Around The World On Your Plate

Ingredients: 1 cup pasta of your choice 1/4 cup cream cheese 1/2 cup marinara sauce 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning Salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon paprika 2 cups water Basil and parsley to garnish Method: Add marinara sauce, cream cheese and water into a pan along with pasta and cook on medium heat until done. Next add all the seasoning along with salt and mix and cook for another minute. Garnish with basil and parsley and serve hot.

Ingredients: 1 cup whole urad daal 1/2 cup onion chopped 1 cup crushed tomatoes or 2-3 medium sized tomatoes chopped 2-3 green chillies and red chillies to taste 1 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds 2 bay leaf 1 teaspoon of coriander powder 1 teaspoon of cumin powder 1 teaspoon of sugar Salt to taste 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee cilantro to garnish  Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) to garnish Method: Soak whole urad daal overnight or for 8 hours. After 8 hours, pressure cook the daal with 1 cup water and bay leaf. In a separate pan, heat oil or ghee.  Add cumin seeds and green chillies and red chillies and saute for a minute. Next add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.  Add onion and saute until translucent. Next add the crushed tomatoes and mix well.  Add all the spices one by one and mix well. Add a little sugar to balance the taste.  Next take the bay leaf out from the pressure cooked daal and add the daal

Ingredients: 1/2 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas) 1 bunch of spinach chopped 1/2 cup onion chopped 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon of oil or ghee 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/8th of a teaspoon asafetida 1 teaspoon tamarind paste or to taste 2-3 red chillies slit Water as needed Salt to taste Method: Begin by pressure cooking toor daal along with spinach and water as needed. Once the daal is cooked, set it aside. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and let them pop, next add asafetida and red chillies and saute for a minute.  Add onions and saute until translucent. Next add the cooked daal along with more water as needed to adjust the consistency of the daal.  Add turmeric powder and  tamarind paste and adjust salt to taste, cover with a lid and bring it to a boil and turn off heat. Serve it hot with some steamed rice. Note: You can completely skip adding onion.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas) 2 tomatoes quartered 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon of oil or ghee 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/8th of a teaspoon asafetida 1 sprig curry leaves 1 teaspoon tamarind paste or to taste 2-3 red chillies slit Water as needed Cilantro to garnish Salt to taste Method: Begin by pressure cooking toor dal along with tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt to taste with about 1-1/2 cup of water Cook the dal according to your cookers specifications and set aside. Next in a high sided pan, heat oil on medium and add mustard seeds and let them pop, add asafetida and curry leaves along with red chillies and saute for a minute. Next add the cooked dal along with more water as needed to adjust the consistency of the dal. Add tamarind paste to taste and adjust salt to taste, cover with a lid and bring it to a boil and turn off heat. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with some steamed rice.

Ingredients: 2 cup cauliflower florets 1 cup chopped potatoes 2 tablespoon oil or as needed 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/8th of a teaspoon of asafoetida 1 sprig curry leaves 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1-2 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder salt to taste Cilantro to garnish Water as needed Method: Heat oil and add mustard seeds and let them pop, add asafoetida and curry leaves.  Next add the vegetables and saute for a minute.  Add the spices and water and salt and cook until the vegetables are tender. Once the vegetables are cooked, garish with cilantro and serve hot with roti.