Aglio Olio Pasta with Mushroom and Peas

This is probably one of the easiest pasta that can be made. Aglio Olio basically is wrapping up your favorite pasta in olive oil infused with chilli and garlic and is usually made with spaghetti. Unlike other pasta dishes that are sauce-heavy, here the spaghetti/pasta is the star of the dish.

I don't make Italian dishes much at home , not really fond of them either, but once in a while its a welcome change in my kitchen :). Me and S enjoyed this pasta with mango lemonade on a raining friday evening. :)

Aglio Olio Pasta

Ingredients

Adapted from noobcook

Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderately spicy
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook time 10 min

Spaghetti - 150 gm  [or any other type of pasta that you like , I used whole wheat semolina durum spaghettini ]
Garlic cloves - 12 small, finely chopped
Fresh/Dry red chilli - 1, remove seeds and break into pieces
Red chilli Flakes - 1 Tsp
Parsley leaves - 3 Tbsp
Button Mushroom - 4 , chopped roughly
Peas - 1/4 cup boiled
Olive oil - 3 Tbsp
Salt as per need


How do you do it

First cook your spaghetti al-dente or as per packet instructions. What I did - Bring water to a rapid boil in a huge pot. Add 1 tsp salt in the water. Drop your spaghetti in and let it cook for 12 minutes in high flame. Drain the water and put the spaghetti under running cold water for a few secs and then spread on a plate and keep aside.

Heat olive oil in low flame. Add in chopped garlic , red chilli and 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes.Let the garlic get cooked completely - 4-5 min. Add in the mushroom and peas now and saute for a couple of minutes till the mushrooms gives that shiny look. Add about half he quantity of salt now and give it a stir. Now toss in the cooked spaghetti , remaining salt , parsley, 1/2 Tsp red chilli flakes and wrap well with the garlic-chilli infused olive oil. Stir for a couple of more minutes and switch off flame.

Serve this aglio olio pasta with your favorite chilled drink.

Notes

1. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Burnt garlic will ruin the entire dish. So if necessary, saute mushroom and peas separately in a Tsp of olive oil for a few minutes and then add that to the oil which is already infused with garlic and chilli and continue as per the above instructions.

2. Also remember we have already added 1 tsp salt when the pasta was cooking, so be careful when you add salt at later stages.



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Gobhi Ka Keema/Minced Cauliflower Peas Curry

Here's some food for thought. I was watching this debate show yesterday and the topic was "Has modern life screwed up our happiness?" I would like to say "yes". Gone are those days when great things came in small sachets. When I was growing up, eating out in a fancy restaurant, going to a movie theater, buying a dress,etc used to happen once a while. Not every other month. And when it did happen it truly felt joyous.There were many a times when my parents did not buy me stuff that I had really wanted.Not that they couldn't afford it , they just wanted me to understand that the word "NO" existed. Fair enough?

In this absurd era, everything is in excess. We buy what we want when we want it. After a quarter of year gets over, if we don't take that "much needed" holiday, we feel so stressed.While our parents who have been working for at least >30 years now, would have taken how many vacation to exotic places, 2-3 maybe? .To say life is so very materialistic now would be an understatement. More often than not, this question about what would give me happiness in the true sense of the word pushes me to one corner, scaring me that i would never find it.

On the flip side, the 21st century has its own accomplishments too. Freedom for women, women empowerment, no explicit discrimination based on cast/creed/color/language and so many more
things.

The show ended on a great note, saying what we do need to do is customize our lifestyle based on our needs.Lets sit back , think and make an effort to be happy. By indulging in these materialistic pleasures more than necessary,we are distracted from the real pursuit to happiness.Life is not about romantic-getaways,hi-tech gadgets,fancy candle-light dinners and overseas jobs. Don't be a saint, that's not what I am getting at, actually far from it. Just be aware of your needs ,make time for your parents,lead a balanced lifestyle, and don't go overboard. :)

Take a kit-kat break if that was too much of an over-kill ;)

So on to some lighter stuff now such as Gobhi Ka Keema. :). I loved the idea of making a keema curry with gobi and I wanted to try it.It indeed did taste like a how a non-veg keema would. Go on, try it and tell me how much you like it. ;)

Gobi Ka Keema

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from here

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy
Prep Time - 20-30 minutes
Cook time - 20 Minutes

