Penne with Basic, Awesome Tomato sauce

The crazy Domino's pizza ad has my toddler enamored with pasta. He will eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let him. So instead of ordering in I decided to make some of the Basic, Awesome Tomato sauce that Deb from Smitten Kitchen promised was .....well, basic and awesome. And it was AWESOME.



I always always always trust Deb when it comes to recipes that work. She has useful tips and hints and has tried and tested the recipe out completely with step by step pictures and instructions. Her recipes never disappoint....however lofty and expensive the ingredient list.

One bite - and the sauce took me right back to a fresh tagliatelle with tomato sauce dish that I had at a charming Italian restaurant in Soho. Considering that I practically thrived on not-so-stupendous pasta dishes while eating out at some places that were not vegan/vegetarian friendly it was quite impressive that it didn't taste like sauce that came out of a jar.

Italian food, even when it is vegetarian tastes simple,clean and delicious. It's primarily because the cuisine relies essentially on the freshness and natural flavors of the ingredients. You can taste the tang of the tomato,the fruitiness of the olive oil with just enough heat from the dried chilli pepper flakes and a hint of garlic. No one condiment stands out or overpowers the other. It is a beautiful marriage of all the flavors and they all live together in harmony and happiness. The only thing that was missing was a good shaving of Parmesan. But I didn't miss it all that much as the sauce more than made up for it.



I found that this sauce also freezes well and keeps fresh for up to a week in the fridge. Infinitely flexible too - you can thicken the sauce,tear and toss a few fresh basil leaves and voila! what have you here - a decadent pizza sauce. Also pairs well with cheesy garlic bread, as a dip for fried mozzarella sticks and forms a great base for a pink sauce when some fresh cream is swirled in.

For the pasta - this sauce works with both fresh and dry pasta. Cook according to package instructions and as a rule don't overcook the pasta. The pasta should be cooked al-dente. Typically takes about 10 - 12 mins of rapid boiling in plenty of salted water.

This recipe henceforth is going to be my go to for a Basic and very Awesome Tomato sauce. Instead of paying the pizza delivery guy a ton of money for something that won't come even close to tasting as good as this - let's get cooking!

Note : I modified the sauce a wee bit by adding some dried herbs - basil on one occasion and dried oregano on another. They both tasted equally good. I highly recommend the herbs for an additional Italian flavor boost.
Also as the tomatoes that I used weren't as red and plump and juicy as I would have liked them to be, I added about 3 tbsp of tomato puree that you can buy in a tetra pack at the grocery store. It gave the sauce a thick and rich red tomato-ey glow.
The white wine was omitted in my version of the sauce. I substituted with plain old regular water.



Recipe

Source : Smitten Kitchen

Moderately Easy Tomato Sauce

A more involved, seasonal update of the Basic, Awesome stuff.

Makes enough for one small/medium pizza.

4 roma tomatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Splash of white wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

Bring medium pot of water to a boil. Poach the tomatoes for one minute only, and then drain them. As soon as they are cooled off enough that you can touch them, peel them. The peels should come right off. If they don’t, make a slit in the skins. This always does the trick.

Drain and dry the pot. Put it back on the burner over medium heat. Pour in olive oil and let it heat completely before adding the garlic and stirring it for a minute with a wooden spoon. Add the red pepper flakes and stir it for anther minute. You do not want the garlic to brown. Put the peeled tomatoes in the pot, along with the wine, sugar and salt. Break the tomatoes up with your spoon.

Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down. Carefully taste without burning your tongue and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Pudinawale Aloo Paratha

A paratha is an unleavened Indian flat bread that is commonly eaten at breakfast,lunch or dinner. Parathas start with hand kneading a whole wheat dough, that is then portioned off into small balls that are eventually rolled out into circles. These breads are then cooked on a hot griddle or baked inside a tandoor.



Parathas are often stuffed with vegetables, lentils or meat to make a complete meal and thereby bypassing the whole hullabaloo of making an accompaniment to be served alongside plain old rotis. They are also an ingenious way to use up leftovers.

