I have never been fond of any food other than true Indian. Sophisticated
places and words like Aubergine, Cilantro, Bruschetta, Khao Suey, Foie gras and Sushi make me uncomfortable. That is the reason why I decline fancy dinner invitations from my very well off acquaintances. I end up
wasting my time and appetite both at the same time, also to be considered is
the fact that I have to keep my mouth shut. Of course, I can’t admit on their
faces that I detested every part of the soiree, including them. I am very blessed
spending time having delicious mouth watering meals at highway dhabas that
serve ghee laden maa ki dal, cheese naans, hot red tandoori chicken and
mesmerizing aromatic zeera rice.
Luckily, my better half, who although is entirely a different person from me, shares exactly the same taste buds as mine. We both love to spend winters relishing on mooli parathas, sarso ka saag with white butter smeared makki ki roti; and piping hot gajjar ka halwa with pure desi ghee oozing out of it.
All was cordial in our foodie paradise till my mother-in-law developed a taste for Italian delicacies after returning from her US trip. She knew that her desi bahu has no inclination towards good non-Indian food, she therefore carried dabbas and dabbas of Rice-A-Roni pasta along with her on her way home. It was convenient for me too, I just had to pour all the stuff together in boiling milk and within few minutes her meal was ready. Then I and my husband could elude in for our road side indulgences.
But one day my compulsive reading habits caught me into a big-big trouble. I ended up reading that all the pasta and noodles has egg as a basic ingredient. My mother-in-law has done the amrit-shaka thingy from the Golden temple, eating any meat and egg is forbidden for her. Indeed ignorance is bliss; I had to confirm if the imported pasta that she got from the U.S had any eggs as an ingredient. I dreaded to do it, what if it really had. And it had....and then I thought my entire life came to an end. I updated my husband on this, and he received the entire wrath from her. She would have gone on and on with her Punjabi abuses, but luckily my husband called up my sister-in-law and was successful in putting on the the entire blame on her. And my mother-in-law shifted her abusing activity on her. We were saved, and then it was declared that my sister-in-law was the real culprit of scathing her mother's religious vows. Technically speaking, she was, as she only got my mother-in-law into eating pastas.
Well then, all the left over pasta boxes were given off as gifts to our Indian firangi friends, but the real problem was finding a replacement for the ready-made pastas, that was truly vegetarian. We started taking her out to Little Italy once in a month. She liked the place and the food and the fact that they serve truly vegetarian meals. But that activity forced both of us into eating a meal there as well. Well, nothing except a Caesar salad fascinated my palate, and poor husband just bit into the left over pasta from his mom. This activity got into our nerves, and then I heard of Maggi Sooji pasta. It seemed like a freedom from our monthly drudgery; also since it was highlighted in its advertisement that being made from sooji, it is a healthy alternative to usual pasta. It being healthy, vegetarian and so convenient to prepare gave both of us a reason to be happy.
But little did we know then that our Italian problems were still not resolved. My mom-in-law just did not like its taste, and she told me not to prepare it ever again. Since I do not taste pastas, I just could not make out what was wrong with the Maggi pasta. So, my reading started again, this time to learn making home-made pasta. I did a lot of research from all over, and finally learnt to make one at home. Now, I not only make wonderful pastas, but I and my husband have also started eating them. When something is achieved by hard labour and sweat, one is bound to love it. And above all my mother-in-law also loves them and we all eat pasta together as a happy family meal time.
Few pasta facts that I have figured out myself:
1. Semolina/Sooji is an important ingredient in pasta noodles in Italy and World over. So, Nestle guys have not done an innovation by making Maggi Sooji pasta.
2. There is hardly any difference in the nutrient content of whole wheat pasta and usual maida/all purpose flour pasta. It is because the whole wheat pasta will be incorporated with a lot of gluten to come up with the pasta like consistency, which automatically harms the nutrient content. Whereas, the pasta with maida will not require a lot of gluten, as it already has a sizable amount of gluten in it.
