Macaroni in Orange Sauce

Hello again! 

Yesterday night me and my dearest husband were home alone and since I was in charge of the dinner it had to be understood by default that my husband would like to have something other than the normal dal roti sabzi. 

Originally I wanted to make pasta in orange sauce. But since we didn't have any pasta at home and the macaroni was in abundance, I ended up making macaroni in orange sauce. 

My husband and I both enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy cooking it and having it with your loved once. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 hungry people)

4-5 fistfuls of macaroni (boiled with a spoon of oil)

Fistful of grated pizza cheese 

1/2 tbsp garlic chilli seasoning

1 capsicum (diced and steamed)

Handful of beans (chopped and steamed)

For Orange Sauce 

Mix the below mentioned two sauces

Red Sauce

2 Bay leaves

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

3 tomatoes (puréed)

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp ketchup 

White Sauce

2 tbsp butter 

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

1.5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup milk

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Oregano to taste 

RECIPE

Red Sauce

Put oil in a pan. Add bay leaves to it and let them crackle.

Add garlic paste and cook for a minute.

Add puréed tomatoes and salt and cook till tomatoes reduce to almost half.

Add ketchup and pepper. Let it cook for a few minutes, then turn the flame off. 

White Sauce

Put butter in a pan. Add garlic paste to it and cook for a minute. 

Add all purpose flour, sauté for a few seconds.

And milk and stir really well to avoid lumps.

Let it simmer for a minute or two. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Cook for a few more seconds, then turn the flame off.

Orange Sauce

Mix the above two sauces. Add some milk if it gets too thick and let it come to a boil. 

Final Macaroni

Add grated cheese to the Orange sauce and stir well.

Add the boiled macaroni, steamed capsicum and beans and mix them all well.

Cook for a few minutes, drizzling some garlic chilli seasoning. 

Serve hot with toasted buttered bread. 

NOTE:

You can use wholewheat pasta for a healthier version.

I didn't have too many veggies at hand so I used what was lying in the fridge. You can add mushrooms, broccoli, red and yellow bell peppers.

You can use a tbsp of sugar instead of ketchup  to balance out the tang of the tomato purée.

I didn't have fresh basil leaves. If you can hold of them, add them to your red sauce, sparing a few for garnish.

You can serve this with garlic bread or focaccia. I used what I had in stock.

HAPPY COOKING! 

Chinese Idli

So the other day we had some leftover idli batter at our place. Now even though I love south- indian food, I just can’t bring myself to have the same sambhar (lentils cooked with veggies) and coconut chutney (sauce) the next day.

Hence, I decided to cook some steaming hot idlis but with a twist.

This recipe is originally my sister’s, but I cooked this dish with a few changes of my own. I personally savor these idlis and my dear husband and father-in-law also appreciated them.

You can have it for breakfast or as an evening snack. Women, this is a wonderful and easy dish to keep on your menu for your next get together. Also, kids will love to have it in their tiffin boxes since it is a pleasant change from the conventional masala idli that is cooked with curry leaves and black mustard seeds.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

INGREDIENTS (serves 3)

6 idlis (each cut into quarters)

1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste

1 onion (thinly sliced)

1 tomato (chopped)

2 capsicums (thinly sliced)

1 spring onion (chopped)

3 tbsp tomato puree

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Salt to taste

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic chili seasoning

2 tbsp oil

RECIPE

Put oil in a wok. Add sliced onions to it.

Wait for the onions to get golden brown and then add ginger garlic paste. Cook for two minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and salt and cook till tomatoes become tender.

Add ketchup and pepper and stir well.

Add idli quarters and sliced capsicum and give it all a good stir. Cook for a minute.

Tip in the tomato puree and garlic-chilli seasoning. Cook for another two minutes.

Sprinkle the chopped spring onion leaves, switch the flame off, and cover the wok for a few minutes before serving hot.

NOTE:

You can make rice or suji (semolina) idlis as per your liking.

If you do not have garlic-chilli seasoning, you can simply add chilli flakes.

You can also add some soy sauce and some green chilli sauce to it for added flavour.

You can pack this dish with nutrition by adding veggies like carrots and beans to it. The kids won’t mind it.

Happy Cooking!!!

Home-cooked Peri Peri Chicken

It is often said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I am wondering why they didn’t tell the poor men that the same thing works for women too. I think my dearest husband realized the unsaid.  I am saying this because a fortnight back his cooking instinct suddenly became active and he decided to put on a chef's cap. He wanted to cook me a meal and not just any two-minute maggi meal (though that too is special in its own way).

We went grocery shopping, which is a chore my husband absolutely loves. He turns into a kid when he goes grocery shopping (believe me it is cute!). Since it was just the two of us at home that night, he decided to cook us some peri-peri grilled chicken (now stop drooling and read further ;)) and lord it was one of the yummiest home cooked meals I had had in ages!

Delayed Delivery

image source:www.canstockphoto.com

Been away for a while….

Lost in my own….

On my face, a confused smile….