The Aloo paratha is a signature stuffed paratha bread. Albeit a hearty and filling bread but it hails from the land that is abundantly blessed with wheat and dairy - the Punjab. This region is often subject to harsh winters and agriculture is an important source of income for many families. So when you head out to work on a cold wintry morning you want to have a bellyful of good, hearty and wholesome energy giving food.

Parathas are not very common in the southern part of India where rice is more of a staple. But you do find some versions of it like the Ceylon paratha, the Malabar paratha and such. They are commonly served at restaurants that dot the highway. These parathas are layered and flaky and are served with a rich curry on the side.

Lalitha's Paratha Point close to Commercial Street at Bangalore is one place that assures you that they serve you authentic Punjabi parathas. The best parathas that I've ever had were at a small Dhaba on a highway from Delhi to Jaipur. They were thick and flaky, and the filling was robustly spiced but still not overpowering or greasy. Of course there were generous lashings of white butter accompanying it. But one paratha is all it took to keep us a group of well fed happy travelers.

Well to be honest with you I'm not a very authentic paratha maker. So don't go launch into an Aloo paratha competition with your old Punjabi neighbor aunty with this recipe. However I have stuck to the basic concept of spiced potatoes stuffed inside a bread. I've played around with the seasoning and spices depending on what I have on hand. This version is especially a breeze to make when your pantry and fresh vegetable source is dwindling down to look like old mother Hubbard's cupboard. It makes for a complete,satisfying and delicious meal when served with yogurt and mango pickle.

Surprisingly for my veggie hating toddler this goes down pretty well. Well....... does tomato ketchup count as a veggie? No? But.....it is bursting with lycopene and has all these antioxidant benefits. Still no?
Okay okay to get your little one to love this - just reserve some of the stuffing before tossing the green chillies in. Grate some carrots into this reserved portion. When you're making his paratha just griddle it as usual making sure to grease only one side of the paratha. You can up the protein content by adding some cheese. On the dry side grate some mozzarella or cheddar and fold over into a half moon. Press down and cook well on both sides till it crisps up and the cheese is all gooey and melty inside. Cut into three or more triangles and serve with the only veggie he thinks he's eating - the tomato ketchup . Hee hee. Evil.



Recipe

Ingredients

For the outer covering of bread

2 cups of whole wheat atta or flour
1 cup of water at room temperature
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of oil

For the inner potato/aloo stuffing

4 medium potatoes
1 tsp of ginger finely grated or minced
2 tbsps of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp of fresh green coriander leaves, finely chopped
8 hot green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 tsp of ajwain or carom seeds
1/2 tsp of amchur powder
1/2 tsp of garam masala powder
1/4 tsp of cumin/jeera powder
1/4 tsp of coriander/dhania powder


Method

To make the atta or dough

1)In a large mixing bowl measure out two cups of the atta or whole wheat flour. Add the salt and mix well using your hands to distribute the salt evenly across the flour.
2)Add the oil and mix gently using your fingertips to get a an uneven crumbly texture.
3)Add the water in gradually. Do not dump the whole cup of water in as you can't take it out but you can always add more in if your dough seems dry. See note below.
4)Knead well to form a smooth supple dough. This should take about 5 - 7 mins.
5)If you don't plan on using the dough right away you can add an extra 1 tbsp of water while kneading the dough and refrigerate the dough. It will keep fresh for up to 2 days.
6)Cover and set aside for about 20 mins before rolling the parathas out.

