Dad's Food Post 3: Pasta Pulao

My dad whips up a pretty wicked pasta dish, with lots of veggies, and an Indian twist. When I visited last October, he cooked some fantastic penne pasta for Mom and me. I was his sous chef, of course! Here's his most recent pasta pulao recipe that he made for LOH and himself. This was a few days before India went under lockdown due to the pandemic.

March 15, 2020
Anand Lakshminarsu

"Today missed a traditional Banana Leaf Lunch organised by my Niece’s in-Law’s on the occasion of the Namakarana Function (naming ceremony) of my Niece’s second son. 

Reasons: 

1. The LOH is feeling slightly under the cloud (under the weather)

2. It is just a week since I came out of a bad cold 

3. Doctor’s express advice to stay away from crowded places (At least a hundred guests were expected for the programme). 

4. The Maha Mari Carona Amma scare!! [Coronavirus] 

So yours faithfully manfully took up the kitchen department today and dished out a pretty good Pasta Palav! Palav because I did not use Cheese (My Missus is not a great fan of Cheddar which was available at home) and I missed buying Tomato Purée. 

Bought Cauliflower, Capsicum, Bottle Gourd, French Beans, Carrots and Mysore Brinjals from a convenience store nearby. Shelled Peas, Tomatoes, Onions, Green Chillies, Ginger and Garlic were already available at home.

One can see the Veggies in Pic 1. Peas not shown since it was still in the Fridge.

Borges Penne Pasta Packet, Borges Olive Oil and Nandini Unsalted butter were available at home. 

Cleaned, grated, cut/chopped all veggies. Yes, blanched cauliflower and carrots to remove that off putting smell. Thawed the Peas.

The Indian Twist: 

Spluttered the masala base of Sun flower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Jeera, Urad Dal, Channa Dal in Olive Oil and butter. Then added the Onions, Garlic, Chillies, Ginger and Tomatoes and kept frying . 

Then added Beans, Carrot, Brinjal and fried them for some time before dunking the rest of the veggies.

Meanwhile kept the pasta for cooking in a vessel after adding some salt and olive oil to the water, cooked the Penne till it was al dente.

Yes added a kadchi (ladle) full of Penne Cooking water to the Veggies getting cooked. Added Salt and after a final stir covered the Kadaii (wok) and put the stove on sim (medium flame).

Drained the Cooked Pasta and dunked the pasta into the ready veggies and tossed the mixture to get some homogeneity. Yes, my Pasta Veg Palav was ready!

Should say it came out well. My Missus appreciated the result and really enjoyed the PP. Yes, I too.

Time Log:

1. Going to the Convenience Shop and back. Total time including the Walk part (900 metres): 45 minutes included  5 minutes wait time for crossing one Main Road.

2. Preparing the Veggies, Utensils, readying the items 70 minutes. 

3. Cooking time 30 minutes (please note no pressure cooker was used. Veggies will become mushy if pressure cooked)

Food was ready at 1315 hrs. 

PS: I feel proud to say the entire process was untouched by any Lady’s hands including the Shop Assistants. Total Man effort "