Penne Pasta in red sauce

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Penne Pasta in red sauce: Eating pasta is slowly becoming rage in our country as children and  adults are equally loving it. Food majors like Domino's and Pizza Hut have also added in their menus which have driven the young generation towards the Italian dish of Pasta. Cooking pasta is very easy provided one has the ingredients which are essential for authentic flavors. However the ingredients should not bog one down as the same can be replaced by ingredients which are easily available. 

 Ingredients:(Serves 4-5)

Penee pasta(can be of any brand, I have used Disano which is available in all superstores like Big Bazar,Spencer etc.)
Zucchini (Green and yellow- can be found in superstores or can be replaced by Red/yellow/green bell peppers)
Tomato: 4-5
Parmesan cheese
Black pepper
Garlic-few cloves
Onion: 1
Kashmiri mirch: 1tsp
Oil 3 tsp(preferably Olive oil)
Cherry tomatoes(If available)
Basil leaves, Salt and Sugar to taste

Process: 

      Boil about half a packet of Penne pasta in plenty of water. Add a small tsp of olive oil while the pasta is being boiled as it wont make the pasta messy and also will give a rich texture.Be careful that the pastas are not fully cooked. Bring it down just when the pastas are soft and tender.Drain the excess water and let it cool in a container. For the sauce, cut all the tomatoes and blend it in a mixer. In a separate pan, add 1 tsp of olive oil. Mix chopped garlic cloves and onion to it.Fry them till it gets transparent. Add the blended tomato in the pan. Add the zucchini pieces or the capsiums of different colors to the sauce. Stir it in between and add a pinch of salt and sugar as per required taste.Add 1 tsp red kashmiri chilli and also add 2tsp of tomato ketchup for flaour and colour. Add the boiled pasta to the sauce when the consistency  of sauce thickens and volume gets reduced to almost half of the initial volume. Cook the pasta along with sauce for couple of minutes till the pastas are thoroughly cooked. Add basil leaves before you remove the pan. Garnish with crushed black pepper, cherry tomatoes(if available) and grated parmesan cheese.

Chatpata Aloo Chat

Chatpata Aloo Chat: Mouth watering snacks for evening but can be consumed at any point of time. Good thing about the chat is that it is liked by people of all ages.

Ingredients: (Serves 4-5)

Potato mid/big sized- 6
Vegetable Oil -2 cups
For chutney:
Sugar-1 cup
Red paprica/red deghi mirch(without hotness)/red kashmiri mirch- 1 big tsp
Fennel(Saunf) powder- 1 tsp
Cummin(Jeera) powder-1 tsp
Aamchur(Dried mango) powder-2 big tsp
Black salt/Kala namak- 1 tsp
Chat Masala
Saunth(Dried ginger)-1 tsp
Salt to taste

Process:

Peel the potatoes and cut into big cubes(8 cubes for one big potato). In a frying pan heat the oil and fry the potato cubes till it turns partially brown. Take the fried potato cubes in a bowl and let it cool for couple of minutes. Take a clean towel or paper napkin and put the cubes in between the folds of towel/paper and press the cubes with your palm. The cubes will roughly acquire the shape of a circle. Heat the oil once again into a high temperature and then fry the pressed potato cubes till it turns brown thoroughly.
    For the Chutney: Take 1 cup of sugar in a pan over the oven and add about one and half cup of water to it. Let the sugar dissolve in water under low flame. Add aamchur powder, saunth, kashmiri red mirch, kala namak, cumin powder, fennel powder and salt to taste. Let it simmer for a while unless the water gets sticky in nature.Do it over low flame or else the chutney will turn very thick in couple of seconds.
    Take the fried potatoes in a plate and add the above chutney over it. Spread the chat masala over it and mix it well. Before serving add few more spoons of chutney.
    Rest of the chutney can be kept for long in refrigerator for further use. 

Mutton Haleem

Haleem is a traditional mughlai cuisine and is usually consumed by fasting Muslims in the holy month of Ramjaan. This dish is rich in proteins as it contains lot of pulses as well as mutton.

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)
Mutton cubes preferably without bones(250g)
1 cup of Moong dal
1 cup of Urad dal
1 cup of Tuar dal (Arhar)
1 Cup of Chana Dal
2 big onions
Ginger and Garlic paste
Garam Masala(cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg,black pepper)
Ghee-2tsp
Milk-1 cup
Mint leaves,
Red Chilli powder

Process: 
Soak all the pulses overnight or 5-6 hrs before use. Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker, add ginger garlic paste and red chilli powder.Saute it for couple of minutes before adding all the lentils in it. Add the mutton cubes and fry it along with pulses for around 2-3 minutes. Add salt and add 8-10 cups of water.Traditionally haleem is cooked over 5-6 hours in a low flame, but one can do it in a pressure cooker for atleast 5-6 whistles.Once the cooker is opened, mash the mixture so that the lentils gets broken into smaller fragments. Add the milk to the cooker and slowly heat the mixture.  In a separate pan fry the onions in oil/ghee so that it becomes crushable.  Roast all the garam masala in a frying pan without any oil and ground them into a coarse powder.Add a tsp of ghee to the cooker and sprinkle the powdered garam masala. The consistency of the mixture should be sort of sticky in nature. Add the fried onions and garnish with mint leaves.
    Try this at home and let me know your feedback. Suggestions are welcome.