To make the potato/aloo stuffing

1)Pressure cook the potatoes in a double boiler mechanism i.e the potatoes are in a bowl that sits in a simmering water bath inside a pressure cooker. Don't add the potatoes directly into the water. Another option would be to microwave them till they are soft. Boiling the potatoes is a no-no as they soak up a lot of the water and the stuffing tends to get slimy.
2)When the potatoes cool enough to touch, remove their skins and grate them.
3)Heat a thick pan and add the oil when the oil is hot but not smoking add the carom/ajwain seeds roast for about 5 secs before adding the finely chopped chillies and grated ginger.
Add the cumin and coriander powders and quickly stir them about without burning the mixture.
3)Toss in the grated potatoes along with the salt and mix well so that the mixture gets a uniform distribution of the salt and spices.Take away from fire.
4)Add the amchur and garam masala powders and mix well.These are added at the very end as they lose their flavours when subject to high heat.Lastly add the fresh mint and coriander leaves.
5)Refrigerate for at least half an hour to make the stuffing easy to work with. I recommend this step highly - especially if you're trying your hand out at this for the very first time.

To make the actual paratha itself

1)Divide the dough into golf ball sized portions.
2)Roll them into medium sized circles maybe about 6 inches in diameter or the size of a CD.
3)Take about 2 heaped tablespoons of the stuffing and shape it into a ball.
4)Place the stuffing at the center and gently gather the edges and twist to form a money bag shape. Remove any excess dough that sticks out.
5)Roll gently to form a ball. Roll out these stuffed dough portions with a rolling pin gently making them as thin and circular as possible without forcing the stuffing out. They can be up to 1/4 inch thick.
6)Grease a thick griddle or a tawa and heat on a medium flame. Gently lower the rolled out paratha onto this. Grease on both sides and cook well till you see uniform brown dots all over the bread.
7)Keep warm until it time to serve.

Additional notes to help your parathas turn out great!

1)Rest and refrigerate the dough and stuffing for at least 2 hours. This makes them easier to handle and roll out.
2)When making the atta or bread dough don't follow recipes to the T. Different flours absorb different quantities of water. It all depends on how fine the wheat is ground. Watch for signs where you think the dough has had enough or too little water. Eye ball it.
3)The flour used impacts the texture and flavor of the bread. I gues that was obvious and unnecessary to say but I can't resist. What I'm trying to say here is use good quality atta. We use Aashirwad atta at home. It's pretty good. Your store help should be able to guide you on this. The next best thing is to actually grind your own flour at a mill nearby......but that's a completely different story saved away for another post.

Pani puri - need I say more?

A common sight in Pune city is telawallas standing at street corners selling Pani puri. Even if you can't see the pani puri maker you can definitely spot his stall from a mile away because of the huge gaggle of girls engulfing him.



"What is it with Pani puri and girls????" asks my husband quizzically. He just can't figure out why an empty pastry shell stuffed with spicy mashed potatoes,chickpeas and filled with the sweet and spicy hot pani drives almost all girls mad. If you've ever been to a crowded pani puri tela on a busy weekend - you would know. It's mental. But also very fundamental. Hee hee. Couldn't help myself.
And I'm ALL girl. One hundred percent of it. At least my undying love for pani puri vouches for it. Girls love pani puri.
I think I know why - it's because when a pani puri explodes in your mouth you taste it all - spicy,sweet,crunchy,syrupy,smoking hot with little pieces of the puri shell all finally going down giving you just enough time to gear yourself up for the next onslaught. Akin to the toffee shock that Silky and Moon-face hand out to Jo,Bessie and Fannie atop the Faraway tree.:)
The fun and anticipation accompanying the wait in line for another morsel of this quintessential street food of India makes it irreplaceable as one of the most craved-for foods by Indian women!



My love for pani puri began when I was a little baby. Amma never gets tired of telling me the story about how she walked 9 kms the day before I was born to get to a Pani puri vendor. On reaching the place she proceeded to order and eat every single thing on the menu at the chaat stall. Now, research says that a pregnant mother's habits can influence her baby. Listening to Mozart,reading books or learning algebra may ensure that your kid is a whiz. On the same lines of thought - could I have inherited this chaat fervor from mommy dearest? That is what I think!
Amma used to take three public transport buses to get to a cookery school where she learned the art of making chaat. Well all that chaat has turned me into an avid and sincere lover of all things chaat-like. But Pani puri remains my essential favorite.

