Stuffed tomato in rich gravy

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Is tomato a vegetable or a fruit? Debate continues. Who cares! Aap Aam khao, pedh kyoun gin na? Tomato is used in many recipes for its sour taste and its color also. Tomatoes are used to make rasam, sambhar, salad, chutney, juice and even the  face pack. And it comes handy when we are out of vegetables in the fridge. But only thing is the tomatoes should be ripe and firm. Normally hybrid (salad) tomatoes are used to make this stuffed style. As these tomatoes are firm and don't have juicy pulp inside and they taste sweet also.

I avoid tomatoes as much as possible as my hubby has kidney stone problem. I replace tomato with kokam, lemon, tamarind, curds or dry mango. But tomato is tomato, it has its own texture, color and taste.

A very easy and rich food which looks great on dining table and tastes great too. Let's start the recipe.

SERVES 3

Ingredients:

Fully ripe red hybrid tomatoes - 6

Onion - 1 big or two medium

Red dry chilly - 4 to 6

Almond powder - 1/4 cup or less

ginger - 1/2" piece

garlic cloves - 3-4

or ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

(you can drop garlic and use only ginger also)

Fresh coriander - handful

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Rock salt - as per taste(use the normal salt also if you don't have the rock salt)

Whenever possible I use rock salt as it's better than the table salt and tastes great)

Haldi or turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

dry methi or kasuri methi - 1 tsp

Fresh cream - 1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp to roast the onions

Water to grind into paste

Method:

• Clean, peel and chop the onions.
• Fry onion and dry red chilly with a tsp of oil till brown, add ginger and garlic also before you take it off the stove.
• Keep it to cool in a plate.
• Wash and wipe the tomatoes.
• Trim the stem end of tomatoes carefully to get a flat opening. With a small round spoon take out the pulp slowly without disturbing Its firmness. If pulp is not very watery you can use it in the masala.

• Take the fried stuff, salt, chilly powder, haldi and grind into a little coarse paste.
• Remove in a plate. Check the taste and adjust accordingly.
• Now, stuff the tomatoes with this masala. Once all are stuffed, some more masala will be left out.
• Take non stick kadai (I use pans from Sanjeev Kapoor's wonderchef product which was gifted by my brother. The pans are magical) or a normal one.
• Heat oil in the kadai. Once hot, add the stuffed tomatoes slowly and close with the lid for few minutes. Cook on a slow flame. Open the lid and add the remaining masala. Mix slowly. Close the lid again and cook for 3-4minutes.

• Till that take the fresh cream and beat it with the beater or fork or small blender. Add the cream, garam masala and kasuri methi. Mix gently and cook for a minute. Remove from the stove. Serve hot with phulka, chapati or naan. 
• Note: You can add fresh scrambled paneer in masala. 

Keep Smiling, 

PASTA WITH HOMEMADE WHITE SAUCE

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Prepared this in monsoon and writing the post now.

Pasta, being an Italian dish, is also the  most favorite food of Indians. Kids love pasta in any form. And I love the colors and shapes of Pasta.  Even we Indians make pasta since many years. If you are from North Karnataka, you must be knowing about "GULAGI", "PARADI", "SAVATE BEEJA" and our own "SHAAVIGE(SEVIYAN)". We use these to prepare sweet dishes. These are our Indian Pasta.

Coming to today's recipe, It's the most easiest, quickest and yummiest  food to serve when you are in a hurry and hungry both. My elder daughter loves Pasta. I always make Pasta Masala- Indian style.  But don't know why I never tried this white sauce with pasta. Last month I bought a ready sauce packet and prepared. Though it tasted great, I was not happy. As you know me, I avoid processed food as much as possible. Other day  when my daughter demanded to prepare pasta, I thought of making the white sauce at home.

I was so happy as it tasted exactly the same what we get in the restaurants. I used ready pizza herb mix for the flavor.

Now, coming to the recipe,

Serves 2

For Pasta :

Pasta of any shape and size - 2 cups

Cook  the pasta by following the instructions given on the packet. And keep it ready after draining the water.

For white sauce :

All purpose flour (maida) 2 tbsp

Butter - 5 tbsp

Cold or room temperature Milk -  1 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Use less salt if your butter is salted one.

Black pepper powder 1 TSP or less. 

Mixed herb - 1 TSP

Method :

Take thick bottomed pan and keep it on the stove. Add the butter when hot. Keep on a medium flame. When butter melts add the APF flour slowly and mix it properly. Remove the lumps and wait till the raw smell goes. Now add the milk slowly in batches. Keep in stirring to avoid any lumps. Very important step. And be sure to boil it on slow flame. Add salt and pepper. Mix and boil till you get the thick sauce consistency. Keep it aside. 

Take the boiled pasta in a vessel. Add the sauce to it and mix gently. Boil it on low flame for a minute or till you see the bubbles. Add herbs and serve immediately.

This tastes good only when hot. This is My plain white sauce pasta which my elder daughter loves anytime. 

Keep smiling,