Indian Penne: A Twist of the Twist of Taste

Two fusion foods in one day? I must be goin bonkers!! I think its because of watching this new show on Fox History & Traveller channel, called The Twist of Taste by Vineet Bhatia. This guy is totally twisting Indian foods into more gourmet-like fine-dining platters. So I googled him and found this article. I learned that he's the only chef apart from Gordon Ramsay to receive Michelin stars in two separate countries. So he seems to be a pretty big name in the food industry, now probably a celebrity chef. At the end of the article, he mentioned this penne with chicken tikka pasta dish he cooks for his sons at home. It sounded wierd and I had no idea how it would taste like. But having had a horrid day at work, I decided to try it and surprise myself. Thank god it turned out well. I did twist this twister's recipe to suit the stuff I had in my refrigerator. I did not want to make chicken tikkas because of the marinating time. I had some chicken seekh kababs in the freezer. Also had capsicum, baby corn, so I used em all.

Ingredients:

Penne Pasta: 250 gms
Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Onion: 1 medium chopped
Capsicum: 1/2 chopped
Baby Corn: 4 cut into strips
Garlic: 2 cloves minced
Ginger: 1 tsp minced
Green chillies: 1 finely chopped
Seekh Kabab: 2
Tomatoes: 2 chopped
Tomato Puree: 3 tbsp.

Method:

Slice the Seekh kababs into half inch thick pieces. Boil water, add turmeric, chilly powder and salt. Add 400 gm pasta, preferably penne. Cook until slightly softer than normal. Separately, in a little olive oil, sauté garlic, mustard seeds, green chillies, ginger and finely chopped onions. Add baby corn, capsicum and seekh kababs. Allow to cook till the seekh kababs change colour to your preference. Add chopped plum tomatoes and a pinch of chilli powder (optional, its spicy already). Add tomato puree. When the mixture is ready, Toss it all up with the penne. Let the spices seep into the pasta. Serve.

Note: So if you want to use chicken tikka instead, just add the chicken tikka after adding the tomatoes. And I guess tomato puree wont be necessary.

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Pizza Parotta - My Twist of Taste

These days I see a lot of emphasis on fusion food. I was never really into it as I prefer trying to get the authentic tastes. But I sometimes wonder how someone would even think of fusing this and that together. Some are interesting, some not, some even pure genius!
So how did I venture into this area of fusion food? As they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions. I was working at home coz I was not feeling too well, and did not have much work. But to my utter disappointment, my clients felt that today was the perfect day to report tons of issues, and I get assigned more work than I usually handle. Grr... there goes all my plans to relax at home, exploring various recipes and trying out new stuff. I started to feel hungry and wondered I had in the refrigerator. I had a packet of Kerala Parottas. But what do I eat with it? Most of the veggie ingredients were Italian stuff left over from my pasta recipes. So I imagined... what if I use the ingredients like a pizza topping but the base be used as a kerala parotta? Its like those thin crust pizzas, except that this crust is thin and flaky. yum! and oh it was yum!! Mine was totally simple and quick but you can add any of your favourite pizza toppings.

Ingredients:

Kerala parotta: 1
Salsa: 2 tbsp.
Black Olives: 4 sliced
Basil Leaves: 2 or 3
Mozzarella cheese: as required
Oregano: to garnish
Garlic bread seasoning: to garnish

Method:

Spread the salsa on the parotta. Arrange sliced olives and broken up basil leaves on top. Sprinkle grated mozzarella all over. Take a frying pan with a lid. Place it on a stove on low heat. Place the parotta on the frying pan. Sprinkle oregano and garlic bread seasoning. Cover the lid and allow the pizza to cook on low heat. Wait till all the cheese melts and take it off the pan. Slice them and serve immediately!



You can add sauteed baby corn, capsicum and minced garlic in a little olive oil. You can also add cold cuts like sliced sausages, bacon or pepperoni. Onions, sun-dried tomatoes, the list can go on...

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Penne Yummyolio

I just didn't know what to name this pasta dish. Its yet another penne pasta dish I made with different ingredients available wth me at that time. It was a weekend when I blackmailed my sister into coming over because I was cooking something yummy. So thought of naming it that way.

Ingredients:

Penne Pasta: 250gms

Olive Oil: 3 tbsp.

Salsa: 100ml

Garlic: 2 cloves

Onion - 1 medium

Cherry Tomatoes: 10

Capsicum: 1 (yellow or red)

Baby corn: 5 or 6

Sausages: 2

Streaky bacon: 3 strips

Basil Leaves - a sprig

Black Olives: 5

Parsley - garnish

Cheeses: Parmesan, Emmental, Mozzarella

Method:

Boil water and add penne to it with some salt and olive oil. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and keep aside. Mince garlic, chop onions, capsicum. tomatoes. Cut baby corn into thin strips. Slice sausages and olives. Heat olive oil in a pan, add minced garlic and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Add onions, capsicum and baby corn. Toss around till onions become soft. Add sausages. Take streaky bacon strips and snip them up using a pair of kitchen scissors into the pan. Allow the bacon fat to melt, and add the the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves. Add in the salsa and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the sliced olives, grate the cheeses and add them too. Combine well and garnish with parsley and some grated parmesan or emmental. Pasta Yummyolio is ready to serve!

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