Spinach-Zucchini Lasagna

Another classic Italian dish. Sauteed vegetables and strips of lasagna noodles are alternately layered between a cream-based or tomato-based sauce, and topped with lots of cheese. The layers are baked until the top is cheesy and crispy, and the noodles are tender in their sandwich of vegetables and sauce. 

There are many many ways of preparing lasagna, I guess. But the fundamentals remain the same.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 teaspoon crushed oregano / omam seeds
3. 1 teaspoon crushed herb de provence
4. 2 medium-sized yellow onions, finely chopped
5. 5 garlic cloves, minced
6. 2 zucchinis, diced
7. 4 cups washed and cut spinach leaves
8. Around 15-16 sheets of lasagna noodles (uncooked)
9. 24 ounces/680 grams of Marinara sauce (1 store bought jar is fine, saves time)
10. 1 cup grated or sliced mozzarella cheese (low-fat if you will)
11. 1.5 cups ricotta cheese (fat-free if you will)
12. 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
13. 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
14. 1 teaspoon salt
15. 1.5 teaspoons pepper
16. 1/4 cup Italian basil, cut
17. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, cut

 Preparation:

1.  Heat the marinara sauce with the basil and parsley until it begins to gently bubble. Remove from heat. 
2. Heat the olive oil along with the crushed oregano and herb de provence. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic and saute on low-medium heat until the onion almost caramelizes.Only yellow or white onions have enough sugar content in them to caramelize and turn golden (without burning). It takes about 15-20 minutes on low heat for the onions to caramelize.
3. Next, add the zucchini and saute with grated nutmeg for 7 minutes or so. The zucchini doesn't have to cook fully. Then, add the spinach and mix well. Remove from heat. The spinach will begin to wilt in the heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.
4. Onto the assembly. Ladle some sauce on the bottom of a 9*13 inch baking dish. 
5. Break the lasagna noodles so that the length fits the baking dish. About 3-4 noodles should snugly fit in the dish. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 6 minutes until they are cooked half-way. Remove the noodles from water and place on a dish.
6. Start assembling the lasagna.
1.  Place 3 strips of noodles on top of the sauce in the baking dish.
2. Spread 1/2 cup worth ricotta cheese on the noodles.
3. Place 3 more strips of noodles on top of the ricotta
4. Ladle about 1/3 of the prepared marinara sauce on top of the noodles
5. Spread 1/3 of the prepared vegetables on top of the sauce
6. Place/sprinkle 1/2 cup worth mozzarella on top of the veggies.
7. Now place 3 more strips of noodles
8. Follow with 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
9. Spread another 1/3 vegetables on top
10. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella
11. Place 3 more noodles
12. Spread another 1/3 of the sauce
13. Spread the remaining ricotta
14. Spread the remaining vegetables
15. Place the remaining noodles
16. Spread the remaining sauce
17. And finally, top with the parmesan cheese
7. I know, I have too many layers! But make sure to start with sauce-noodles and end with noodles-sauce-parmesan. Everything in between is up to you. Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated 375 F oven until the top is browned and crispy.

Cut and serve! You can alter the kinds of cheese and the vegetables you would like to add. And of course, an alfredo sauce would be much richer and fattier than marinara, but tasty nonetheless.  I didn't add much parmesan on top so the lasagna didn't really brown much on top, but if you like the crunchy cheesy top, please do add more.

Minestrone

Minestrone is a classic Italian soup with mild spices, tomatoes, vegetables, beans, pasta, and finally, as always, a spattering of parmesan cheese. I like making such hardy and healthy soups that contain all the vitamins (from the veggies), some carbohydrate (from the pasta),  protein (from the beans), and some fat (from the cheese) all in one single bowl of flavorful soup. Easy to prepare and easy to gulp, not to mention coming home to some healthy and hardy soup.

I prepare a big pot of soup every now and then with some variations in spice and veggies. 