Cauliflower - 1 Medium, Cleaned and chopped finely
Fresh/Frozen peas - 1/4 cup boiled.
Onions - 2 medium, chopped well
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Tomatoes - 3 big, pureed
Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 tsp + 2 tbsp
Bay leaves - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in pan and add the chopped cauliflower. Saute till the pieces turn a shade of light brown.Keep aside.Take another kadai and heat 3 Tspn oil. Add the bay leaf, jeera - let it roast. Add in onion and ginger-garlic paste and saute well. Add the red chilli powder, garam masala and saute well.Let the raw smell of the spice mix vanish. Add the tomato puree at this stage , and let it boil. Let the raw smell of the tomato puree disappear. Now add in the cauliflower and peas, salt and let it cook in the gravy.Let it get cooked until you get a thick gravy and all ingredients have blended well.

Serve with pulka/chapathi.




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Mushroom Peas Masala

Making somebody like a veggie that they are not fond of  is easy, just cook it in a tasty manner. :). S used to strictly avoid eating mushroom/spinach/adai/beans/ before our wedding.I had to persuade him the first time to try all of these at least once and later decide for himself if he wanted a second serving or not. And good for me, he likes all of these veggies now. :)

I clearly remember the first time I made this dish, way back in 2009,one month into my wedding. Nice spicy mushroom masala served with ghee toasted bread for breakfast. It was so yummy, we ended up packing the same for lunch. Since then , this dish has been a hit at my home. :). One small change in 2012 - we stopped using ghee for toasting bread, you know why!  ;)

Mushroom Peas Masala

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Quite Spicy
Prep Time - 20 Min
Cook time - 20 Min

Mushroom - 200 gms, cleaned and chopped well
Frozen peas - 1/2 cup.
Onion - 1 Large, chopped well
Tomato - 2 and half large ones, chopped
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 Tbspn
Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp
Chilli/Curry/Masala Powder - 2 Tbspn
Salt - as per taste.
Oil - 2 Tbspn
Jeera - 1 tbspn
Hing - a pinch

Method

Boil a cup of water, simmer flame and add the frozen peas to it. Let the peas get cooked for about 5 minutes.Switch off flame once peas is cooked. Drain the water and keep the peas aside  If using fresh peas, cook it as you would usually do.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing. Add jeera, and let it roast, giving a nice aroma.Add onions, ginger garlic paste and saute well until the onions are cooked well. Add tomatoes, half the quantity of salt needed, turmeric powder, and saute well. Cover the kadai with a lid for few minutes. Let the tomato get mashed well, it should let out the juice and be soft. At this stage add the masala powder and saute for a minute. Wait for the raw smell of the masala to vanish. Add the chopped mushrooms now, and wrap well with the masala. Add 1/2 cup water. Simmer the flame and close the lid. Wait for the mushrooms to get cooked. This would take about 15 minutes. Mid-way, when the mushrooms are half done, add in the cooked peas and combine well. Stir once, add remaining salt and cook in open flame. Wait for most of the water content to evaporate and a nice thick gravy is formed.Switch off flame.

Serve as a side dish for toast, or with roti's, or with rice. Goes well with just about anything. :)


 

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Green Peas Stir Fry/Pattani Poriyal

Again one of the very easy and quick stir fry dish if you have frozen peas sitting in your refrigerator. Rasam rice and Peas poriyal is like comfort food for us. The dish is simple and tasty and will keep you wanting for more. Easy lunch box side dish for rice.

Green Peas Poriyal/Pattani Poriyal

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy
Prep Time - 5 minutes
Cook time - 10 minutes

Frozen/Fresh Peas - 2 Cups
Onion - 1 Large , chopped well
Dry Red chilli - 4-5
Hing - 1.2 Tsp
Jeera/Cumin - 1 Tbsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Urad dal - 1 Tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Method

Boil a cup of water, simmer flame and add the frozen peas to it. Let the peas get cooked for about 5 minutes.Switch off flame once peas is cooked. Drain the water and keep the peas aside  If using fresh peas, cook it as you would usually do.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing. Add mustard, wait for it to crackle, add urad dal and jeera and let them roast to a light brown. Break the red chillies and add them in too, saute for a few seconds. Toss in the chopped onion now and saute till translucent. Add the peas and salt at this stage and saute well for 5 minutes. Keep stirring in between.Taste to see the salt level, add more if needed now.Saute till you feel the rawness of the peas disappear and it is mixed well with the tempered ingredients.Switch off flame.

