Every saturday we spend almost half of the day carrying out with our usual weekend chores like cleaning and grocery shopping. By the time we are done, its evening and time for dinner soon! Most of the time we are either eating on our way or don’t eat at all. A tiring and fully booked weekend definitely calls for a fulfilling meal.

When we were kids, sunday was always the day for a heavy and satisfying brunch! We would make up half-way through the day and be greeted with the delicious aroma of Parathas, Puris and other mouth-watering treats that Mom would be cooking up. I always looked forward to these meals eagerly and cherished every bite.

I woke up this morning and was in a mood for some of Mom’s magic! That’s when I realized we had some left-over paratha dough waiting for me in the fridge. That gave me the craving for piping hot parathas and a bowlful of delicious scarmbled egg, Indian style!!

Indian Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten in a bowl
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2-3 green chillies, chopped
• fresh chopped coriander leaves for garnish
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• salt, to taste
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry onions and green chillies till transparent and tender.
• Add tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add salt and chili powder, and cook for a minute.
• Add beaten eggs and continue to stir, scrambling eggs and mixing it with the spices till cooked.
• Sprinkle garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with warm parathas!

Parathas are simply delicious eaten with almost anything! There are as many different kinds of parathas as there are dishes in the Indian cuisine. I especially love the stuffed ones, with all the wonderful varied fillings; but sometimes you just want something plain and simple. Afterall, simplicity is often the best form of beauty! Here these delightful bites can be seen served with a spoonful of Keema Matar.

Plain Parathas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• water, as required

Method:

• Add salt and 1 tbsp of oil to flour and knead into a smooth dough, using as much water as needed.
• Separate dough into golf-sized balls and roll each one into thin circles.
• Cookon a non-stick pan, adding oil a little at a time to form a crispy texture.

Serve warm.

Today was like any other day, when I got the intense desire to cook up some wholesome, easy comfort food. It’s been snowing all day and luckily for me, the weekend’s here. That only means one thing, me and sweet huuby have time for togetherness! With a couple of movies that we’ve been dying to watch for quite some time waiting for us, I decided to make warm delicious food that we could enjoy on the couch watching them.

That’s when I thought of pasta. We don’t usually have pasta that often. But when we do, I do the works, with bread sticks or garlic bread and all! I decided on making the Arabiatta sauce, a tomato-based spicy pasta sauce. This sauce usually calls for a pinch or two of chilli flakes to spice it up, but I decided to use the trusted old red chili powder to bring on the heat. The main reason being that I don’t think chili flakes are hot enough, at least not the ones in my kitchen! We will have this pasta with deliciously warm Pizza Rolls and enjoy the comforting feel.

Penne Arabiatta (Pasta with a Spicy Sauce)

Ingredients:

2 cups penne pasta
1 medioum-sized onion chopped
2-3 cloved of garlic, minced
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp tomato paste
salt, to taste

Method:

Boil penne pasta with some salt and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic. Saute for a few seconds till frangrant and add chopped onions.

Cook for a few minutes on medium-low heat till onions become tender and transparent, and then add parsley, salt, chili powder and oregano.

Cook for a minute or two and add in tomatoes and tomato paste. Cover cook till tomatoes pulp and start to form a sauce.

Simmer on low heat for 7-8 minutes and toss in pasta.

Serve warm with a spinkle to fresh parsley and grated cheese.