati Churma

Dal Baati churma is probably the most popular of the Rajasthani cuisine. Ghee dipped baatis are served with a spicy dal and sweet churma laddus. Add gatte ki sabji and rice to this and this turns into a big delicious and royal Rajasthani meal for you. As with all other recipes, this is my family recipe of daal baati which my mom has been cooking for more than 40 years now. I would suggest cooking dal baati only in ghee to get the authentic taste. It is a lengthy recipe but every bite is worth the time you spend cooking this.

baati

Baatis can be baked or fried. Some people boil the baati first and fry it after that. My mom just fries the baatis in ghee. Semolina adds a nice crunch to the baatis while ghee makes them melt in mouth. Make sure to cook baatis on a low to medium flame so that they are cooked well. Some people drizzle ghee on baatis while some keep them dipped in ghee until they serve.

churma

Panchmel dal and churma are the other two importants parts of this dish. You can serve the churma in form of laddu or in powder form. Ghee again decides the taste of churma. Use desi ghee and this will take the taste of churma to another level.

Do serve the dal, baati, churma with a wedge of lime. Traditionally, piping hot dal and baati are crushed and mixed with churma and topped with more ghee and a dash of lime and fresh onion slices.

Dal Baati Churma

Ingredients

Makes  8-10 servings

For Baati

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (aata)
  • ¼ cup semolina (rava)
  • ¼ cup chickpea flour (besan)
  • ¼ cup yogurt (dahi)
  • ½ tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • ¼ cup pure ghee
  • ¼ tsp soda bicarbonate
  • 2 pinches turmeric
  • Salt to taste
  • Ghee to fry the baati

For Dal

  • ½ cup moong dal
  • ½ cup toor dal
  • ¼ cup urad dal
  • ¼ cup chana dal
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp asafetida (heeng)
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 8-10 curry leaves
  • 1 bay leaf (tej patta)
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon (dal chini)
  • 2 cloves (laung)
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
  • Salt to taste

For Churma

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (aata)
  • ¼ cup pure ghee
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp cardamom powder (ilaichi)
  • 1 tbsp chopped dry fruits (almonds, pistachios and cashews)

Recipe

For Dal

Wash and soak the dals for 20-30 mins.  Drain water and put all the dals in pressure cooker. Add 4 cups water and some salt and cook for 3 whistles. Once the cooker is completely cooled, open the lid and mash the dal lightly and keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in another pan or kadhai. Add mustard seeds and once the seeps pop, add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, dried red chilli. Sauté for few seconds and add green chillies, heeng, curry leaves and grated ginger and sauté for few seconds.

Add a cup of water, turmeric, coriander powder, red chilli powder and garam masala. Once the water comes to boil, add the cooked dal and mix well. Check the consistency of dal and add more water if required.  Also, check for salt at this stage and add more salt if required. Bring the dal to boil and let it cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame. Finally add chopped coriander and switch off the gas.

For Churma

In a deep bowl, mix together the flour and ghee.  Add little water and knead firm dough. Divide the dough into eight portions. Take each portion in your palm and close your fist to make an indentation in the dough. Heat ghee in a frying pan and deep fry the dough portions till they are golden brown. Fry them on low flame. Drain on absorbent paper and let them cool down completely.

Once they are cooled, break them into pieces and grind them to powder using a grinder. Add sugar, cardamom powder, and dry fruits and mix well. You can serve the churma like this in powder form or you can even make laddus out of it. To make laddus, heat 2 tbsp ghee and pour it on churma and mix well. Grease your palms with some ghee and take 1-2 tbsp of churma in your hand and roll it into round balls.

For Baati

Mix all the ingredients for baati and knead firm dough using little water and rest it for 5-10 minutes. Knead the dough again for 5-6 minutes. Divide the dough into 20 portions. You can make more or less baatis depending on the size of the baati you like. Shape each portion into an even sized ball and flatten the balls lightly using your thumb to make an indentation in the center of the baati.

Heat ghee/oil in a frying pan and fry the baatis till they are golden brown. Make sure to fry the baatis on a medium flame so that the baatis are cooked from inside too. Drain the baatis on absorbent paper and keep them aside.

To serve

Break baati in two pieces and pour a spoonful of melted ghee on top and serve with dal, churma, a wedge of lime and onion slices.

Aam Panna

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Aam Panna

While most people are busy gorging on variety of Mangoes during the summer season, my favorite way of having mango is the Aam panna made with raw mangoes. Raw mango has the quality to cool your body. Summer in Hyderabad can be pretty bad. With temperatures soaring to even 43 degrees, this was a regular drink at home. Every day when we came back from school our mom used to have this drink ready for us.

Since Singapore has a hot and humid weather all the year round, Aam panna can be made and enjoyed anytime of the year. I love this drink so much that I don’t mind travelling all the way to Mustafa center to buy the mangoes. 

You can roast the mangoes if you like but I like it the way my mom makes it. It is quick and easy and saves me time. I like to prepare this drink in quantity so that I can just chill it and enjoy the whole weekend.

Aam Panna

Ingredients

Makes 6 glasses

  • 2 raw mangoes
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp rock salt (kala namak)
  • 2 tsp cumin (jeera) powder
  • 500 ml water

Recipe

Pressure cook the mangoes with some water (approximately 300ml) for 5-6 whistles. Extract the mango pulp and throw away the outer skin and seeds.

Add sugar, salt, rock salt and blend. Add water and cumin powder. Adjust sugar, salt as per taste. Serve chilled.

You can adjust the sugar and water depending on how sour the mangoes are.

Broccoli Sauce Pasta

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Broccoli Sauce Pasta

Pasta is as dear to me as idli or Panipuri. I can eat it as all the three meals in one day and will still be happy to have it again the next day.  The first time I had pasta was in Cardiff. My friend Deepak’s mom had come down from Moscow for his birthday and she introduced me to pasta and taught me how to make it. There is no looking back since then. I experiment a lot with pasta and this is one of my experiments gone right.

This sauce goes well with Fettuccine pasta but I had only Penne at home and craving for pasta wins over all other preferences hands down – always!  It tasted good with Penne pasta too.

I like the red sauce more as it is healthier and closer to the spicy Indian flavours. White sauce is more of a comfort food. Only problem with the white sauce is that you have to eat it right away. The left over or cold pasta doesn’t taste as good as the red sauce pasta tastes the next day. To avoid myself the guilt of eating so much of refined flour and cheese, I try to compensate by adding something healthier. This time it was Broccoli (I just LOVE Broccoli) and I loved it.

Make sure to serve this pasta hot. Reheating is not recommended as the refined flour will get stickier and the sauce will get thicker too.

Broccoli Sauce Pasta

Ingredients

Serves 2

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • ½ tsp pepper powder
  • ½ broccoli (steamed and chopped)
  • 3 tbsp plain flour (maida)
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup cheese (I use mild cheddar cheese)
  • 10-15 leaves basil chopped
  • 3 cups of pasta cooked al dente
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic, oregano and chilli flakes. Sauté for 30-40 seconds. Add onions and cook for 2-3 mins till the onions are translucent. Add flour and sauté for 2 mins. Add milk, pepper, basil leaves, broccoli pieces, cheese, and salt and cook for a minute and switch off the gas. Cool slightly and blend everything to a smooth sauce using a blender or mixer.

Put it back on low flame and check for salt, seasoning, and thickness. If the sauce is too thick you can add some milk or water at this time. Add pasta and toss it well and switch off the gas.

Serve immediately.