Rushina's Recipe - The best Spaghetti and Meatballs EVER!

I realised I have been blogging more about stuff I am doing than I have been cooking of late, (although in my defence I will say that things have been busy and I have not been cooking as much as usual) Anyways so here is a recipe today. 

I ended up making these a while ago, out whatever I had at home and pure creativity. But they turned out so well, that they are now a regular feature on my menu.

Last week I got back from Delhi after a work trip for Nature's Basket and vegetated most of the day of my return. So by evening I was in the mood to cook up something yummy but being still sleepy, I wanted to do something relatively fuss free. So I cooked up a big batch of these hearty Spaghetti and meatballs. It is slightly fidly, but it has vegetables, chicken and pasta so its a whole meal in a bowl, that the kids love, plus you end up with a big pot of meatballs in tomato sauce that allows for freezing some or using it in other ways later. Like I did - as always I made double the recipe and kept the pasta separate, so I could use the saucy meatballs to make hearty Ciabatta sandwiches for brunch the next day, fortified with lettuce salad, and zinged up with BBQ and Sriracha sauces. I don’t normally push people to do this but for this recipe, use the Italian canned tomatoes, they are less acidic than Indian ones and lend the most fabulous flavour and color to the dish.
For the Sauce
½ c extra virgin olive oil
4 onions finely chopped
1 head garlic finely chopped
1 Zuchini finely chopped
2 red peppers finely chopped
1 kg can Italian plum tomatoes (I used Cirio)
1 tbsp chilli garlic paste (if using fresh use 2 tbsp and add before tomatoes)
Salt to taste (about ½ tsp and taste since you will be adding salted pasta water)
½ tsp sugar
1/3 c cheese, grated

For Meatballs
400g. Chicken mince
2 tbsp sautéed onion (take out of cooking onions for sauce)
½ cup coriander, finely chopped
1 tbsp chilli garlic paste (if using fresh use 2 tbsp)

Capellini or Spaghetti 1 pkt cooked
Method
I had a packed of Cappilleni (which literally translates to ‘fine hair’ and is a finer version of spaghetti, close to angel hair AND most importantly my favourite pasta for recipes that require spaghetti) so I put water on to boil. I then pulled out my biggest pasta pot and set it on a low flame and poured in a generous measure of olive oil.
While it was warming up I quickly finely diced up a few onions and added them to the pot, giving them a quick stir so they were all suitably covered in oil and left them to sweat. Meanwhile I finely diced the lone green zucchini (skin and all) that had been languishing in the fridge (after I used its companions up in the Thai curry of last week) and two colored peppers to complete my improvised mirepois (a mirepois is a classic French cooking trick that calls for white onion, orange carrot and green celery to be stir fried together. It is a classic step in a lot of sauces.) I find it really works to enhance the flavour in any dish.
So I left that to sweat (not fry, just gently sweat) while I prepped the meat for my meat balls. To the mince I added a few tablespoons of softened onions I had harvested from the lot I sweated for my sauce, lots LOTS of garlic, coriander, and a little salt.
My pasta was done at this point so I let the mince rest while I drained it, reserving the pasta water. I also added a generous tablespoon of my homemade chilli garlic paste and a can of Italian peeled Italian plum tomatoes to my sauce. (All those chefs that tell you that canned Italian tomatoes are good for a tomato based sauce? They are spot on!)
And I was back to my mince, added some of my chilli garlic paste, cracked in an egg, added some toasted pistachio powder and gave it another good mix. The sauce was boiling away and smelling fabulous by now. I doubled its volume by adding the reserved pasta water so my meatballs would have enough space to breathe and let it boil some more. Once it was bubbling away I began to add the meat balls. I cook a lot of meatballs so I am pretty good at shaping them with a spoon and soon I had a generous lot of them in the pot. I grated in some cheese, lowered flame, went back to computer and forgot about it for a while.
When I came back, the kitchen smelt fabulous, the sauce was a beautiful red flecked with green because of the Zucchini and had thickened to a luscious consistency with a film of red tinted oil on top. Later, it passed the taste test as well. I served out the Capellini topped with the meatball sauce and they were perfect with the meatballs, their thinness making them easier to manipulate around a fork and resulting in a better (read lesser) ratio of pasta to meatball.

Winners of the Sanjeev Kapoor Cookbook Contest!

