Pasta With Indian Masala Twist

I love pasta especially pasta with alfredo sauce but my husband says it is bland and he doesn't like. So, Whenever I ask can I make pasta for dinner? he says no. So, I stopped asking him and I make pasta whenever I had to make dinner for myself alone. Recently, I started craving for pasta too much but I was too lazy to make two dinners so I thought I will introduce some Indianness in the recipe so he might like it and YES!! it worked. He liked it. Now we started making pasta twice a month for dinner. Even though I did not create this whole recipe, I made some adjustments to suit our taste buds. So I thought I will share here so that you can give it a try too.

• Penne pasta (1 1/4 cup)
• one large garlic- finely chopped
• Half of a large red onion- finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 cup green peas
• one small carrot - chopped into small cubes
• 1/4 cup capsicum - chopped into small cubes
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 Red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• one tsp cumin seeds
• Salt
• Olive oil

Boil water and the tomatoes together. Allow it to rest in the water till the tomato skin peels. Remove it from the water, de-skin the tomatoes and make it into a puree using the blender.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. My package says to cook pasta with salt for 10 - 12 minutes. Once it is cooked, use a strainer to strain the water and keep the cooked pasta aside.

Add around 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds sizzle for a bit, add garlic. Allow garlic to cook for few seconds and then add onion. Cook until the onion turns transparent.

Once the onion is cooked add the chopped carrot and green peas. Cook it for 2 to 3 minutes adding a little bit of salt.

Now add the tomato puree along with spices like garam masala, oregano, chili powder and the required salt.

My husband and I wanted it to be less spicy so I used only 1/2 tsp of chili powder but you like it hot you can add 3/4 or 1 tsp. I would suggest you stick with 1/2 tsp when you try it for the first time especially if you are preparing for kids. If you aren't satisfied with the spice level, increase it to 1 tsp the next time.

Once the tomato puree is cooked, add capsicum and saute it along with the mixture for a minute. Capsicum is added at last to avoid it from becoming soggy.

Add the cooked pasta to the masala mixture and mix it well so that each pasta is coated well with the masala. Garnish with a little bit of pepper and coriander leaves if you wish and enjoy the delicious pasta.

I recommend you to have a spoon along with a fork while you eat this pasta as the tiny chopped vegetables are difficult to eat with the fork.

Hope you enjoyed this pasta with an Indian masala twist. Give it a try and I'm sure you will love it. If you like this recipe, don't forget to vote for me in the Pasta Challenge. Thank you for very much for your support.