Pic Courtesey : Internet

Separate the soft leaves and soft stalks from the hard stalk. Now wash the leaves. I usually take a big strainer and keep it inside a bigger vessel. Then I fill the strainer with the shaag and let the water run over it. The water accumulates inside the bigger vessel. And now you can dip the strainer two three times inside that water so that your shaag is clean and less water is consumed for cleaning.

Serve it with steamed rice and daal.

My Journey with Pasta has been a bitter sweet one and dates back to the time when we were kids. Pasta wasnt a fad back then. I remember we used to call them simple macaroni. And whenever mom would prepare it or mention it I would go meh! Rubbery white things with no taste what so ever and looking like a snail, how appetizing can it be to a 5 year old.

That impression of pasta had stayed back in the mind somewhere. So when the world was going ga ga over pastas I hardly had any interest. Then came the time when I finally decided to give the Sunfeast ready to cook pasta a try. I was told the white sauce one was good. And guess what I was greeted with the same macaroni shaped pasta. After staring at them for a whole minute I thought fine lets give it a try. And I loved the result. Creamy, buttery soft pasta. Thats probably the first time I felt good about this particular dish.

A lot of time passed in between, and my pasta pangs were only limited to the ready to cook pasta. Until recently when a group of friends went to Sundarban hotel beside the Osho Commune in Koregaon Park, Pune. It was a veg restaurant and we sat in the open seating space. There was an assortment of various cuisines and we decided to go for Italian. It was thin crust pizza with all the works and 'pink' pasta. That was the first time I ever came to know that something as a pink pasta also exists. It was a custom order -"Load it with all the vegetables you have with a pink sauce". I was curious for the outcome and finally when it arrived it looked gorgeous. The sauce looked coral coloured and the greens of zucchini and broccoli gave it a contrasting hue. About the taste I can only say, I had never tasted anything so heavenly in Italian before.

That dish made me totally fall in love with pasta and was also the main inspiration behind me trying the following recipe for the first time. And i was pretty happy with the outcome. Have a look!


2. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large colander and drain the water. Run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process. Sprinkle a little oil and toss the pasta. Keep aside

3.  Heat 2 tsp of oil in a skillet and add the broccoli. Add a pinch of salt to make it cook faster. Toss the broccoli and cook till its crunchy but cooked. It will take around 2-3 minutes with lid on. Keep it aside

Note: Since Broccoli is harder than either of Zucchini and Mushroom hence I sauteed them separately.



4.  In the same skillet, add about 2 tsp butter and let it heat. Add the chopped garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes till fragrant. Toss in the mushroom and Zucchini and fold in. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and both Mushroom and Zucchini will start wilting. Add the cooked broccoli. Saute all of it for a minute and turn off the heat. Don't put a lid on at this stage as the enclosed steam might impact the vibrant green of the veggies. 


Note: If you are using shrimp, this is he stage to add. Make sure you have selected small shrimps.  Clean and de-vein the shrimp. Toss in the raw shrimp while sauteing the vegetables. It will get cooked in the same heat and will not loose the flavor or become rubbery. Add a little more butter if u want to enhance the flavor



5. Take two table spoon of butter in a pan. When its sizzling add two cloves of finely chopped garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes. 

6. Add the tomato paste at this stage and saute till the raw smell goes off. 

7. Then add the cornflour. If you are using any white pasta mix you can add 1 tbsp of it at this stage. 

8. Add full cream milk and keep stirring till it thickens. Add fresh cream and shredded cheese and fold in. Let the cheese melt and the sauce thicken a bit. About a minute or two.

9. Add the ground black pepper, oregano/pizza seasoning and chilli flakes at this stage and mix everything. Adjust the salt and sugar level at this stage.



10. Add the cooked pasta and vegetables and fold in everything. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the pasta sauce coats the pasta and vegetables uniformly.

Dish out the pasta into a pasta plate, give a slight drizzle of virgin olive oil and serve hot.

Pasta Pointers:

Hello Readers, I am back like more than a year after. Different commitments on personal and professional fronts kept me away from my blog which I missed so much. And what can be a better time to be back other than our very dear Durga Pujas.

Just as Mahalaya was approaching the smell in the air also started changing. Especially in the mornings, one could distinctly smell the Shiuli, the signature smell of Durga Puja mornings. The place where I stay has a few Shiuli Trees on the way and passing them brings back a lot of childhood memories. During the Durga Pujas as a kid I visited my maternal grandparents house. We had a Shiuli tree in the garden. My dida used to wake very early in the morning and gather the flowers fallen on the ground for doing prayers. That earthy smell of morning mist and Shiuli is something I can only talk about but one has to experience it to understand.

This time around Durga Puja is happening on all weekdays. Hence I decided to take two days off on Ashtami and Navami. Pushpanjali, Pandal Hopping and Pet Puja was the main agenda for the days. Yesterday I went for the Ashtami Pushpanjali at Apte Road. Its a Puja hosted by the Bengali Association. The Puja used to happen in Siddhi Garden on Raja Mantri Road till last year which was considerably closer to my place. But for some reason this time they shifted base to the Central Park Hotel grounds which is pretty far from my place. By chance I noticed the change in venue, when it came in paper but many were not so lucky and ended up clueless after reaching Siddhi Gardens. Hence I felt the attendance was quite less as well at the pandal. Plus the previous location seemed better in terms of ambiance and space. I felt overall look was also lackluster unlike last year. Post pushpanjali I had luchi and cholar daal at the stall and it was super! Breaking the fast with such a scrumptious dish makes your day really.

Top: Congress Bhavan , Bottom : Apte Road

The other Puja I went to was of Congress Bhavan. Its also a very old Puja in Pune. And the pratima of Ma Durga over there was really very beautiful. She was decked in my favourite colours red and gold.  Stayed there for a while and then got some misti doi and fish fry as parcel and came back home.

Fish Fry & Misti Doi

Fortunately I was home before a heavy downpour started in the afternoon. This has been a lingering problem this puja. The rains are playing a spoilt sport this time every single day. Infact we had a dust storm today followed by a heavy downpour in the afternoon. I had plans of visiting otehr pandals in the city today but considering the weather I changed my mind and impromptu decided to make a full blown Bhog on Navami. Fortunately for me the main ingredients were all avilable in the pantry, a few of the vegetables I had to get from the market. It took me whole morning to prepare and make each of them but it was super fun and the final product was so awesome that I wish I could pat myself on the back.

Bhoger Khichudi is very special to every Bengali. It not only has the flavours of spices but the aroma of dhuno, which makes it taste awesome. Now when you prepare at home the aroma of dhuno apart everything else can be mimicked. I had made many mooger daaler khichudi before but this particular recipe that I found on the net today really came out awesome! I just added a little things here and there differently from the recipe. See the original recipe here.



Niramish Moong Daal Khichudi

Preparation Time: 30 minutes  
Cooking Time:  1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Cuisine: Bengali
2. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add the daal to it. Dry roast it  till some of the daal gets a light bown/pink color, while stirring continuously with a spatula. You need to continuously stir it because unattended daal might burn which will impact the taste. Wash the roasted daal in cold water. Transfer the washed daal into the same kadhai and add 4 cups of water. On medium head cover and cook the daal till its half cooked.