Aanamita, Anchal, Kirti Sands and Hema, each of you have WON a copy of Sanjeev Kapoors new cookbook Fun food for Fussy Kids personalised with your names and signed by Sanjeev himself! Please email your mailing addresses to us at a.perfect.bite@gmail.com so we can mail you your prizes!

(Check out www.sanjeevkapoor.com while you are at it!)

Rushina
 

Kids in the kitchen and a contest!

Before I start my post, let me tell you about the contest. I am giving away 5 copies of Sanjeev Kapoor's newly launched Fun Foods for Fussy Kids (UPDATE personalised with winners names and signed by Sanjeev!) with some lovely ideas for packaging food attractively for fussy eaters. For a chance to win a copy simply leave a comment of not more than 200 words at the end of this post sharing your favourite memory of cooking with your mother as a child or cooking with your child as a parent. Even if you choose to blog about it on your blog, paste in the 200 word story here along with the link. The contest begins NOW and ends on Sunday the 21st November.

With the career I have and the my obsession with food, a lot of my time is spent in the kitchen. In fact the kitchen is the centre of my home. So it was a logical that my kids entered the kitchen early. I first began cooking with my children after my son began to create "something" in the kitchen. He didn't want to follow a recipe. He just wanted to create something using, whatever he could think of. (Thanks to watching me develop recipes and style food shoots). He would have one of us cut chunks of cucumber, tomato and toss it with orange and coriander, sugar, salt, apples, whatever he could find and say "Mom, take a picture of my creation." It made me see how much he wanted to be part of what he saw me do.

And as we cooked together I learnt a few thing that made me indulge him in the kitchen even more. Learning to cook helps children learn about nutrition and healthy eating in a very defining way, a way that no amount of telling them will achieve. And this is important because their generation is more exposed to fast food and junk food than we ever were. And that is one reason why child obesity is on the rise!

Teaching my son to cook has instilled eating habits I hope will last him a lifetime; love for fruit and vegetables for one. And hopefully they will also remember the more important things later like balanced diets and the importance of wholegrain. Learning to cook also helps kids pick up skills to last them a lifetime, boost their self esteem as they savour the joys of accomplishing a task, learning something important and contributing to the family. And cooking helps reinforce lessons in science, language, math and creativity. Working together as a team, whether it is with a parent or with a sibling to get the job done also empowers them to be independent in the future by learning life skills and not having to rely on unhealthy options to sustain themselves. And for all you moms out there that struggle to feed kids what is good for them, Kids will be more conducive to eating what they make! Really! Maybe because of the enthusiasm of creating something themselves, they eat whatever they had a hand in making with greater gusto.

Kids love to cook and want to ‘help’ in the kitchen. And for me cooking with my kids creates family time and bonding and hopefully a few memories that they, in turn, can pass on to their children one day. Yes it also means more time to get the meal done, more patience and much more cleaning up but those moments with my children are priceless. (Just remember to have patience. Don't worry about flour on the floor or spilled milk).

And for all you moms out there that struggle to feed kids what is good for them, kids will be more conducive to eating what they make! Really! Maybe because of the enthusiasm of creating something themselves, they eat whatever they had a hand in making with greater gusto. Here are some of Aman Ghildiyals recommended recipes for Chidren’s Day tomorrow.

SAFETY TIPS: Keep your child's age and attention span in mind before starting any cooking project. Ensure all cooking is done under adult supervision. Tools and implements should be safe; plastic knives, small flexible icing spatulas for decorating cakes and cookies and blunt-edged scissors are recommended. Teach children to keep things clean (and save you more work later) by covering work surface with news paper. Make sure there are ample paper towels and damp sponges ready for quick cleanup along the way!


Butterfly Pasta salad (Serves: 4, Time 15 mins)

250 g Farfalle or Fusilli, cooked

100 g cheese, diced

1 red pepper, chopped fine

1 yellow pepper, chopped fine

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup sweet corn, cooked

1 cup cooked mixed vegetables such as carrots, beans and peas)

Salt and pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

salt to taste


Method: Combine everything and mix well in a large bowl!


Corny cups (Sweet Corn Salad) (Serves 2-4, Time 15 mins)

for the dressing:

½ cup extra virgin olive oil or butter

Juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste


For the salad:

2 tomatoes, in small (corn-sized) dice

2 capsicums, chopped fine

500 g corn, cooked (or canned corn, drained)

½ cup coriander, chopped fine


Method: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve in little paper cups like at the movies.


