1001 Unusual Pastas

This cookbook lists 1000 simple exotic pasta recipes. Click the image to view and print the cookbook.

 

10 different flours & 10 different additives are kneaded, shaped into pasta, and cooked with 10 different sauces to make over a thousand exotic pasta recipes.

 

The base :

The following pastas are listed in this cookbook.

0.:  Whole wheat Pasta

1.: Common Pasta

2.: Semolina Pasta

3.: Gram flour Pasta 

4.: Maize flour Pasta

5.: Pearl millet Pasta 

6.: Sorghum Pasta  

7.: Red millet Pasta

8.:  Buckwheat Pasta

9.: Fusion Pasta ( Experiment with different flours)

 

The Sauce

0.: None (Pasta tastes delicious with no sauce at all. A dash of olive oil / lemon juice / melted butter or a sprinkling of dried herbs and parmesan cheese powder is all you need to devour a pile of pasta !)

1.: Garlic butter

2.: Readymade soups/ stock (Quick and simple, any soup / stock can double as a pasta sauce)

3.: Soup Powder (So convenient to store and use, these can be turned into quick pasta sauces)

5.: Pesto ( A no cook, blended sauce)

6.: Tomato sauce 

7.: Roasted Eggplant 

8.: Marinara Sauce

9.: Fusion (Most salad dressings can double as pasta sauces. Also try using sauces from other cuisines– pasta goes well with almost anything!)

 

Flavouring

 

0.: None

1.: Saffron

2.: Ginger/ Garlic

3.: Herbs

4.: Powders

5.: Spices

6.: Cocoa

7.: Curry Powder

8.: Lemon zest

9.: Fusion

Express Cooking Ananda Vikatan : Fish

25 June 2009 isse of Ananda Vikatan has my column  Express Cooking : South Indian fish recipes. I expect to hear an earful from my mom for this for sure !  Have a heart mom, I promise that the next issue would talk about pure vegetarian recipes :) I don't think it is fair imposing our preferences on readers !

Express Cooking - Ananda Vikatan : Chicken

17 June 2009 issue of my column in Ananda Vikatan focusses on Simple South Indian Chicken recipes. This post did not please my mom as she was pretty cut up about me cooking chicken !

The next post would offend her even more :)

1001 Stuffed Pasta Recipes

Stuffed 'anything' tastes good seems to be the logic behind stuffed pastas, stuffed crust pizzas, stuffed parathas, momos, dumplings, dimsums, potstickers etc. All these were probably invented as a way to use up leftovers, but now have acquired a charm of their own. The basic skill needed is common to all these recipes – Kneading, stuffing and cooking. 

Infinite stuffed pasta shapes are possible – the dough sheet can be cut with a pastry punch into any shape of your choice. A few popular pasta shapes are listed in column 1. These stuffed parcels can be as small as you can make it or as large as you can handle. Learn to stuff and you can dream up numerous variations of your own! 

The following pasta shapes are listed in this cookbook :
0.:  Agnolotti (ann-ee- oh- lot- ee : priest’s cap ) from Piedmont.
1.: Ravioli ( raw- vee- oh-lee)
2.: Raviolini / Ravioletti ( Small / large ravioli)
3.: Capaletti (caw-pay-lay-tee : Alpine hats)
4.: Tortelli ( Tor - telly)
5.: Tortellini( Small Tortelli)
6.: Tortelloni ( Large Tortelli) 
7.:  Manti ( man- tee) from Turkey
8.: Pansotti ( Pan - so - tee)

Almost anything an be used for stuffing. Traditionally, certain shapes are specific to a region and usually use ingredients from that region.( eg greens and ricotta for Liguarian ravioli) But feel free to experiment with a variety of fillings of your choice. Some popular fillings are listed in column 3.

As stuffed pasta is rich, the sauce which accompanies it is normally light. It makes no sense in adding a rich meat sauce to a pasta stuffed with meat. Several popular sauces are listed in column 2. Feel free to experiment with other sauces.

Tips:
Knead the dough well or the dough will stretch / tear when rolling / stuffing.
Roll the dough real thin. Pasta thickness doubles on cooking.
Ensure that the fillings are not too watery. If they can be shaped into a tight ball, they usually are good for stuffing.
Wet the edges with water and press them firmly to seal. This will prevent the parcels from bursting open while being cooked.
Press down the edges so that they are real thin – or the edges will be thick and doughy on cooking.
Stuffed pasta parcels can be served with sauce or can be pan fried, deep fried, baked, added to salads, soups etc. 
Stuffed pasta freezes well and lasts for weeks. It however takes more time to cook. 

