Pasta in white sauce

After my pasta in red sauce recipe, I got a few requests for pasta in white sauce. Here it is:

White sauce which is also known as Bechamel sauce is made from butter, all purpose flour (maida) and milk.

It first appeared in Italian cooking books but it is now considered one of the mother sauces of the French cuisine. White sauce is the base for a number of other classic sauces.

Preparation time - 45 minutes

Serves - 2

Ingredients -

1. Butter - 3 & 1/2 Tb spoon
2. Flour - 2 Tb spoon
3. Milk - 2 cups
4. Onion - 1 small to medium size
5. Cloves - 5 pieces
6. Basil - 1 tea spoon
7. Chilly flakes - 1 & 1/2 tea spoon
8. Seasoning (Salt and pepper)
9. Penne - 250 gms
10. Garlic - 7 to 8 pods
11. Red bell pepper - 1 small size
12. Chopped beans - 1/4 cup
13. Chopped carrots - 1/4 cup
14. Brocolli - 1/2 cup

Procedure -

1. In a deep bottom large pot add enough water, salt and bring it to rolling boil. Reduce the flame to medium, add pasta and stir. Keep boiling on medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes or till Al dente. Turn off the flame and immediately drain the water and keep it aside. Do not over boil pasta as over boiling will cause mushy and unpleasant texture.

2. Mean while clean the broccoli and place the florets in hot salted water for 10 minutes. Remove the florets and keep aside.

3. Wash and Cut the bell pepper lengthwise and keep aside. Grind the garlic pods and keep aside.

4. Peel onion and insert clove around it and keep aside. You can also cut the onion into half if you wish to.

5. In another pan add 2 & 1/2 Tb spoon butter and once the butter melts, add flour (maida).

6. Stir continuously till the butter and flour combine evenly.

7. Now add milk slowly and simultaneously keep stirring. You will notice the formation of lumps after adding milk, so keep stirring continuously and pressing the lumps with a spatula or spoon so that the lumps disappear. It is important that there are no lumps left. Here is how it looks without lumps.

8. Once the lumps disappear add the onion inserted with cloves.

9. Keep it on low flame for 2 minutes. Add pepper powder, chilly flakes, salt and basil. Stir and turn off the flame. Your white sauce is ready.

10. In another pan add 1 Tb spoon butter. Once the butter melts add garlic. Stir on medium flame for 30 seconds.

11. Nod add the veggies (Carrots, beans, broccoli and bell pepper) and saute for a minute.

12. Transfer the sauted veggies in the white sauce and turn on the flame. Mix well.

13. Add boiled paste and mix well. Serve hot.

14. While serving sprinkle chilly flakes and basil.

Sweet corn soup

There is a variety of sweet corn dishes. Till now I have added two recipes using sweet corn and today I am going to blog about sweet corn soup.

Sweet corn soup is prepared by adding veggies in it. This soup looks so colorful and palatable that you just can't wait to have it. 

Soups are usually consumed before meal to increase your appetite. Sweet corn has a high sugar content so we need not add sugar in this soup.

Preparation time 25 minutes

Serves - 2

Ingredients -

1. Sweet corn kernels - 3/4 cup
2. Sweet corn kernels - 1/4 cup (Grind it to granules)
3. Carrots - 1/3 cup finely chopped
4. Beans - 1/3 cup finely chopped
5. Cornflour - 1 Tb spoon
6. Seasoning(Salt and pepper)
7. chopped Spring onion to garnish

Procedure -

1. In a pot, add four cups water. Add finely Chopped carrots, beans and 3/4 th cup sweet corn kernels.

2. bring it to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes on medium flame or till the veggies are boiled.

3. Add grounded sweet corn in a pot, stir and boil for another 2 minutes.

4. In a bowl mix corn flour with 2 Tb spoon water. Mix well so that there are no lumps left and pour it in the pot, stirring continuously. Add salt and boil for another 3 to 4 minutes or till there is soup like consistency.

5. Add pepper, stir and boil for 30 seconds.

6. Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with chopped spring onion.

Sushla

Sushla is a breakfast dish made out of puffed rice. Puffed rice is immersed in water and immediately taken out, squeezed and cooked. Onion is must for this dish but you can also add tomato and green peas along with onion.

Many a times I make sushla for breakfast as everyone in my family likes it. I would have never thought of blogging about this dish if my brother in law had not asked me too.

Preparation time - 30 min

Serves - 2

Ingredients -

1. Puffed rice - 200 gms
2. Oil - 3 Tb spoon
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon
5. Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
6. Curry leaves - 1 string
7. Green chillie - 1
8. Onion - 1
9. Aesafoetida powder - 1/2 tea spoon
10. Fried grams - 2 & 1/2 Tb spoon
11. Sugar - 1 tea spoon
12. Salt

Procedure -

1. Chop onion and green chillie. Grind fried grams in a grinder and keep aside.

2. In a kadhai add oil. Once the oil turns hot add mustard seeds, let it splutter nicely. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves and chillies.

