the cookbook - page one...

"follow the nose...that's all there is to cooking."

...considering that my love for eating is overshadowed only by my love for cooking; it was an obvious eventuality that the blog feature recipes of my making. a little prodding on G's behalf made the transition easier. anyways, so here's what i suppose shall be the first of many...the chop-shop cookbook of experimental cooking...

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Pasta-cause-I'm-bored-alone-at-home!

cooking makes me happy, and so i cook when i have nothing to do. just walk up to the fridge, take a peek inside, rummage through the pantry/drawers, lay out the spread on the kitchen platform and start washing, peeling, chopping, dicing, marinating, blanching, frying, roasting my way to a joyous couple of hours.

yesterday evening was a similar tale...

What I found in the fridge/drawer/kitchen...

• 1 Nos. - Bambino Penne Pasta Packet (250 gm)
• 1 Nos. - Milk packet (500 ml)
  
• 2 Cans of Olives (Pitted)
• 1 Jar of Jalapenos
• Olive Oil
  
• Dried Mint & Oregano flakes
• Onions/Tomatoes/Garlic/Ginger/Green Chili/Lemon/Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
  
• Salt & Pepper

What I did with the ingredients...

Step 1

• Heat the milk. squeeze half a lemon in the milk and bring to boil while stirring.
  
• Observe that the milk will split to form paneer (cottage cheese).
  
• Reduce the water and remove the residual paneer.
  
• Squeeze out excess water and break the fresh paneer into tiny pieces and keep aside.
  

Step 2

• Finely dice 3 medium sized onions and put aside.

• Roughly chop 6-7 medium sized tomatoes and put into blender. add a roughly chopped jalapeno, 3 green chili and 8-10 pods of freshly peeled garlic to the tomatoes. add a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of lemon juice.

• Blend the tomatoes/garlic/green chili together to form a thick paste.

• Dice the fresh ginger (about 2 inches) into thin slices and put aside.

• Take half capsicum, chop it into small bits and keep aside.

• Dice 1-2 jalapenos into circular pieces and keep aside (you can have as many jalapenos as you like; it depends on your heat resistance).

• Chop 6-7 olives into circular pieces (i prefer Green Olives) and keep aside.

Step 3

• Take 2 teaspoons of olive oil, heat on low flame in a non-stick pot/pan.
  
• Once the oil is heated, add the paneer and a bit of the diced ginger.
  
• Add a pinch of salt and saute for about a minute.
  
• Add the diced capsicum, jalapeno; sprinkle dried mint & oregano flakes and saute until paneer is golden brown.

• Remove the mixture from the pan/pot and keep aside.

Step 4

• Take 2 tablespoons to olive oil. heat in a non-stick pot.
  
• Once the oil is heated, add the diced onions.
  
• Saute the onions until they turn transparent.

• Add the remaining bit of diced ginger; throw in a pinch of salt and continue to saute until the onions turn golden brown (i.e. are cooked).

• Now add the tomato/garlic/green chili/jalapeno paste to the onions and continue cooking.

• Once the tomato gravy is cooked, add a generous amount of oregano flakes (i love the smell of tomato and oregano), add about 500 ml of water and reduce the gravy on medium flame.

Step 5

• In a separate pot, heat about 2 liters of water.
• Add a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt to the water and bring to boil.
  
• Add the pasta to the boiling water (basically follow the instructions on the packet).
  
• Once the pasta is cooked; drain out the water and rinse the pasta under cold water.

Step 6

• Add the pasta to the tomato/onion gravy. mix properly.
  
• Cook for a minute and then add the chopped olives.
• Add salt to taste; a dash of pepper. mix well.

• Cover the pot and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Step 7

• Garnish the pasta with the fresh paneer/ginger/jalapeno mixture.
• Serve the pasta hot.

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bon appetite!