Palak rice

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 min

Ingredients:

Rice: 1.5 cups
Spinach: 1 cup (roughly chopped)
Onion: 1 medium sized (thinly sliced)
Tomatoes: 1.5 medium sized (diced)
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Sugar: a pinch
Salt: to taste
Oil: 3-4 tblsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cashews: 2 tblsp (halved)
Water: 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Soak rice in water for about 20 minutes prior to cooking it. Once cooked, let the rice cool; mix it lightly using a big spoon letting air to penetrate between the cooked rice. This will prevent the final preparation from being too mushy.

Boil spinach with a pinch of sugar in about 1/4 cup of water. Then cool it and grind to a fine puree. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pot. Add mustard seeds, once they crackle add the cashews and saute until the nuts turn golden brown. Mix in sliced onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft and the oil begins to separate. Add chili powder and turmeric powder and saute for another minute. Pour in the spinach puree and add salt. Fry well for about 4-5 minutes till the mixture loses most of the water content. Now, add rice to this and mix well (preferably half the quantity at a time). Turn off heat after a minute. Serve with cucumber raitha!

Spicy Rigatoni

This is my favorite dish on the Buca di Beppo menu. For those of you who have not tried this restaurant yet, you must! It is one of the best Italian restaurants in California and for those of you who do not have one in the vicinity, you can try my recipe to get a feel for it. I'm sure you'll love it!

Serves: 3-4
Preparation time: 25min

Ingredients:

Rigatoni pasta - 3 cups
Extra virgin olive oil - 4 tblsp
Crushed red peppers - 1 tblsp
Black pepper (coarsely ground) - 1/2 tsp
Minced garlic - 1 tblsp
Pasta sauce - 2 cups (I use Ragu with tomato and basil)
Alfredo sauce - 2 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter - 2 tblsp
Green peas - 1.5 cups
Parmesan cheese - 1 tblsp

Procedure:

Bring about 5 cups of water to boil, then add the pasta to it and cook al dente. Strain the water and keep aside. You can add a few drops of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan or pot; saute garlic, crushed red peppers and black pepper for about 2 minutes. Add about 1 tsp of salt. Pour in the Marinara and Alfredo sauces. Simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peas to this and continue to cook for about 8 minutes until peas are soft; add butter and stir until the butter melts completely. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix in gently. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. Serve hot!

Bon Appétit!