Easy Pasta with Tomatoes

You MUST make this. Especially on a holiday. When the whole family relaxes, you can make this dish in minutes and get so many 'wows'!
So easy, so tasty.
Just 3 main ingredients. Nothing fancy. Just tomato, garlic and cheese. It takes longer to cook the pasta than to make the tomato base! So you might want to start cooking the pasta before you start off with the tomato.

Serves - 2

Ingredients:
Pasta - 200 gms
Cherry tomato / tomato - 1/2 kg
Garlic - 6 cloves , chopped fine
Salt
Parmesan cheese - 1 cup
Olive oil - 5 tbsp

Method:
Boil the pasta in ample salted water till nearly cooked. Drain and toss in 1 tbsp olive oil.
If you are using ordinary tomato, cut them into large cubes. If you are using the cherry tomato, use them as they are.
Heat the rest of the olive oil and add the garlic.
Once it starts changing colour, add the whole tomato and salt.
Mix and cook covered.
Once it gets cooked, mash with the spoon and wait for more juice to ooze out.
Now add the pasta to this.
Toss and mix well and heat until the pasta gets heated through.
Add 1/2 cup parmesan and mix. Once well incorporated, turn off heat and serve topped with more cheese.
You can always garnish with some greens like basil, parsley or even celery.

Eggplant and Tomato Sauce With Israeli Couscous Recipe

This is an experimental recipe which was a success.
I have never cooked nor tasted couscous before, but after watching all those cookery shows on TV, I was very familiar with it. It is a moroccan staple and usually served with a gravy dish.
So when we went to Italy, I bought a packet of 'couscous', with absolutely no idea of what to do with it.
Thus started my recipe hunt!
Then I found an incredible recipe (which made the taste buds in my head salivate....yup! I have those) from the website 'seriouseats' and the end result was great. It's taste reminded me of tomato rice with brinjal.
What I was amazed was the way the couscous fluffed up.
I took one cup of dry couscous and it was more than sufficient for 3. I had leftovers, which I had the next day. So be careful with the quantity.

Recipe source : Seriouseats

Serves - 4

Ingredients:
Couscous - 1 cup
Garlic - 4 cloves , grated
Onion - 1 medium , chopped fine
Tomato - 4 medium , chopped fine
Brinjal / aubergine - 1/2 large , cubed
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Water* / broth - 1 cup

* Mix 1 Maggi magic cube with the water to get extra taste.

Method:
Take couscous in a bowl and add 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well.
Boil 1 cup water or broth and pour over the couscous. Mix well and keep covered.
Heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic.
Fry on a low flame till transparent.
Add the Brinjal and mix well.
Cook covered, stirring often till the brinjal gets cooked.
Now add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, turmeric and chilly powder.
Mix and cook covered till tomato turns mushy / pulpy.
Open the lid and give a thorough mix.
Now add the couscous and cook till all the water in the gravy gets absorbed.
Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

Kovakka / Tindora / Ivy gourd dry fry with coconut and spices

Many years ago (1997) while we had a short sujourn in UAE, we used to visit Woodlands in Sharjah.
Here they used to serve this particular thoran (if we were lucky, as the menu kept changing) and I was not interested in cooking at all then and did not bother getting the recipe.

Years later I stumbled on a preparation made with spinach (cheera thoran) by my neighbor. I used the same base and substituted the spinach with ivy gourd / kovakkai and the end result tastes quite similar to Woodland's kovakkai.

Recipe courtesy : Jesamma Boban

Ingredients:
Kovakka(i) / Ivy gourd / tindora - 300 gms
Salt to taste
Coconut oil - 4 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Red chilly - 2, broken
Curry leaf - 1 sprig

To be ground into a coarse paste without water:
Coconut - 1/3 cup
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Red Chilli - 4
Small onion - 5
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Garlic (opt) - 1 pod
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp

Method:
Wash the ivy gourd well and cut into thin slices.
Heat the coconut oil and add the mustard seeds and red chillies.
Once it crackles, add the coarsely ground paste and salt. Saute on a medium flame, stirring continuously for 1 minute.

