Spaghetti Carbonara!

One of my all time favorite cuisines, apart from Indian of course, is Italian.  Whenever we go out for a buffet, I always end up ordering for the pasta and in the process don't eat anything else..he he! Both A and my dad say it's a total waste of money taking me out coz I end up eating just one dish. Incidentally, pasta is also one of the easiest dishes to make, especially if you are too lazy to cook a big meal. It gets done in 15 minutes but needs to be eaten instantly. If you microwave it, it loses its flavor completely.

There are different types of pasta. One of my favorites is penne, but I also enjoy spaghetti and linguine. I have already made a linguine dish that you can find here. This dish involves a white sauce and I have used sausage. You can have a completely vegetarian pasta as well if you eliminate sausage, though it does use eggs. So, shall we start? Here goes...

INGREDIENTS (For 1)

• Spaghetti- A handful
• Egg- 2
• Thick cream- 1/4 cup
• Grated Parmesan cheese- 1/4 cup
• Black pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt- 3 tablespoons
• Boiling water- Enough to cook the spaghetti
• Butter- 3 teaspoons
• Sausage- 1 cup uncooked, cut into small pieces/cubes
• Parsley leaves- Garnish

METHOD

• Boil a vessel of water. Once the water is boiling thoroughly, add salt. To this add the spaghetti. Different brands of spaghetti have different cooking times which are mentioned on the packet. I cooked it for 11 minutes.
• While this is cooking, we have to prepare the sauce. Beat the egg, cream and cheese to a smooth mixture until they are all blended properly. Add the pepper powder to this and mix. You an use a fork for this. 
• Heat butter in a separate saucepan and fry the sausages to a golden brown.
• By now, the pasta will have cooked. Save a bit of the liquid in a cup (about a quarter) and drain  out the rest. Transfer the pasta to the pan containing sausages and mix thoroughly.
• Finally add the sauce and the liquid in which the pasta was cooked and coat completely.
• While serving, garnish with parsley leaves and a bit of cheese.

Here's how the final product looks like..

And a closeup!

Notes

• You have the option of making this veg by not adding sausage. You can try not adding egg as well, but the sauce may lose a bit of it's thickness. Worth a try though! 
• Instead of sausage, you can also use pancetta, ham, bacon or any other type of meat that you are comfortable with. 
• Pepper powder is optional. I need spice with everything which is why I added it to the sauce.
• Parmesan cheese is sufficiently salty, so you can use the liquid in which you cooked the pasta only if you want to. The liquid also helps the sauce from being too thick.
• Spaghetti can also be replaced with linguine, penne or any other form of pasta you are comfortable with.

Do try this out and let me know how it turns out! Till next time, God bless!

Chilly beef fry!

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la.....Yayyyyy! It's the month of December, Christmas time, woohoo! Time for Santa Claus to come to town, which means, time for all of us to pull up our socks and be good, at least pretend to be, if we need to get into his good books, he he!

We had a mini get together at our place on Thursday night, just my cousins, but oh what a blast we had. I actually wanted to cook a 3 course meal, but unfortunately, had time to cook only 2 mains. One was my Prawns Roast, and then I thought I'd make some beef. This particular beef recipe has been adapted from Dr. Lakshmi Nair, who happens to be one of my all time fav chefs, as I have mentioned before, simply because she makes cooking seem so effortless. This particular recipe uses soy sauce as well, but trust me, at the end of it all, it is a nice, spicy dish with a very "naadan" (traditional) touch to it. In fact, did you know, that at the "kallu shaaps" (toddy shops!) in Kerala, they use soy sauce to make the beef look really dark. See, the toddy shops are not so "naadan" (traditional) after all, he he! I would like to dedicate this dish to Ranjith cheta, Ravin and Sheetal, who helped us have a memorable weekend. We should do it more often! Special mention to Sheetal for taking some lovely pics! Thanks darlin!

INGREDIENTS

• Beef- 1 kilo
• Ginger Garlic paste- 2 tablespoons
• Soy sauce- 4 tablespoons
• Black pepper powder- 1 tablespoon
• Vinegar- 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon
• Onions- 2 or 3 medium, finely sliced
• Green chilies- 2
• Coconut oil/Refined Oil - 2 tablespoons
• Curry leaves- plenty
• Salt to taste

METHOD

• Clean beef thoroughly and drain all the water. Place in a pressure cooker.
• To this add ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, pepper powder, salt and vinegar.
• Mix thoroughly, close the cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles on a high flame. After 2 whistles, lower the flame slightly and cook for another 7 minutes. Switch off the flame and wait for all the pressure to release before opening the vessel.
• Do not add any water, as the beef releases water while cooking. After opening the vessel, switch on the flame once again so as to evaporate all the water. Keep stirring so that the beef does not stick to the bottom. 
• Ina  separate sauce pan, heat oil and add the onions. Do not add any salt at this stage since salt was added to the beef. 
• Add the green chilies.
• After a few seconds, add the turmeric and chilly powders. 
• Finally add the cooked beef, and lower the flame. Cook for about 10 minutes till the beef gets coated with the masala and turns darker in color. 
• Garnish with curry leaves and serve.

I did not roast the beef for 2 long, since I wanted it to be a bit moist, which makes it better to have with bread, parathas, naan and even rice. So, the final result...

So, what do you think? Do try this dish out and let me know your thoughts. Take care and God bless!