Marriage is: matar pulao and tamatar alu

Like the perfect marriage, there can be no perfect picture to post at the seemingly perfect time on a less than perfect (and active) blog.

So, without any further ado, I'm going to launch right into my latest obsession - matar pulao! And mind you, it's no ordinary pulao this - it is the recipe of my ancestors; a great Raisurana secret, no less! My grandmother used to  make pot fulls of this mythical pulao on Sunday afternoons and the family would literally scarf it down. And my aunts and mom, party to the secret, would just pick up a pressure cooker of matar pulao right off the stove and rush out the door for family picnics in the winter sun. 

The world's best picnic entails sitting under some trees, on a random water tank somewhere in Golmuri or Telco (Jamshedpur references), with hot matar pulao on a paper plate accompanied with salad, lemon juice and tamatar chutney. Beatles playing on the car stereo. And the family. Perfection!

That's the Raisurana part of the story. As the title suggests, this post is about marriage, indicating two sides of a story. 

In the absence of lemon juice; ingredients for a salad; gud and panchforan for tamatar chutney, I decided to couple the matar pulao with tamatar alu from the husband's family. This tamatar alu has to be the simplest and bestest recipe ever. It is the most constant standby in my recipe book. Can't find inspiration? Make tamatar alu! Don't have much time? Make tamatar alu! No dal in the house? No worries, watery tamatar alu can sometimes be better than thick and rich tamatar alu! My mother was less than impressed with this 'lazy' combination but believe me, once she tries it, she'll be converted for life!

So, I know that the pictures aren't great but the look on the husband's face while having my grandmother's recipe along with his family's staple, was worth more than a thousand good pictures!

Every marriage has it's own unique flavours. Mine tastes like matar pulao (peas pulao) with tamatar alu (potatoes floating in tomato gravy). What does your marriage taste like? I would love to know!

Not just another pasta sauce: A recipe

I'm back in my cooking phase. The kitchen is busy again. And the weather is just wonderful right now. It's the onset of a beautiful, cold, windy HK winter. And I am sitting at my window listening to "From London With Love" and feeling happy, and content!

On evenings like this, a bowl of hot aglio olio spaghetti accompanied with some steaming spicy sauce is all that's needed to spell perfection.

Ingredients 

1 big pink onion, sliced in half moons

3 medium sized tomatoes, de-skinned and pulped

2 bell peppers, preferably in different colours, cut into long strips 

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 dried red chillies

Mushrooms (optional, for vegetarian preparation)

4-6 chicken sausages (optional)

Salt 

Pepper

Oregano

Parsley

Red chilli powder

Chilli flakes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup red wine (optional)

Prep

On a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high heat

Once the oil is hot, add the sausages, if they spit and crackle reduce the heat

Brown the sausages on all sides - don't sear, just brown

Once done, take sausages off the pan

Turn the heat up and add the onions and bell peppers

Sear them till slightly blackened

Add salt and garlic, mix well

Once the onions are soft and start browning, add the red wine 

At medium high heat, combine well and let simmer till wine is reduced by half

Add the tomato pulp and mix well with the sauce

Add pepper, chilli flakes, oregano and chilli powder

Mix well and add the sausages back in

Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 20 minutes

Depending on your taste and preference, you can either take it off the heat when it is still slightly runny or when the sauce is nice and thick.

And your pasta accompaniment is ready! 

Now just pour out a glass of the same wine used in the sauce, serve up a big bowl of paste, take a seat by the window and let out a big sigh of content! :D

And by the way, the leftover sauce can be used over the next few days in sandwiches, as a dip, a snack and in Maggi!!

After work snack attack

Odds and Ends

The past week was about making the best of odds and ends lying in the fridge. With work schedules bordering on crazy, 'visit supermarket' was just another unchecked item on the list. But happy to report that we have survived and, re-stocked!

I learnt how far a few boiled potatoes, 1/2 a cabbage, 1 brinjal, 1 tomato, 2 onions, rice, dal, crackers can actually go. And I learnt exactly how useful it is to have ready-to-eat dim sums stocked in the fridge.

With some help from the folks at Secret Ingredient, we ended up having a fancy meal as well!

Making it all on our own is the most rewarding feeling ever. Bumps on the road hurt while they last but as always, in hindsight, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" (Kelly Clarkson singing in my head)!

Two days, two smoothies: Recipes inside

With the cold winds picking up, weekend laziness is setting in. And it's a good thing the husband and I are not averse to a liquid diet. So it's time to bring on the smoothie experiments!

Started the weekend with hot lime water and a fruit, while waiting for the husband to wake up.

And then head to the fridge, scour for fruits and chop-chop, put them in the blender!

Very berry smoothie -
Strawberries, blueberries, black grapes, 1 big apple and coconut water. Whizzzz and drink up!

Fibrous and filling smoothie -
2 apples, 1 big pear, 2 heaping spoons Greek yogurt, 1/4 glass milk. Whizz it.

Two smoothies for two days of the weekend!

Have a great week ahead everybody... And a Happy Diwali!!

Pasta in mushroom sauce: A recipe

What's been cooking?

 

Well, nothing much! Just emerging from a crazy work schedule (which involved eating Korean food in Korea!!), and all set to dive into more of the crazies starting next week. Been keeping the cooking, and definitely the experimenting, to the minimum. The husband's been busier than me and lets accept it, it's really not much fun cooking for one every single day. Thank god for online delivery websites - of which there are aplenty in the 'Kong.

 

Yesterday I made wheat pasta in mushroom sauce. It was fun to make and yum to eat. Here's the recipe for all of you pasta lovers out there!

 

Ingredients -

1. 2 packets mushroom
2. 1 big capsicum 
3. 1 1/2 tomatoes
4. 1 big onion, finely chopped
5. 1 zucchini, thinly cut round slices
6. 7-8 baby corn, cut into small chunks
7. 1 packet rigatoni semolina pasta
8. Salt, pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, basil 
9. 1 tablespoon olive oil
10. 1 cup water 
11. 1 teaspoon butter 
12. Some feta cheese/ parmesan flakes/ grated cheese

Prep -

Boil and drain the pasta as per instructions. Reserve some of the pasta water.

Cut the mushrooms, capsicum and tomato into chunks, add 1 cup water and give it a whir in the blender till it has a purée like consistency 

In a pan, heat the oil and add onions. Sauté. 

Once onions are slightly pinkish, add zucchini, baby corn and all the seasoning 

After zucchini has become slightly soft, add the purée. 

Bring it to a boil adding some of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick 

 

 

Just before adding the pasta, pop in some cheese (but not too much as the pasta water would already make it slightly creamy) and 1 teaspoon butter. Mix well. 

Add the pasta and coat it well with the sauce, cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Serve.

Make sure you enjoy the thick, creamy chunky sauce! :D