This dish with garlicky cream sauce with peperoncino flakes and aged cheddar cheese is delicious and healthy. You can use any pasta though I have used macaroni. The broccoli and capsicum give it a lovely fresh green colour.
Ingredients
Macaroni pasta 2 cups, cooked al dente
Broccoli florets 1 cup
Capsicum 1 medium, sliced
Mushrooms 200 g, sliced
Garlic 10 cloves, minced
All-purpose flour 1 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Fresh cream 1 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper powder 1 tsp
Peperoncino flakes 1 tbsp
Cheddar cheese 1 cup, grated
Olive oil 2 tbsps
Butter 30 g
Method
Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed frying pan.
Add the garlic and sauté for a few seconds. Take care not to burn the garlic.
Add the mushrooms and fry till all the moisture evaporates. When the mushrooms turn brown, add the broccoli and capsicum. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the flour and fry for a minute. Add the milk and stir till it thickens. Add the salt and pepper powder.
Add the cream and mix well.
Add the pasta and fold it into the sauce. See that the pasta is completely covered by the sauce.
Garnish with cheese, peperoncino flakes and coriander sprigs.
The fresh light as air buns go very well with a mixed vegetable curry that is slow cooked and mashed. A street food from the western part of India, this dish is great for any meal— breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is a lovely snack as well.
Ingredients
For the pav (buns):
Milk 1 1/4 cup
Yeast 2 tsps
Sugar 2 tsps
All-purpose flour (maida) 2 cups
Whole wheat flour (atta) 1 cup
Salt 1 tsp
Butter 2 tbsps + 1 tbsp
For the bhaji (vegetable curry):
Potatoes 2 large, peeled and diced
Peas 3 cups
Cauliflower 1 small, cut into florets
Tomatoes 3 medium, chopped
Green chillies 3, minced
Capsicum 1 medium, diced
Onions 2 medium, sliced and 1 small, minced
Ginger 1” piece
Garlic 5 cloves
Coriander leaves, a big bunch, minced
Oil 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter 1 tbsp
Coriander powder 2 tsps
Red chilli powder 2 tsps
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Garam masala 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder (dry mango powder) 1 tsp
Method
For the pav:
Take one cup of warm milk in a bowl and add the sugar and yeast. Mix and let it prove for 5 minutes.
Sieve the flours and salt together and add to the yeast mixture. Mix to form a dough. Add 1/4 cup of milk to the dough and work it on a lightly floured surface for 10-12 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of softened butter and knead the dough till it is soft.
Put it into a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours. It should double in volume by now.
Punch down the dough and divide into 12 balls.
Arrange them on a greased baking tray and brush with melted butter.
Cover and let it rise again for 20 minutes.
Bake in a 180 degree C oven for 20 minutes. Brush the hot buns with melted butter. Let them cool in the tray.
Pull the buns apart when ready to serve.
For the bhaji:
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the cumin seeds.
When the seeds stop sputtering, add the sliced onions.
Sauté till the onions turn a light brown. Crush the ginger and garlic in a pestle and add to the onions. Sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the diced potatoes and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the cauliflower florets, peas, capsicum and tomatoes.
Add the salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, amchoor powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and cumin powder.
Mix well. Add 3 cups of water and cook on high flame till the water boils. Reduce the flame, cover the pan and cook till the vegetables are cooked.
Mash the the vegetables with a potato masher but don’t make it completely mushy.
Cook till the vegetable medley is thick. Garnish with butter, minced onions, green chillies and coriander leaves.
Thanks to Covid-19, all of us have been binge- watching old favourites on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Hotstar. I have recently been immersed in Covert Affairs, something I used to watch in the later part of the last decade. Apart from the thrills and the international destinations, what I love about the show it is the food.
As Annie and Ben race through Sri Lanka, being shot at by almost everyone in the world, they stop at a roadside stall and have Sri Lanka’s favourite street food, Kothu Roti and Chicken. I remember having this with my husband in Colombo on my way to Singapore from India back in 2000.
So I decided to try and make this popular dish. It takes some doing as I had to make Sri Lankan chicken curry and Godambu Roti (wheat bread) separately and then assemble the dish on a hot heavy-bottomed pan.
For the Godambu Roti: Wholewheat flour or atta 1 1/2 cups Oil 1 tbsp Salt 1 tsp
Eggs 2 Onions 2 medium, 1 sliced and 1 chopped Cabbage 1/2, sliced Carrot 1, peeled and grated Spring onions 3 Green chillies 2, chopped Curry leaves few sprigs Salt to taste Masala made for Sri Lankan Chicken Curry 2 tbsp Tomatoes 2, chopped
Method
Shred the chicken and remove any bones.
Add oil and salt to the wheat flour and knead well to make a soft dough using as much water as needed. I followed this recipe for Godamba Roti, but modified the quantities of the ingredients as I did not want to make as many rotis.
Make lemon-sized balls and soak them in oil for seven hours.
Spread on a flat surface using your fingers.
Toast on a hot tawa or griddle. I used Futura’s nonstick tawa. It works best.
Add some of the chopped onions, tomatoes and green chillies to the eggs with salt and whisk briskly. Scramble in a hot frying pan with 1 tsp of oil.
Snip the Roti into ribbons using a pair of kitchen scissors.
In a wide heavy-bottomed pan, take 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the onions, cabbage, carrots, green chillies, curry leaves and spring onions and stir fry on high heat. Add tomatoes and some salt. Be careful not to add too much because the chicken and the scrambled eggs already contain salt.
Add the chicken and the shredded roti. Add the masala that was made for the Sri Lankan Chicken Curry.
Add the scrambled eggs and toss well to mix everything.
Serve hot. This dish needs no accompaniments. It is a highly nutritious and satisfying dish by itself.
Chills & Chillies 