Pani puri goes by various names in India.You call it Pani puri in the South and the West. Way up North it's called golgappa and in the East they call them puchkas. But what a pani puri essentially is - a crisp fried puffed pastry case that is stuffed with a potato and legume mixture and then filled to the brim with a spicy and sweet watery concoction. The heat factor comes from the bright green theeka or khara pani made with fresh green mint,herby coriander,pungent ginger and hot green chillies.The sweet and tangy counterpart is the meetha chutney made with jaggery and tamarind.There is a a good deal of ground spices like black salt,amchur(dried mango powder),chilli powder and fresh lime juice that add to the zing of this dish.





The pani puri recipe that I'm going to share with you comes from my mother's old and well preserved recipe handouts from those classes that she attended almost 26 years ago! They are all yellow and folded over twenty times at least. Little notes adorn these much loved and used pages. And I'm very lucky to have them with me today.
Hope you love making them and sharing them with your loved ones as much as I do!

Recipe

Ingredients

The puris are easily available at an Indian grocery store.Make sure the pack is fresh as soft and stale puris are no fun. A pack contains about 50 puris.
Allow at least six puris per person.

For the hot/teekha/khara pani

1 cup packed fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger
6 - 8 hot green chillies
1 tsp of freshly roasted and ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of black salt
1/2 tsp of amchur powder
1 lime juiced
salt to taste


For the sweet/meetha date and tamarind chutney

1 cup of tamarind soaked in a cup of warm water for at least 2 hours.Or nuke in microwave just to soften
1/3 cup of seedless dates soaked in warm water to soften or microwave them
1/2 cup of jaggery
1 tsp of freshly roasted and ground cumin powder
a big pinch of chilli powder
a big pinch of salt

For the potato stuffing

3 medium sized potatoes
1/2 cup black chickpeas soaked in water overnight.You could also use garbanzo beans/kabuli channa or moong beans.
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of freshly roasted and ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of black salt
1/2 tsp of amchur(dried mango powder) or 1/2 lime juiced
2 tsps of finely chopped coriander leaves

Method

For the hot/teekha/khara pani

Grind together the coriander,mint,ginger,green chillies,cumin,black salt and amchur powder.Add lemon juice and salt.Taste for the right level of hotness and sourness. Dilute with water to make the teekha pani.

For the sweet/meetha chutney

1)Grind the SEEDLESS dates in your blender to a fine paste.Please please please double check to see if it is indeed seedless or you'll end up smoking your blender.
2)With your hands extract the tamarind pulp.Strain and keep aside.
3)In a thick bottomed pan heat the tamarind pulp and bring to a gentle boil.Now add in the date paste.Cook for 5 mins.
4)The color of the chutney will go from a light brown to darker brown.Break up the jaggery into pieces add it in and mix well taking care to make sure that they dissolve.
5)Add the salt,chilli and cumin powder.Cook till the chutney thickens. This should take 10 - 15 mins.

For the stuffing

1)Boil,peel and cool the potatoes.
2)Boil the black chickpeas.Cool and drain.
3)Mash the potatoes gently and break them up.Add in all the listed powders.Add the chickpeas.
4)The resulting mixture should be lumpy and uneven.Take care not to over mix or you'll end up with a mush.
5)Garnish with the finely chopped coriander leaves.


To assemble the pani puris

The traditional street hawker way - don your grimy old pani puri vendor turban. Hand out tiny plates to your eager audience. Deftly make a hole in the middle of the puri so it can be stuffed with potato. Then add a few drops of the sweet tamarind and date chutney. Dunk in the hot green pani ensuring that it is brimming with the flavours of India.Now you literally have your guests eating outta your hands!

The do-it-yourself way - This is a fun idea when you have friends at home for a chaat or pani puri party. Simply fill a couple of woven baskets with the puris. Leave out individual cups for the other accompaniments. Let your guests have fun assembling and eating the pani puris.