1001 Fresh Pasta Recipes

This cookbook lists 1000 simple fresh pasta recipes. Click the image to view and print the cookbook. 

10 different ingredients & 10 different additives are mixed in with flour, kneaded and shaped into pasta, and cooked with 10 diferent sauces to make over a thousand fresh pasta recipes.

 

The base :

The following pastas are listed in this cookbook.

0.: Basic pasta

1.: Egg Pasta ( pasta all’ uovo) 

2.: Green Pasta  ( Made with spinach).

3.: Red Pasta  (Made with beets)

4.: Orange Pasta  ( made with carrots)

5.: Tomato pasta 

6.: Potato Pasta (Gnocchi) (nee-okkee)  

7.:  Buckwheat Pasta (Pizzoccheri)

8.:   Other pasta  (Pasta dough kneaded with vegetable juice)

9.: Fusion ( Experiment with different flours)

 

The Sauce

0.: None (Pasta tastes delicious with no sauce at all. A dash of olive oil / lemon juice / melted butter or a sprinkling of dried herbs and parmesan cheese powder is all you need to devour a pile of pasta !)

1.: Garlic butter

2.: Readymade soups/ stock (Quick and simple, any soup / stock can double as a pasta sauce)

3.: Soup Powder (So convenient to store and use, these can be turned into quick pasta sauces)

5.: Pesto ( A no cook, blended sauce)

6.: Tomato sauce 

7.: Roasted Eggplant 

8.: Marinara Sauce

9.: Fusion (Most salad dressings can double as pasta sauces. Also try using sauces from other cuisines– pasta goes well with almost anything!)

 

Additives

0.: None

1.: Parmesan 

2.: Sun dried Tomatoes 

3.: Garlic paste

4.: Onion powder

5.:. Herbs (Parsley / cilantro / mint/ basil)

6.: Olive oil

7.: Spices (saffron/ cardamom / nutmeg)

8.: Semolina / breadcrumbs

9.: Fusion ( Using novel additives)

1001 no cook Pesto recipes

Pesto (from latin: pounded) originated in Genoa. Made by pounding basil, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil, it became very popular and now boasts of innumerable variations. Basil originated in India, but is considered holy and is almost never used as a flavouring agent. Italian cuisine embraced it and uses it extensively in Pestos and Pizzas. Another Indian import, heavily used in Italian cuisine is water buffalo milk, used to make mozzarella) Tender, fresh Genoan basil is the soul of Pesto.
Pesto belongs to the same pounded sauce family as the Indian chutney and Mexican salsa. Like them, pesto should never be blended for long or blended to a smooth paste. It should be chunky and have a texture. When blending, do it in short bursts, for as short a time as possible. Ideally, pounding with a pestle and mortar  or chopping all ingredients very finely results in a great, traditional pesto. Remember that Virgin Olive oil turns bitter on mechanical agitation. So mix it in gently after pesto is blended. Pesto keeps well and can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for months. Adding a layer of oil over pesto and omitting cheese helps it keep much longer.

Various variations of Pesto exist. Pesto alla siciliana (from Sicily) is a variation using tomato and less basil. Pesto alla calabrese (from Calabria) uses grilled bell peppers. Pistou ( from Provence, France), omits nuts from the pesto recipe. A variety of cooked pesto can be prepared by blanching the greens used. But some, like Basil become bitter on cooking. This is why when pesto is added to soups, it is added at the very end.
Pesto can be used with pasta / meat as a sauce, with bread as a spread, in soups, as a dip, or as salad dressing. Feel free to adjust the quantity of ingredients to your taste – as long as you adhere to the spirit of the recipe.

1001 Indian Fish Curries

This cookbook lists 1000 fish curries, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The principle is simple – fish is cooked in 10 different ways, combined with ten different bases and 10 different flavourings to create a thousand different recipes.   

Sea fish is much loved all along the 7000 kms of Indian coastline. Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and coastal Tamilnadu are heavy sea  fish consumers. West Bengal, Kashmir, Central India and North East have an abundance of freshwater fish in their lakes and rivers and these are preferred to Sea fish. 