Now add the ivy gourd. Mix well. Reduce flame and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Open, mix well and cook on a medium flame till all water evaporates and it starts getting fried.

It is better to not brown the vegetable too much, as this means the coconut will blacken.
The thoran is ready!

Puli Kozhambu by Chef Mathivannan

When we went to Taj Varkala two Onam's ago, the menu was skewed towards non-vegetarian food and our choices were completely depleted in 3 meals. The chef (Mr.Mathivannan) took pity on us and served us every afternoon an amazing 'puli kozhambu' with fluffy white rice. The taste was so good I needed the recipe. He conducted a class for me on our last day of stay and showed me how to make the curry from scratch.

I have made this curry so many times after that trip, but sadly never gotten around to posting it here.

The taste is excellent and reminds you of Tamilnadu hinterlands (read : Chettinad).

Ingredients:

Sunflower / Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp 

Til oil / Gingelly oil / ellennai / nalla ennai - 2 tbsp

Mustard - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Uluva / methi / fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Small onion / shallots / chinna ulli / chinna vengayam - 10, sliced thin

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Garlic - 2 pods, sliced thin

Green chilli - 2, slit

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp (or more)

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Jeera powder - 1 tsp

Tomato - 2, Blanched and pureed

Vegetables - 2 cups, thinly cut

(drumstick, raw banana, brinjal, beans)

Tamarind - 1 inch ball (or) 2 tbsp thick extract mixed in 1 cup water

Coconut - 1/4 cup

(my notes taken during the class)

Method:

If you are using vegetables which might take time to cook like drumstick and raw banana, unlike brinjal or ladies finger which is easy to cook, please boil them in just enough water to soften a little.

Grind the coconut with 1 tsp jeera into a smooth paste and keep aside.

Heat both the oils in a heavy bottomed kadai.
Splutter the mustard. Then add the jeera and methi.
Next add the onion, green chilly, curry leaf and garlic.
Saute until onion starts turning golden brown.
Then add all the powders - salt, turmeric, chilli, coriander and jeera.

Saute on a low flame for 2 minutes and if you feel the oil is less add one more tablespoon of oil.
Now add the tomato puree.

Cook on a low flame for 2-3 minutes until raw smell goes.
Now add the vegetables and saute till they soften well.
Now add the tamarind paste and water.

Cook covered for 5 - 7 minutes and then add the ground coconut-jeera mixture.

Give just one boil and turn off flame.

Serve hot with white rice topped with ghee.

Spaghetti with Tofu Balls

Spaghetti with meat balls.
Everyone has heard of it and since it is a classic I wanted it too. But meat balls for us vegetarians? That is where Soya comes in.
Tofu is made from soya and is called 'faux meat'. And I have used that to make the 'meat balls'.

Serves - 6 adults

Ingredients:
Spaghetti - 500 gms
Italian Tomato sauce
Parmesan grated - 1 cup (heaped)
Tofu balls (recipe below)

Cook the pasta in ample salted water until cooked. Drain.
Add the tomato sauce.
Mix well and add the tofu balls and half of the cheese.
Mix carefully.
Serve on induvidual plates and top with more cheese.

Ingredients to make tofu balls:
Tofu - 200gms
Garlic - 2 cloves
Celery - 1 stalk
Salt to taste
Thyme - 1 tsp
Rosemary - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Chilly flakes - 1/2 tsp
Bread crumbs (or) corn flour (or) all purpose flour - 1 tbsp (to be used only if necessary)
Oil for deep frying

Method to make tofu balls:
Crumble the tofu, grate the garlic, chop the celery finely and add in all the powders.
Mix everything together.

Now form tight balls with this. If water oozes when you do so, add either the bread crumbs (or) corn flour (or) all purpose flour and knead again.
Make small balls and keep aside.