Cheesy pin wheels (Serves 2-4, Time 10 mins)


8 slices bread

4 tbsp cheese psread

Dampen a cotton or linen towel/napkin and spread on table. Lay a few slices of bread on half of towel, leaving space between the slices. Cover with the other side of the towel and roll gently with a rolling pin so that bread becomes thinner and larger, thinner and slightly damp. Lay a slice of flatten bread on a board or wax paper. Spread with cheese spread leaving the edges without cheese. Sprinkle with herbs. Roll from the cream cheese edge in a tight roll toward the plain edge. Wrap in wax paper. Place wrapped rolls in a pan. Cover the pan of wrapped "sandwiches" with the damp towel used in the flattening process. When ready to serve slice into pinwheels with a sharp knife.


Russian Salad Open Sandwiches (Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side, Time 15 mins)


1/2 cup peas, cooked

1/2 cup french beans, diced and cooked

1 cup carrots, diced and cooked

1 cup boiled potatoes, cooked and diced

Salt to taste if needed

Mayonnaise to taste

Good soft white bread or multigrain bread


Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl. Mix well. Gently mix mayonnaise in one spoon at a time, so that your potatoes don’t break, until the vegetables are lightly coated and clumping together. Take a slice of toasted bread, spread with a layer of the salad. Top with another slice of bread or leave open and use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the sandwiches.


Cookie sandwiches and pizzas – (Time overnight plus 15 mins, Makes 4 sandwiches or 8 Pizzas)

8 large cookies

1 c hung yoghurt/ricotta cheese

4 tbsp honey

2 c sliced fruit such as grapes, Kiwi, strawberry

1 c 100s and 1000s or other sprinkles


For the hung yoghurt: Line a sieve or small colander with a clean cloth and suspend over a bowl place yogurt in lined sieve, cover and refrigerate for at 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator, discard liquid and transfer to a small bowl. Stir in 1-1/2 Maple syrup, mix well and chill until required. Spread yogurt mixture evenly over cookies and arrange fruit attractively on top for pizzas, drizzle additional honey on top and sprinkle over the 100s and 1000s. For sandwiches, cover with another cookie and squeeze gently so that the yogurt comes to the edge of the cookie sandwiches. Then roll edge of sandwich in 100s and 1000s. Chill until ready to serve.

Snowy Mountain in Chocolate Lake

4 scoops of Chocolate Ice-cream

4 slices of sponge cake

½ cup powdered sugar

1 cup of Chocolate sauce

Utensils

4 individual serving bowls

2 Tablespoons

1 tea strainer


Lay out the 4 bowls in a row.

With the tablespoon spoon 1 tablespoon of the chocolate sauce into each bowl.

Break the slices of cake into two three pieces each and make little piles of cake in each bowl.

Place 1 scoop of ice-cream over each cake pile.

With the tablespoon spoon some the remaining chocolate sauce over each mountain to make little chocolate rivers over the cake and ice-cream Mountains.

Take the strainer in your left hand and hold it over each bowl, spoon in some powdered sugar and gently shake the strainer so that the sugar slowly falls on your ice-cream mountain like snow.

NOTE: (You can make little flags with your kids names on them and stick them on the peaks of the ice cream mountain before you serve it...)

My Cup Runeth over - Happy Diwali and a Happy Gujarati New year!

I am inturrupting my Terra Madre posts with this post because could not let Diwali go by without wishing everyone a Happy Diwali.

I almost did, which is why this post is so late in going up but then I just couldn't.

I started out on a terrible low. The Munshaw half of my family are in mourning this year, following the death of my brother in July. Technically however, being married, this does not apply to me, since as a married woman I must follow the calender my husband's family follows. But these distinctions and rules laid by society rarely impress themselves on hearts that cry for those who are gone.

But then, as my very wise and gentle husband recently reminded me, it is impossible not to mourn those who are gone, but it is also important to celebrate those who are still here. And it was extremely happy occaission for us in the Ghildiyal home, because our daughter Natasha's birthday was on Diwali day. Natasha reminds me of Tinkerbell, like Tinkerbell scattered fairydust on everyone and made them fly, Natasha scatters smiles that make our hearts soar gladly. And if there was anyone who would have wanted my children to enjoy Diwali in his absence it would have been Ashu Bhai.