 3. Stir for 30 seconds. Now add onion and cover with a lid for a minute.

4. Open the lid and add turmeric powder and aesafoetida powder and stir.

 5. In a deep bottomed utensil, add half a water. Add puffed rice in it and immerse them completely. Once you immerse them completely immediately take them out with both your hands and squeeze the water completely.

6. It is not possible to pick all the puffed rice at once, so repeat it till there are no puffed rice left in the water. Add the squeezed puffer rice in a kadhai.

 7. Add salt, sugar and stir. Cover with a lid for 2 minutes.

 8. Add Fried grams powder and stir again. Cover with a lid for another minute.

9. Turn off the flame and squeeze lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Prawn fry

Prawn fry is an easy and delicious dish. You can eat it with chapati, rice or as a starter.

My cousin wanted me to add some sea food recipes. I chose prawns first. I have kept the ingredients simple so as not to lose the prawn flavor. Easy and quick to cook only if the prawns are de-shelled  and de-veined.

Serves -3

Preparation time -  30 min

Ingredients -

1. Prawns - 250 gms
2. Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
3. Chilly powder - 2 - 3 Tb spoon
4. Coriander powder - 1 Tb spoon
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tb spoon
6. Green chilly -  2
7. Oil - 6 Tb spoon 
8. Curry leaves - 2 strings
9. Onion - 1 medium size
10. Salt

Procedure -

1. Clean and devein prawn. 

2. In a bowl add cleaned prawns, turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste and salt.

3. Mix well and keep it in fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile chop the onion and cut each green chilly into 3 to 4 pieces.

5. In a frying pan or tawa add oil. Once the oil is hot add marinated prawns and green chillies. Cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes by flipping the prawns after 5 minutes.

6. Once the prawns are cooked transfer them in a bowl.

7. In the same pan or tawa add chopped onion and curry leaves and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. You need not add extra oil as after removing prawns you will have oil remaining in the pan.

8. Add cooked onion and curry leaves to cooked prawns. Mix well. Squeeze lemon juice and serve hot.

Tomato soup

                                               TOMATO SOUP

 
 Tomato soup is the best of all and favorite to many including me and my family. As the name, the primary ingredient is tomato. There are variates of ways used to make this soup. I usually add finely chopped onion, carrot and beet root. Beet root gives rich red color to the soup. Actually my kid doesn't like beetroot and carrot as a salad so i just use them in soup and other dishes especially dosas, Juice and rice dishes and he loves it. This time i have not used onion and carrots as i did not have carrots available in my fridge and thought of trying without onion. 

Preparation time - 45minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients -

1. Tomatoes - 500gms
2. Garlic - 7 - 8 cloves
3. Bay leaf - 2 leafs
4. Beetroot - 3 slices
5. Cornflour - 1 & 1/2 Tb spoon
6. Butter - 1 Tb spoon
7. Sugar - 2 Tb spoon
8. Seasoning (Salt and pepper)
9. Cream (Optional)

For Croutons (Optional)

1. Butter - 1 tea spoon
2. Bread cubes - 8 cubes

Procedure -

1. Take fresh red tomatoes, wash thoroughly and keep aside.

2. Wash one small beetroot peel and cut four to five slices lengthwise. Chop garlic and keep aside.

3. In a deep bottomed utensil take water until all your tomatoes are immersed completely. Keep the flame on high and add bay leaf, chopped garlic and beetroot.

4. Bring it to boil and keep the flame on medium to low and cover it with a lid for 5 minutes.

 5. Switch off the flame and let it cool down. Do not open the lid for 10 minutes after switching off the flame.

7. Take out all the tomatoes from the pot and remove the skin gently. You can easily remove the skin off the tomatoes once it is boiled completely.

7. Strain the water from the pot to another deep bottomed pot so that the bay leaf and chopped garlic are separated. Pick up the bay leaf and keep it aside. Do not discard it as we will need it later while boiling soup.

8. In a grinder add boiled tomatoes, beetroot and chopped garlic. Add half cup water from the pot which you have kept aside.

9. Grind finely and strain. Strain it in a pot which you had kept aside.

10. Keep pressing the strainer with a spoon to ensure all the juice is extracted.

10. Now keep the pot on a medium flame. Add butter and bay leaf and boil it for 10 minutes.

11. In a bowl mix cornflour with 2Tb spoon water. Mix it till there are no lumps left or till smooth batter like consistency. Add it in a pot and stir. Continue boiling for another 15 minutes or till the soup reaches a desired thick consistency.

11. Add seasoning (salt and pepper) as per your requirement and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes.

12. If you wish to add croutons in your soup, trim the bread crust and cut the remaining white part into cubes.

13. In a pan add butter and and pour bread cubes. Cook on medium low heat for 7 to 8 minutes or until its golden brown and crispy. You can also bake your bread cubes in oven at 170 degrees C for 12 t0 15 minutes.

14. Serve Tomato soup hot and add croutons on top of it and garnish with cream.