Deep fry in hot oil, until golden brown.

These are your tofu balls.
Eat them as they are with tomato sauce or add it to your spaghetti.

Kerala Mixture

Yep! Everything is deep fried and mixed together.

I have used sev, boondi, corn flakes, cashewnuts, green chilly, pottu kadala / roasted gram, ground nuts and curry leaf.

People add many other ingredients like pieces of murukku, raisins and bhujia. What I have made here is typical Kerala type Mixture.

Ingredients:

Besan / Kadala mav / chick pea flour - 1 cup

Salt - 1 heaped tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Ground nuts - 1/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup

Pottu Kadala - 1/4 cup

Green chilly - 4, sliced

Curry leaf - 1 cup, tightly packed

Corn flakes - 1/2 cup

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Heat the oil in a large kadai.

Mix together 1/2 tsp salt with 2 tbsp water. Add this to the groundnuts and mix well. Keep aside.

Mix together the besan, salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder, asafoetida powder and rice flour.

Carefully add water (by the tablespoon) to make a thick paste. Add 2 tsp warm oil to this and mix well.

Once the oil gets hot, first fry the curry leaf till it turns crispy. Keep aside. This imparts a beautiful aroma to the oil.

Using the sev / idiyappa nazhi / mould, press out thin circles of the besan mix into the hot oil.
After about 2 minutes (do not hurry, the bottom has to set), flip this and cook the other side too. Once both sides become golden, remove from oil.

Repeat process under almost all of the mixture is over.

With the rest of the batter, add more water and make a loose batter.
Make boondhi with this. Use a perforated ladle to get this shape.

Now fry the groundnuts (until you hear a popping sound), cashewnuts (till they turn golden brown), Pottu Kadala (till it turns golden brown), Green chilly (till it starts changing colour) and corn flakes separately. ( I dusted some salt and chilly powder over the cashewnuts and corn flakes after they were fried)

Now break the sev and mix all the ingredients together.
Your Mixture is ready.

7 cup sweet

While at times you really wish to cook, there are times when you wish you could 'get away'. Diwali time is cooking time and this sweet will be your saviour when you 'have to' but you 'don't really want to'. You know those times when you want to present home-made sweets to your guests instead of store bought ones.

7 cups sweets is not all that easy, but comparatively it is very easy.

The name "7-cups" explains about the basic ingredients quantity - which is 7 cups; and that includes 3 cups of sugar. This make the sweet unbearably sweet and almost impossible to eat. (Atleast in my house!) So I have reduced the quantity of sugar and made it 2 cups; thereby changing the name of the sweet to "6 CUPS"!

Feel free to add 3 cups of sugar.

Ingredients:

Kadalamav / Besan / Chick pea flour - 1 cup

Coconut - 1 cup , grated fine

Ghee - 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 cups (originally 3 cups)

Cardamom - 2 pods, powdered

Slivered Almonds for Garnish

Method:

Grease a thali / plate with sides with 1 tbsp ghee and keep aside.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add the besan.

Fry on a low flame till good smell comes , but be careful the colour of the powder does not change.

Now add the coconut and continue frying for 1 minute. If the coconut is very fresh, it might clump up with the besan as it might leave out it's oil. Not to worry, just sieve this besan -coconut clump through the wide holes of the sieve.

Now add the milk, cardamom powder and sugar. Mix well.

Place back on the fire and add 1/4 cup ghee.

Keep adding more ghee, keep stirring and keep cooking on a low-medium flame until the mixture gets cooked and starts leaving the side of the pan , or until a line drawn in the middle takes time to close in.

Now pour this hot sweet on the greased thali and pour 1 tbsp ghee on top. Using this ghee as the grease, flatten and leaven the top of the sweet.

Garnish with the almond slivers.

Press down these while still warm.

Cool a bit and cut into shape. 

Unmould on reaching room temperature.