Vanjiram is Tamilnadu's favourite fish. Other sea fish like koduva, vavval, sankara, kilanga, sudumbu and nethili are also popular. Viraal, Kendai and Keluthi are favourites among freshwater fishes. For more information of Tamilnadu’s favourite fishes, click here.                           

Cooking Fish: Fish can be added directly to the boiling gravy as it cooks within 5 – 10 minutes. For more flavour, fish can be marinated, fried, grilled and then added to the gravy. These variations are listed in column 1.

 The Base : A wide variety of gravies are cooked across India. Tamarind based gravies are common in Tamilnadu & andhra. Fish tamarind , coconut and coconut milk based gravies are popular in Kerala, Konkan and Maharashtra. Vinegar based gravies are preferred in Goa, yogurt based gravies in Kashmir and mustard based gravies in West Bengal. These are listed in column 2.

 Flavourings : Different combination of spices fried in a variety of oils are used across India. Coconut oil is preferred in Kerala, and the Konkan coast, Sesame oil in Tamilnadu, groundnut oil in Andhra and Maharashtra, ghee in Kashmir, mustard oil in Bihar, orissa and West Bengal. Column 3 lists these variations.

 By combining a fish from column 1 with a gravy from column 2 and flavouring from column 3, you can easily cookup a huge range of fish curries.

 Tips :
1. Do not overcook fish. An inch thick fish is fully cooked in 5 minutes.
2. Fish curries taste better when cooked in an earthen pot. They usually taste even better the next day.
3. Other seafood like prawns, crab etc can be used in these curries instead of fish.

 Lean, healthy and easily cooked, fish is consumed world over. Unlike Indian curries, western fish curries are not heavliy spiced or cooked for long. In fact, mildly cooked or even raw fish is consumed in Japan and France. Fish marinated in lemon juice gets cooked in the citric acid and is eaten without any further cooking as ceviche. Baked / steamed / smoked fish is not so common in India, but are very popular abroad. Try using these in Indian gravies for a wide variety of fusion fish curries. Baked / steamed / smoked fish is not so common in India, but are very popular abroad. Try using these in Indian gravies for a wide variety of fusion fish curries .

1001 Simple pasta recipes

This cookbook lists 1000 simple dried pasta recipes. Click the image to view and print the cookbook. 

10 different pasta shapes are combined with 10 simple sauces and 10 additives to create a thousand easy pasta recipes.

 

The base :

Almost any dry pasta shape can be used, as long as it is not too large or too small. The following shapes are used in this cookbook.

0.: Macaroni (  elbows) 

1.: Fusilli ( Twisted )

2.: Farfalle ( butterfly)

3.: Penne ( hollow cylinder)

4.: Campanelle ( bells)

5.: Cappelletti ( hat )

6.: Cavatappi ( corkscrew)

7.: Cavatelli ( half closed discs)

8.: Gemili ( twisted strands)

9.: Fusion ( Experiment with different shapes / pastas from different regions)

 

The Sauce

0.: None (Pasta tastes delicious with no sauce at all. A dash of olive oil / lemon juice / melted butter or a sprinkling of dried herbs and parmesan cheese powder is all you need to devour a pile of pasta !)

1.: Garlic butter

2.: Readymade soups/ stock ( Quick and simple, any soup / stock can double as a pasta sauce)

3.: Soup Powder ( So convenient to store and use, these can be turned into quick pasta sauces)

5.: Pesto ( A no cook, blended sauce)

6.: Tomato sauce 

7.: Roasted Eggplant 

8.: Marinara Sauce

9.: Fusion (Most salad dressings can double as pasta sauces. Also try using sauces from other cuisines– pasta goes well with almost anything !)

 

Additives

0.: None ( No additives are needed – pasta with just a drizzle of olive oil makes a great dish !)