Ingredients (results in a huge pot of soup; about 8 servings)

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3. 6 cloves of garlic, minced
4. 1.5 - 2 teaspoons salt
5. 2 celery stalks, diced
6. 2 carrots, peeled and diced
7. 1 zucchini, diced
8. 1 small eggplant, diced
9. 1 bell-pepper/capsicum, diced
10. 6 ounces of tomato paste (1 can of Hunts')
11. 2 tomatoes, diced
12. 6-7 cups of water / vegetable broth)
13. 2 cups cooked chickpeas / garbanzo beans (or white cannellini beans)
14. 1 cup uncooked pasta (any kind of pasta)
15. 2 teaspoons crushed oregano / omam seeds
16. 2 teaspoons cumin powder
17. 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
18. 1 tablespoon thyme (remove leaves from the stem)
19. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
20. 1/4 cup Italian basil, chopped
21. some parmesan cheese, grated (up to 1/2 cup)

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in  big sauce-pan or dutch-oven. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Next, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. 
2. Add the celery, carrot and eggplant and saute with salt. Let the vegetables cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. 
3. Then, add freshly ground pepper, cumin powder and crushed oregano and stir well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat stirring now and then. 
4. Add the tomato paste and stir it well with the veggies. Then, throw in the bell-pepper, zucchini and stir well. Dilute the veggies with about 6 cups of water. Stir well, add thyme, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the veggies are almost cooked. Add more water if needed.
5. Next, add the cooked chickpeas and the pasta. Cover and cook for 12 minutes or so until the pasta is al dente. 
6. Finally stir in the tomatoes, parsley and basil. Reduce to heat and let everything simmer for 5 minutes. Check for seasonings and consistency and adjust accordingly by adding more spices or water. 

Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and bread on the side. The warm flavors of cumin and oregano go very well on a cold evening.

Carrot Kosumalli

It's a funny name - Kosumalli :). This is nothing but simple carrot salad, the Indian way.

Ingredients (6-8 servings)

1. 9-10 grated carrots
2. 2-3 green chillies, finely cut (remove the seeds if you are wary of spice)
3. 2 inch strip of ginger, finely cut
4. 1.5 teaspoons black mustard seeds
5. 1.5 teaspoons split urad dhal / thuvaram paruppu
6. 1/2 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
7. 1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 lemon
10. 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves / cilantro

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and then add urad dhal, green chillies, ginger, and hing and stir for a few seconds until the urad dhal begins to brown a little. Remove from heat and pour over the grated carrots. Mix well. 
2. Add salt, the juice of one lemon and the coriander leaves and mix well. 

That's it! Serve on the side of any dish. 

Curried Couscous

For the uninitiated, couscous is a Middle-Eastern variety of semolina (rava). It is popularly known as Semolina pasta. It has a mild, nutty flavor and absorbs the flavors of the spices with which it is cooked or tossed in. This is very reminiscent of upma. It cooks super fast (literally 5 minutes) and hence makes a great weeknight dinner. 

For a while, I have been cooking couscous by adding Indian spices, but among the Indianized versions that I've tried, both Anand and I love this version of curried couscous! The key success of this version is in its technique of marinating or mixing the spices in yogurt before adding it to the cooked couscous. It keeps the couscous incredibly moist and all the flavors get evenly absorbed. I made a few adjustments, though - mostly in measurements.

Preparation

I cook the couscous in the same manner. 1.5 cups of boiling water poured over 1.5 cups of couscous, along with a drizzle of olive oil (instead of butter). Close the lid and let it stay/cook for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and fluff the cooked couscous with a fork. 

I use 1/2 cup of yogurt (instead of 1/4), add salt, pepper, turmeric powder, a teaspoon of plain vinegar, 2 teaspoons of Kitchen-King masala, and 1/4 cup of olive oil and whisk well. Pour this over the couscous and mix well. 

I then add one diced cucumber (cucumber + yogurt flavor is even better), 1/2 of a finely chopped red-onion, coriander leaves (instead of parsley), 1/4 cup of golden raisins (even better than currants), 1/3 cup of blanched sliced almonds, and 2 chopped scallions. Finally, I pour the juice of a lemon.

Mix everything and serve!

It's almost like a salad. You can choose the vegetables you want to add and tailor the spices to your liking. But don't forget the yogurt!

Malai Kofta

Yum yum Yum. Only Indians can think of such rich gravies. A decadent vision of creamy spicy gravy with little islands (or rather meteors?) of paneer-based vegetable fritters floating and cruising through thick currents of tomato and cream - sounds as irresistible as it actually tastes!

