White Sauce Pasta

Ingredients: Serves one

For White Sauce:

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon maida / all purpose flour

10-11 table spoon milk

For Pasta:

1 cup pasta

1 slice of garlic finely chopped

Salt to taste

½ table spoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon oil

Recipe:

For White Sauce:

Boil pasta as per packet instruction and keep aside.

In a sauce pan on low flame melt butter then add flour. Cook flour on low flame. Make sure it does not change color. Keep stirring. This may take 3-4 minutes. After that add milk gradually, add 1/3^rd and stir continuously, it will thicken immediately, add another 1/3^rd and stir. Finally add all remaining milk and stir till the consistency needed or preferred by you. I like it of the consistency when its thick like mayonnaise. White sauce is ready.

For pasta:

Add oil in a pan and Sauté garlic for a couple of minutes on low flame. After which add white sauce and mix everything together. Add salt oregano and simmer for a couple of minutes. At this stage if sauce gets to thick then add a couple of spoon milk, though it’s optional. Finally add boiled pasta and toss everything together. Pasta in White sauce is ready.

Manchurian

Ingredients: Serves 3-4

For Gravy:

3 medium capsicum, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

6-7 garlic slices, finely chopped

1 inch ginger, finely chopped

1 tablespoon oil

Salt, red chilli powder and black pepper powder to taste.

1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon chilli sauce

1 ½ tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

3 cups water

1 tablespoon corn flour

Manchurian balls:

For Manchurian balls I used McCain’s chilli garlic potato bites, as they work perfectly with this gravy. Cook them as per packet instructions and keep aside.

Recipe:

In a wok add oil and leave it to warm up on medium flame.

Then add garlic, ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes, after which add onion.

When onions begin to change color, which happens after 2-3 minutes, add carrot. Put the lid on and leave it to sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Now add capsicum and cook it for 2 minutes after which add salt red chilli powder and black pepper powder. Mix nicely.

After couple of minutes add soy sauce, chilli sauce, sugar and mix nicely. Then add 2 ½ cup of water to the wok and bring a boil to it on high flame.

Meanwhile in the remaining half cup of water mix corn flour so that no lumps are formed.

When water has come to a boil turn heat low, add corn flour water, and leave it to simmer. This will thicken the gravy. When that happens, finally add vinegar stir it gently.

Finally add Manchurian balls in the gravy. After final simmering of another minute or so, Manchurian is ready to eat.

Macroni Pasta

Ingredients: Serves 2-3

2 cups Macroni

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

1 medium capsicum, thinly sliced

1 medium tomato, cut into thin wedges

1 garlic slice finely chopped

½ inch ginger finely chopped

1 ½ tablespoon oil

4-5 tablespoon water

Salt to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper powder

1/8 teaspoon coriander powder

Pinch of red chilli powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon chilli sauce

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

Juice of half lime

Recipe:

Boil macroni pasta as per instructions on the packet, and keep aside.

In a pan on medium flame, add oil ginger garlic and sauté for one minute.

Add onion and sauté 3-4 minutes, then add capsicum and sauté for another 3-4 minutes with lid on.

Add tomato and all dry spices, herb and mix everything nicely. Then add water and leave everything to simmer for 4-5 minutes- half time with lid on and then without lid. Do not let all the water vaporise. This water is what gives the pasta a saucy texture.

Add chilli sauce and ketchup and gently stir. By now wok will be containing of cooked vegetables with slight amount of thick sauce/ gravy.

At this stage add boiled pasta and toss everything together. Avoid stirring using a spatula as it may break pasta.

Sprinkle lime juice and with a final toss pasta is ready.

Note:

Alternately, grind all the vegetable masala before add sauce and ketchup into thick paste, if you want full saucy pasta.

Use herb other than oregano like thyme or rosemary.

Tomato puree can also be used in place of ketchup