Serve with steamed rice and rasam.



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Green Peas Masala

Green Peas masala serves as a good spread on a bread toast or as a side dish for rotis , chapathis or with curd/rasam rice. Its a very simple dish , which can be made quite quickly if you have frozen peas sitting in the freezer. Its my savior on those days when i get up late and have to pack a quick lunch for work, and don't have time to spend on chopping veggies.

Green Peas Masala

Ingredients

Serves - 3
Spice Level - Moderately Spicy
Prep time - 10 min
Cooking time - 20 minutes

Fresh/Frozen green Peas - 1 1/2 cups
Onion - 1 Large, chopped well
Tomato - 2 Large , 1 chopped well and 1 pureed.
Chilli/Curry powder - 2.5 Tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
Salt - as per taste
Ginger Garlic [GG] paste - 1 Tspn
Jeera/Cumin - 1 Tspn
Mustard - 1 tspn
Hing - a pinch
Oil - 2 Tbspn


Method

Firstly boil the frozen peas in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes or microwave on high for 5 min. Drain and keep aside.If you are using fresh peas, pressure cook them to the right extent.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing,mustard - let it splutter, add jeera - let it roast. Add in chopped onions and GG paste. Saute till onions are done. Now toss in the chopped tomato , tomato puree and half the amount of salt and turmeric. Let the tomatoes cook well and get mashed completely.Add the chilli powder and wrap well with the onion tomato mix. Saute till the raw smell of masala powder vanishes. Add about 1/2 cup water and the remaining salt and add in the cooked peas and mix well.Check to see if more salt/spice is needed at this stage , add if needed now.Cover the kadai with a  lid. Simmer flame and let the peas boil in the gravy for a few minutes until it thickens.Once the gravy thickens ,switch off flame.

Serve with rotis, chapathi , curd/rasam rice or on bread toast.

Notes

You may also use dry peas. If using , soak them overnight and pressure cook the peas to the right extent before making green peas masala.


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Potato-Peas-cauliflower Kurma

This vegetable kurma is a great side dish for chapathis or Kerala coin parathas. It is a coconut based white gravy flavored with mild spices.Its a quick one if you have grated coconut ready in your pantry.

Aloo-Mattar Kurma

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderate

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Badams/Almonds - 6
Jeera - 2 Tspn
Saunf - 1 Tspn
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 Tbspn
Green chilli - 4
cloves - 2
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 Finely chopped
1 cup of chopped mix veggies, - I used potato,peas and cauliflower.
Oil - 2 Tbspn
Jeera - 1 Tspn
Salt -  as per taste
Turmeric - 1/4 Tspn


Method

First grind the first 7 ingredients with 1/2 cup water to a fine paste. Keep aside. Boil the chopped veggies till its half-cooked. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera and let it roast. Add in the chopped onions and saute it till translucent. Add chopped tomatoes salt and turmeric. Cook till the tomatoes are soft and juicy. Now add in the ground paste , and saute for a couple of minutes. Add about 1 cup water and let it simmer in low heat for about five minutes.Now throw in the half-cooked veggies and let them cook through in the gravy. Add more salt if needed. Also add in water if needed to get desired consistency.Switch off flame. Serve with hot chapathis :). Simple NO?



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Aloo mattar Masala Fry

This is very simple masala stir fry which goes very well with rotis/pulkas/chapthis and the likes. It can also be served as a masala stuffing for dosai and best goes with rasam and rice. :). It is a very quick and easy recipe when you really dont want to spend time for making lunch.

Aloo -mattar Masala Fry

Ingredients

Potato - 3  large ones cubed  [boiled]
Peas - 1/2 cup [boiled]
Onion - 1 large chopped finely
Mutard seeds - 1 tspn
Jeera - 1 tspn
Hing - 1 tspn
Oil - 2 tbspn
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Curry/Chilli powder - 2 Tbspn

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add hing ,then mustard seeds and when they crackle, add the jeera -let them roast. Throw in the onions, saute till translucent. Now add salt, turmeric and curry powder. Saute till the raw smell of masala leaves and until the onion shines with the oil and masala. Now throw in the boiled peas and potato and wrap well with masalas. Saute it for 3-4 more minutes and switch off flame.

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