I cooked up a feast of family favourites while Shekhar baked a cake for Natasha and then the kids and I decorated the doorway with rangoli (and I got carried away and decorated everyone's doorways on our floor, while I was at it!). We all got dressed up and suddenly the air of celebration took over. Thanks to President Obama's visit I could not have the Munshaw side over (they live next door to Mani Bhavan and were not allowed to leave) but my mother in law arrived a day ahead and Shekhar who'd been travelling returned the night of Diwali. The Binjolas (perhaps the hottest Dada and Dadi in the world!) came over, my sisters and their husbands joined in the cake cutting ceremony and the Diwali puju via Skype from Melbourne.

And as we sat in our hall and watched the fabulous firworks display outside out 14th floor window I thought back to what I wrote in July - that us women have a responsibility. On our shoulders lies the responsibility of caring for the fabric of our families. Each time it is damaged, or rendered to pieces, we have to pick up the fragments and put them together, make sense of edges that have no match, stitch together tears that are irreparable, fix frayed seams. And then, when the fabric is complete it is up to us to embroider it with new happy memories and beautiful smiles. I made a start toward that this Diwali. I had as many of those I loved
together as I could manage and though we were a little late getting started on our celebrations and they did happen a little frantically at the last minute it all came together perfectly and I am sure those that have left us were looking down on us happily with thier blessings.

Waking up to messeges from friends all over Mumbai the next morning (Thank you all) full of happiness that Masala trails had been covered in both DNA Viva and HT Cafe together was the perfect Diwali present from God! (That he has topped with an article in Delhi's HT today!) My cup runeth over, truly. My mother always said do your best and leave the rest to God. She was right! If one puts one's best into something, God will do the rest! And I am blessed to have His guidance in being able to be the best PERSON that I can be!

Vatana Kachori and Aloo ka saag
This is a signature recipe I created with my Cook Kavita. It marries crispy pea stuffed Gujarati Vatana Ghughra she learnt from a previous Gujju employer but done in a Modak style preperation that she is more familiar with and after I made it with her, I married it with Garhwali Aloo ka Jhol. I also serve imli and corriander chutney on the side to add the chaat touch. It gives you a new take on the poori and mattar ka saag combination and made the perfect Diwali Brunch followed by orange scented pistachio stuffed Karanjies or Ghughras. Try it out sometime.

makes 18-20, Time 1 hour
For Covering:
1.5 c
3 tablespoons ghee
1/4 teaspoon salt
Oil to deep fry

For Filling:
1-1/4 cup green peas, crushed
Big pinch soda-bi-carb
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1/4 cup coconut, grated
salt to taste
1 tablespoon chilli-ginger paste
1 teaspoon sugar
juice of one lemon
pinch of garam masala
2 tablespoons ghee

Heat ghee, add crushed peas and soda-bi-carb. Cook on slow heat, covered with a lid. Stir often so peas are evenly cooked. When the peas are cooked remove from heat and cool. Add coriander leaves, coconut, and all the seasonings. Mix well. Divide into 18 portions. To make pastry covering mixing all the pastry ingredients together into a poori like dough using a little water. Knead well and divide into 18 balls. Roll each ball like a small puri, put one portion of filling inside, fold and stick edges together by making it into a crescent shape. Now decorate the edge by creating designs with your fingers to make ghughara. Deep fry in ghee to light brown, crispiness and serve hot.

Alu tamatar ka jhol

Ingredients

Potatoes - 250 grams
Onion - 50 grams
Tomatoes - 100 grams
Ginger - 2 cm piece (finely chopped)
Garlic - 4 to 5 cloves
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Garam masala powder - ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds - ½ tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp (chopped)
Ghee - ¼ teacup

Method
Put the frying pan on a moderate flame. Pour the ghee and allow it to get hot. Add cumin and fenugreek seeds in the hot oil. When the seeds start crackling add garlic cloves and chopped ginger. Stir-fry till the garlic and ginger turns slightly brownish. Now add chopped onion. Fry until onion becomes tender. Add red chili and turmeric powders, chopped tomatoes, and fry for a couple of minutes, till tomatoes become soft. Add one teacup of water; add pealed and big pieces of potatoes and garam masalla and cook for about 10 minutes in moderate flame. Add 2-tea cup or more water and salt to taste and cook on slow fire for another 10 minutes until potatoes get tender. Remove from fire and sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot

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