Quick Tomato-Onion Salsa

(for three)



This is great to have with toasted bread as a quick snack.

iNeed:

• Tomatoes, medium - 3
  
• Onions, medium - 3
  
• Button Mushrooms - 100 gms (optional)
  
• Garlic cloves - 5
  
• Olive (or other) oil - 1 tbsp
  
• Cheese

iSpice:

• Salt
  
• Oregano
  
• Black pepper (optional)

iPrepare:

In a frying pan, sauté garlic & then diced onions in olive oil till they turn translucent. If you have mushrooms then cut them into dices too and put them in. Add salt. Dice tomatoes making sure they don't turn to purée and put them in. Sprinkle a few pinches of Oregano. Cook till the salsa stars giving out water & the aroma of oregano. Turn off the heat and serve hot.

iTimed: 17 minutes

iSuggest:

Grate a bit of cheese on top of the salsa if you like. Add a pinch of crushed pepper while adding salt. I did not.

Sautéd Mushrooms (Bhurjee)

(for two)



A recipe for fillings in rolls etc when you need that quick bite.

iNeed:

• Button Mushrooms - 200 gms
  
• Olive (or other) oil - 1 tbsp
  
• Garlic cloves - 10
  
• Onion big - 1

iSpice:

• Salt
  
• Fresh Basil leaves
  
• Black peppers - 10
  
• Other herbs (optional)

iPrepare:

In a frying pan, sauté garlic & then finely chopped onions in oil till golden. Cut mushrooms into quarters and put them in. Add salt & crushed pepper. Cook till Mushrooms are tender. Add basil leaves and other herbs if you like.

iTimed: 25 minutes

iSuggest: This is quite dry and has a strong Italian influence. Tomatoes may be added for more taste. Good to eat with bread slices or roti or plain.

Alfredo Sauce with Pasta

(for two)

This is a very rich cheesy white sauce best had with smaller pasta. It does not have any flour. I dont have the picture of it coz I gobbled it up before I could think.

iNeed:

• Butter - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
  
• Mushrooms - 100 gms
  
• Garlic - 6 cloves
  
• Onion - 1/2
  
• Milk - 1 cup
  
• Thick Cream - 1/4 cup
  
• Cheese - lots! (i.e. according to taste & preferably one that melts on heating
  
• Any other veggies you may want to dice and put in
  
• Pasta - 1 cup
  
• Olive oil - 1 tsp

iSpice:

• Whole Pepper ~ 15-20
  
• Salt

iPrepare:
To begin with, finish all the chopping, grinding etc.
        Heat butter in a pan / kadhai & add finely chopped garlic and long sliced onion. Saute until tender & browning. Coarsely grind the pepper & add 1/4 of it to the pan. Put in the Mushrooms (& veggies). These release a lot of water, so cook till all the water is evaporated & things start getting singed. It should take 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
        Reduce heat and add the milk. Mix well and bring to a boil. Now add the cream making sure you do not let mixture boil. Stir well and cook stirring on very low heat for about 3 minutes or till the sauce is thick enough to coat the spoon. Reminder: do not boil!
        Remove from stove and mix in the grated cheese. Season with salt and coarsely ground pepper. If the sauce thickens too much then one can add a little milk to dilute.
        Serve warm over pasta of your choice cooked parallelly (I used Penne).

To know how to cook Pasta see here.

iTimed: 50 minutes

iSuggest:
The chopped vegetables of your choice can be blanched and tossed in with the pasta for a healthier option. I did not add salt to the veggies but only to the sauce at the end. This is one's own choice. One can try putting nutmeg & basil or other herbs for taste, but I personally loved the plain garlicky, peppery taste. I only had Amul cheese handy but will try Parmesan cheese next time.

Palak Paneer dry

(for three)

iNeed:

• Palak (spinach) - 400 gms
  
• Paneer (cottage cheese) - 250 gms
  

iSpice:

• Lahsun (garlic) - 5 cloves
  
• Jeera (cumin seed) - 1 tsp
  
• Dalchini (cinnamon) - 2 inches
  
• Black Elaichi (cardamom) powder - 1/4 tsp
  
• Green Elaichi (cardamom) powder - 1/4 tsp
  
• Dhania (coriander) powder - 1 tsp
  
• Mirch (red chilli) powder - 1/2 tsp
  
• Haldi (turmeric) - 1/2 tsp
  
• Salt
  

iPrepare:

Start by putting a litre of water to boil. While it heats, slice paneer long and finely chop garlic & onions. Clean the palak & chop off any bad parts.
        Now blanch palak by putting the leaves fully in boiling water & removing in less than a minute. Keep them to drain in a sieve. The boiling water still in the leaves will cook the palak perfectly & give it a lovely green colour.
        On the other burner fry paneer in oil or ghee till golden brown on all sides. Remove into a container with warm water. [yes... you read it right! This keeps the paneer soft]. Add half a tsp of salt.
        To the leftover oil add jeera, dalchini, garlic & onions. Fry till onions turn golden brown.
        By that time chop palak leaves into not so small strips. This keeps intact the loads of fibre we lose by making a paste of it. Put this palak in & add the masalas. Tip in the paneer chunks. No need to squeeze out the water. Mix it all well & cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from stove & keep aside covered for 5 minutes. Its now ready to eat, temperature-wise & penetration of taste-wise.

iTimed: 36 minutes

iSuggest:

I blanched the palak fast & let it be. This may preserve nutrition. You may simply use smashed Elaichi if you dont have powder. I felt the taste of Black elaichi overbearing, so dont put too much of them. You may try Laung (cloves) in the spices. I did not add tomatoes or ginger. They may affect the taste adversely. I would like to try putting some rose water in the paneer soak... maybe in some other dish!

iCook on IDay

On India's 61st Independence Day I begin the travelogues of my Food journey. The food that I cook for me. None of the usual selfishness in here... I do it just like so many other singles in the world do. But I also notice that it would be so nice to collect all the simple scrumptuous recipes floating around but not documented. I take it up here to write them down with pictures whenever possible.

So heres food with an I flavour, for The Independents... the "I"s - iCook!

You are welcome to send me ideas, which will be 'tried & tasted' by me and then recorded here with acknowledgements.