The reason behind my absence remains unknown….

BUT I promise I have returned…..

I have returned to stay…..

The ‘missing status’ deserves flak….

But I assure this time I’ll not betray….

Apologies! Apologies!

I apologize for not being in action all this while. I just realized, rather I’ll confess that I was made to realize that I have not posted anything in the last few months. Honestly I got a strange mixed feeling at this realization.

I felt sad and happy at the same time. Sad because I cheated with my readers by not giving them a regular feed. And happy to know the fact that I was missed, my posts were missed. Now, for a person like me such an acknowledgement is huge. So I am back with my readers.

Like always I have my own reasons to remain out of sight out of mind. However, no such explanation would suffice. There have been a lot of new developments on the personal front which have kept me occupied and will continue to take all my sweet time and attention in the near future. But that said, I promise that I will try to give the readers something to digest as regularly as I can.

Hope I will be forgiven for this delayed delivery. The next post is on its way and will reach you guys soon. Till then keep flipping my little diary’s pages.

Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup

It's the season of chilly breeze and chapped lips yet again. And as much as we love the nipping cold we also love our hot cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup. 

Today I am going to share with you my recipe of cream of tomato soup. It's not authentic Italian nor is it close to tamatar ka shorba. I will call mine a friendship between the two. 

This soup is extremely filling and can be your dinner if had with a small portion of grilled veggies.

To make your cup read below 

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

10 tomatoes (boiled and peeled) 

3 carrots (boiled)

2 bay leaves 

6 cloves of garlic

3 tbsp butter

Salt to taste

2 tbsp brown sugar

3.5 tbsp pepper

4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

8 cups of water

3 tbsp malai/ heavy cream 

RECIPE

Purée the boiled and peeled tomatoes and carrots.

Put butter in a deep bottom pan. Add bay leaves and stir for a few seconds.

Add garlic and sauté till golden brown.

Pour in the puréed tomatoes and carrots.

Cook till the purée reduces by a quarter.

Add water, sugar, pepper, salt and half of coriander leaves and keep cooking. 

After 10 minutes of cooking add malai and cook for another ten minutes.

Take a taste test. Add sugar, salt or pepper as per your liking. 

Strain the entire soup into a different bowl  to get a smooth texture. 

Serve hot with dash of cream, some pepper and coriander leaves with bread sticks on the side. 

NOTE

Do not throw away the water in which you have boiled tomatoes and carrots. Instead use it in place of plain water for a better flavour.

You can substitute 2 tbsp of brown sugar  with 1.5 tbsp of white sugar. 

I chose to add on to the nutritional value by adding carrots. You can also add some beetroot. 

Stay warm and full with a cup of this rich soup. Happy winter! 

Pizza Style Sandwiches

So the other day hunger pangs came knocking on my stomach. Not wanting to eat the same old butter toast, I started surveying the refridgerator to cook myself something interesting. 

While I was frisking things my eyes went on a box of pizza sauce sitting in the side shelf. Instantly a picture of pizza popped over my head. 

Since there was no pizza base available and I didn't want to do all that baking I thought of creating a sandwich that tastes like pizza and hence this post. 

Your kids will love this with their glass of milkshake and so will the adults.

Ingredients

For the sauce

1tbsp oil

1 tomato puréed

2 tbsp readymade pizza sauce

1 tbsp ketchup 

Salt to taste

3/4 tbsp pepper

1 tbsp oregano

For the sandwich filling

Cheese slices as per liking

1/2 a capsicum chopped 

75gm of cottage cheese (diced)

2 beans (chopped and steamed) 

For the sandwich 

2 tbsp butter (optional)

4 slices of bread

Sauce (mentioned above)

Filling (mentioned above)

Recipe 

Put oil in a pan. Add grated tomato and a pinch of salt.

When the tomato has reduced almost by half add pizza sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper and oregano. Give it all a good stir.

Add capsicum, beans and cottage cheese.

Mix well, cook for another minute or two and then take it off the flame and let it cool for a few minutes. 

Put a pan on the flame. While it gets hot, place a cheese slice on one slice of bread, top it with the sauce and veggie filling and then cover it with another slice of bread. 

Put a little butter on the pan (optional),and place the sandwich on it. Flip it over to grill the other side. 

Once both sides are brown, put in a on a plate, slice it in halves or quarters and serve hot.

Repeat the same for the other two slices of bread.

These sandwiches make a wonderful snack. Try them and leave a comment! 

Happy cooking! 

Father-in-law style Fish Curry

Keeping this post short, and coming directly to the topic, the other day my father-in-law cooked us a fish curry.

Before I go any further I must mention that my father-in-law is QUITE awesome at cooking mutton and fish. 

Coming from a household with a vegetarian kitchen I was quite ecstatic about the fact that I would be getting married into a household where cooking meat in the kitchen was not forbidden. 

Talking about today's post this fish curry which is basically my father-in-law's recipe is fairly simple to cook and is light on the stomach. Not to forget it is absolutely delicious!