1.: Salad ( Fresh vegetables mixed with pasta makes a great full meal)

2.: Cheese  ( A variety of grated hard cheeses can be used)

3.: Cold cuts ( Any ready to eat meat can be used)

4.: Vegetables ( Stir fried vegetables are a great addition to pasta)

5.:. Meats ( A variety of cooked, boneless meat can be used)

6.: Seafood  ( All seafood cooks quickly and makes a tasty addition to pasta)

7.: Eggs (Though the recipe calls for scrambled eggs, you can use fried / poached / hardboiled eggs)

8.: Legumes ( Boiled legumes make a good meat substitute)

9.: Fusion (Feel free to experiment with local meats and vegetables – pasta is so versatile, it fits into any cuisine. In fact many cuisines have their own versions of pasta)

Karnataka Kitchen Virgin's Survival Manual - Veg

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook focuses on basic Karnataka recipes anyone can cook up on the very first try. Absolutely no knowledge / skill is assumed on the part of the reader. The following recipes are listed in this cookbook. 

No Cook recipes :
Shunti Tambli
Mosaru Baji
Kosambari 

Simple Curries
Yellu Chutney (Sesame Chutney)
Majjige huli (Yogurt curry)
Paalya
Saagu 

Lentil curries
Dali Tovve (Spiced lentil curry)
Saaru

 Light Dishes :
Avalalkki Vaggarane (Stir fried rice flakes) : 
Nimbekaayi Chitranna.( Lemon rice)
Mavinkaayi Chitranna( Mango rice)
Mosaranna (Curd rice)
Akki Roti / Ragi Roti  (Rice/ Red millet flatbread)

Tamil Kitchen Virgin's Survival Manual - Vegetarian

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook focuses on basic Tamil recipes anyone can cook up on the very first try. Absolutely no knowledge / skill is assumed on the part of the reader. The following recipes are listed in this cookbook. 

No Cook recipes :
Podi (Spiced powder)
Paruppu Thogayal ( Spiced paste)
Thayir pachadi ( Raw yogurt curry)
Thenga Thogayal ( Blended coconut curry) 

Simple Curries :
Kulambu ( Tamarind stew) 
Sambar( Tamarind – lentil stew)
Poriyal ( Dry vegetable curry)

Lentil curries
Paruppu( Plain boiled lentils)
Paruppu Kadayal (Mashed, Spiced lentils)

 Coconut Curries :
Kootu ( coconut – cumin curry)
Paruppu kootu : ( coconut – cumin lentil curry)
Aviyal( Mixed vegetables in coconut – yogurt curry)    
More Kulambu ( Coconut – yogurt stew)   

Light Dishes :
Aval Upma (Stir fried rice flakes) : 
Bread Upma (Stir fried bread)
Making Idli (fermented & steamed  rice cakes) 
Lemon rice
Coconut rice
Mint rice
Curd rice

Kerala Kitchen virgin survival manual

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook focuses on basic Kerala recipes anyone can cook up on the very first try. Absolutely no knowledge / skill is assumed on the part of the reader. The following recipes are listed in this cookbook.

 No Cook recipes :

Thenga Chammandi(coconut chutney)

Inji Thayiru (Ginger yogurt)

 Simple Curries

Arachu Kalakki (Blended yogurt curry)

Mezhukku Peratti (Dry vegetable curry)

Ishtew ( coconut milk stew)

 Lentil curries

Parippu (Spiced lentils)

Sambar ( Sour lentil stew)

Kadala Kari ( Chick pea stew)

 Breakfast recipes :

Malabar  Parota (Layered flatbread) 

Moplah Ari Pathiri (Rice flatbread)

Madakku Saan (Coconut filled crepes) 

Easy Puttu ( Steamed rice flour)

 Coconut curries :

Aviyal (Coconut – yogurt curry)

Olan (Coconut milk curry)

Andhra Kitchen Virgin Survival Manual - Vegetarian

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook focuses on basic Andhra recipes anyone can cook up on the very first try. Absolutely no knowledge / skill is assumed on the part of the reader. The following recipes are listed in this cookbook.

 No Cook recipes :
Kobbari Pachadi (Coconut – chili blended curry)
Pacchi Charu (Thin raw tamarind curry) 
Pappula Podi  (Lentil - chili powder)
Perugu Pachadi (Raw vegetable - Yogurt curry) 

 Simple Curries :
Pulusu (Tamarind Stew)
Majjiga pulusu (Buttermilk Stew)
Kura ( Dry curry) 

 Lentil curries
Sambar ( Sour lentil stew) 
Pappu ( Mashed lentil curry)
Mamdikkaya Pappu (Mango-  Lentil curry)

Light Dishes :
Pongal ( Rice and lentil porridge)
Bread Upma 
Idli (Steamed rice cakes)