Corn and Tomato pasta - Tirunelveli Style

Good Evening peeps !!

Today had prepared my wife's favourite Corn and tomato pasta, indianised to suit the spice and heat, maybe I can call this a true Tirunelveli style pasta .. ROFL!!

My version of this vegan pasta does not include Parmigiano Riggiano, Thyme, Rosemary,  Extra Virgin Olive oil, etc .. This is a pure Red chilli based pasta.

I can share the recipe, but I believe this is just my version and there are hopefully many Indian versions with Indianised spices that every household prepare their pasta with.

Every pasta starts with a good pot of boiling water and lots of salt added there.

Although Italians prefer their pasta cooked to Al Dente, which translates to the pasta having a bite or crunch to it, giving importance to the texture, we normally go for a well cooked pasta and it should turn mushy when crushed with the finger. The final boiled pasta should be smooth and non sticky. To achieve this, the water should be salted enough and boiling. While draining the pasta, be sure to wash with cold water which prevents the pasta from sticking to each other.

Here I have used a mix of Penne, Fusilli and Conchiglie:

The next step is to get our vegetables prepared. Diced Onions, diced tomatoes, sliced Green peppers and boiled Corn. Add these vegetables as per the number of servings. I have 4 serving portions here and have used the ingredients:

6 Tomatoes (large)

6 medium sized Onions

One large Green pepper

2 Cobs of Corn, peeled and boiled

Saute Onions in Sunflower oil (you can use Olive Oil as well to have the hybrid Indian and Italian flavour). I would recommend Indian spice powders to be added while the Onions are sauteed to maintain authentic Indian heat and kick to the palette. I have used Red Chilli powder, All Spice mix and Turmeric powder. 

One technique that I have learnt from many TV chefs and pasta experts is that the pasta water that is boiling should not be wasted and a decent portion can be used to Bhuna(Indian technique used to fry the spices in Oil and a little bit of water to form a thick paste) the Onion and spices, which release more flavours. Add the Tomato, Green Peppers and boiled Corn, some more pasta water and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and a mixed consistency is obtained.

Its now time for the Pasta to get married to the spiced Vegetables. They both exchange taste wows and finally, they are pronounced Husband and Wife. The marriage is a match made in heaven and makes all hungry people happy and drooling and are left craving for more of this heavenly mixture. 

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Calories: Who cares, just eat ... 

Suggestions: Pair this pasta with a nice glass of Chaas (Butter Milk with green chilli, jeera, chat masala, black salt) 

Try this and let me know how your version turned up. Do share your recipe as well so that I can try some more. 

Peace!!!

The Flush.. smiley

Its so fascinating when the coffee vending machine at office and the nature's call both request the same thing ... the Flush ... 

Nature call needs a flush and the coffee machine needs a flush as well .. what a good time to laugh out loud ... 

See the picture below and have a hearty laugh ... 

Visit to Subramanya Temple, Ulsoor

We had a devotional Sunday planned today morning and had visited the Subramanya Temple at Ulsoor. This is one of the Murugan temples in Bangalore that is in the tamil style of worship and has a divine feel of a Murugan Temple as one worships in any Mururgan temple in Tamil Nadu.

The temple is located a few meters from Ulsoor Metro station and is on the main road alongside Ulsoor Police station. The feel inside the temple is divine and is dated to be a eight hundred (800) years old. The main deity is Lord Muruga and also has a dedicated sanctity to Naga Devathai(Snake God). This is one of those temples in Bangalore where I have seen the Snake gods taking individuality. The scenario of temples dedicated to Snake Gods is a common sight around temples in Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka, but a first one here in Bangalore.

The temple entrance and timings:

The temple inside view:

The rear entrance, or I believe this looks like the exact main entrance to Murugan sannithi. 

Temple Location: 

Kalyanotsavam at Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwaraswamy Temple, GPR Royale Layout

Good Evening!!

Kalyanotsavam was conducted today at Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwaraswamy temple, GPR Royale Layout, Bangalore. Some photos attached:

Ananth Nagar - A cool Saturday morning

Hi there !!

Nothing new about the morning hours that we enjoy especially during the weekend. No office rush, no morning traffic honking, no need to get off the bed early and feel the morning biting chill, no need to wake up with the frown of having your manager send out text messages asking your status update that needs to go out before your office swipe in .. and so on ..

Whats awesome about the Saturday morning is the smell of fresh coffee brewed at home and enjoy a sip with a bite of your favourite cookie, the morning paper in hand with the latest hot news sizzling and the smell of fresh puris fried in oil along with some potato bhaji gets anyone going on their feet on a cold Saturday morning.

As for me, the day started as usual, with all details embossed in my second paragraph above along with a heavy hitting from my 18 month old son, Aniv, who forced me out of bed and pushed me to clean myself and got me active in seconds. His daily task, wake me up and pester me to take him to the nearest grocery store and have a look at the fresh veggies that get delivered early morning.

As usual, we had a walk to the local grocers and on the way, we passed through the building whose construction is in progress and this building hosts a new hallmark store for Ananth Nagar, the Star Bazaar. According to the sources here, the building is at full face and working to get the electrical connections completed for every house so that they can get their electricity up and running and the store can be fully operational.

Coming to our walk, we had a walk to the grocer and found fresh veggies delivered. My son especially was attracted to the bright red tomatoes and jumped with joy when he saw them by the bunch. We picked around 20 of the fresh tomatoes, got along other staples like milk and bread and got hopping back home, happy with the fresh start we are about to experience for the day!