The gravy part is actually pretty simple. Not to trivialize North-Indian gravies, but once you figure out the basic formula that makes the gravy, it's straightforward every single time. You can't go wrong! But, it's the fat little Kofta that intimidates us a smidge. What makes good Koftas? The answer is relatively easy. Mashed, grated vegetables and paneer formed into balls and deep fried into lovely fritters! The Koftas can't taste anything less than good, but what keeps the Koftas stable, allowing them to retain their glorious shape and swim through the gravy? That, used to be a tough question. Something needs to bind the Koftas and keep them together without letting them disintegrate in the gravy, right? Nothing is quite so tragic as watching your perfectly fried golden-brown Koftas crumble in the gravy as you hear your husband clearing his throat and pointing the obvious - "Ahem, I don't think this is Malai Kofta anymore." 

With my mother-in-law's help, I thought the secret binding ingredient was corn-starch or all-purpose flour or maida or even rice flour. But, no, no, and no. Through a friend of mine, I got to know that the elusive secret ingredient was sitting under our noses all this while- besan. Ah! So, I had to try it out!  

Ingredients for the Koftas (makes 30-33 Koftas)

1. A small head of cabbage - grated/shredded
2. 200 grams of paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese - grated
3. 1 teaspoon of salt
4. 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
5. 1.5 teaspoons of Phav Bhaji masala / Indian curry powder (optional)
6. Besan / Bengal Gram dhal flour - as needed (no more than a cup)
7. 4-5 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

I used a rough proportion of 1:4 (paneer : cabbage) to make the Koftas. I was feeling guilty about the cream and milk, so I decided to compromise on the paneer. But really, the proportion doesn't matter. The more you add paneer, the more awesome the koftas would be! 

Preparing the Koftas

1. Mix the grated cabbage and paneer with the spices. Add the besan in small increments until you are able to form a firm ball of kofta that doesn't crumble (your hand is the best tool for this). The amount of besan depends on the texture of the cabbage and the paneer. So, I am unable to give an exact amount of besan.
2. Heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add no more than 4 koftas at a time and fry them on medium-heat until golden brown. Drain on paper-towels. 

 Ingredients for the Gravy (8-10 servings. I usually cook in big batches):

1. 2 medium-sized onions, finely diced
2. 2 tomatoes, diced
3. 9 ounces / 255 grams of tomato paste (1.5 cans of the small 6 ounce Hunts' paste)
4. ginger garlic paste - 5 cloves of garlic crushed and mashed with a 2" block of ginger
5. 3 cups 2% milk (low fat milk)
6. 2 cups fat-free half & half
7. 1/2 cup finely chopped coriander / cilantro leaves
8. 1.5 teaspoons salt or as needed
9. Juice of half a lemon
10. 2 teaspoons cumin seeds / jeera
11. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
12. 1 teaspoon cumin powder / jeera powder
13. 2 teaspoons coriander powder
14. 2 teaspoons garam masala
15. 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional. I don't add)
16. 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup 
17. 2-3 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
18. 1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preparing the Gravy:

1. In a big sauce-pan, heat the oil along with the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the onions and saute until translucent. 
2. Next, add the ginger garlic paste and fry with the onions for a minute. Dump all the spices - the turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Fry the spices in the ginger-garlic-onions for another minute. 
3. Add the tomatoes and saute for a couple of minutes until they soften and release their juices. Then, add the tomato paste and stir well to coat all the spices. On medium heat, let the tomato paste stew/cook in the spices until some oil begins to separate from the paste. It takes about 7-10 minutes. At this point, drizzle in some tomato ketchup to bring some vinegar-y zing to the gravy. Mix and stir for a minute.
4. Next, add 3 cups of milk and stir well. Close the sauce-pan, reduce the heat and let the gravy simmer for 20-30 minutes until the spices meld together and the raw taste of the tomatoes is softened by the milk and spices. The gravy should have also thickened a bit.
5. Slowly add the fried Koftas to the gravy. Do not vigorously stir or mix. Gently mix the koftas in the gravy. 
6. Pour 2 cups of half & half (or heavy cream!) and raisins, close the sauce-pan and let the koftas cook in the gravy for 10 minutes. 
7. Remove the gravy from heat. Garnish with lemon juice and coriander leaves. 

Serve with warm rotis or rice! The Malai Kofta tends to thicken a bit when stored in the fridge. So, dilute it with a bit of milk and bring it to a slow boil before serving the left overs.

Malai Kofta is definitely a labor of love, but it's surely worth it!