3. Any one can make flat pasta noodles at home, though the angel hair pasta noodles cannot be made without the proper machinery.
4. One can make hand-pulled angel hair pasta noodles at home without the machinery, but that will take loads and loads of practice and technique, which will take long to achieve.
5. Finally my tried and tested vegan recipe for making pasta noodles:
Mail me if you need the sauce recipe too, I believe you are smarter than me in making it yourself. I learned all this just recently.
Buon appetito!!
Luckily, my better half, who although is entirely a different person from me, shares exactly the same taste buds as mine. We both love to spend winters relishing on mooli parathas, sarso ka saag with white butter smeared makki ki roti; and piping hot gajjar ka halwa with pure desi ghee oozing out of it.
All was cordial in our foodie paradise till my mother-in-law developed a taste for Italian delicacies after returning from her US trip. She knew that her desi bahu has no inclination towards good non-Indian food, she therefore carried dabbas and dabbas of Rice-A-Roni pasta along with her on her way home. It was convenient for me too, I just had to pour all the stuff together in boiling milk and within few minutes her meal was ready. Then I and my husband could elude in for our road side indulgences.
But one day my compulsive reading habits caught me into a big-big trouble. I ended up reading that all the pasta and noodles has egg as a basic ingredient. My mother-in-law has done the amrit-shaka thingy from the Golden temple, eating any meat and egg is forbidden for her. Indeed ignorance is bliss; I had to confirm if the imported pasta that she got from the U.S had any eggs as an ingredient. I dreaded to do it, what if it really had. And it had....and then I thought my entire life came to an end. I updated my husband on this, and he received the entire wrath from her. She would have gone on and on with her Punjabi abuses, but luckily my husband called up my sister-in-law and was successful in putting on the the entire blame on her. And my mother-in-law shifted her abusing activity on her. We were saved, and then it was declared that my sister-in-law was the real culprit of scathing her mother's religious vows. Technically speaking, she was, as she only got my mother-in-law into eating pastas.
Well then, all the left over pasta boxes were given off as gifts to our Indian firangi friends, but the real problem was finding a replacement for the ready-made pastas, that was truly vegetarian. We started taking her out to Little Italy once in a month. She liked the place and the food and the fact that they serve truly vegetarian meals. But that activity forced both of us into eating a meal there as well. Well, nothing except a Caesar salad fascinated my palate, and poor husband just bit into the left over pasta from his mom. This activity got into our nerves, and then I heard of Maggi Sooji pasta. It seemed like a freedom from our monthly drudgery; also since it was highlighted in its advertisement that being made from sooji, it is a healthy alternative to usual pasta. It being healthy, vegetarian and so convenient to prepare gave both of us a reason to be happy.
But little did we know then that our Italian problems were still not resolved. My mom-in-law just did not like its taste, and she told me not to prepare it ever again. Since I do not taste pastas, I just could not make out what was wrong with the Maggi pasta. So, my reading started again, this time to learn making home-made pasta. I did a lot of research from all over, and finally learnt to make one at home. Now, I not only make wonderful pastas, but I and my husband have also started eating them. When something is achieved by hard labour and sweat, one is bound to love it. And above all my mother-in-law also loves them and we all eat pasta together as a happy family meal time.
Few pasta facts that I have figured out myself:
1. Semolina/Sooji is an important ingredient in pasta noodles in Italy and World over. So, Nestle guys have not done an innovation by making Maggi Sooji pasta.
2. There is hardly any difference in the nutrient content of whole wheat pasta and usual maida/all purpose flour pasta. It is because the whole wheat pasta will be incorporated with a lot of gluten to come up with the pasta like consistency, which automatically harms the nutrient content. Whereas, the pasta with maida will not require a lot of gluten, as it already has a sizable amount of gluten in it.
3. Any one can make flat pasta noodles at home, though the angel hair pasta noodles cannot be made without the proper machinery.
4. One can make hand-pulled angel hair pasta noodles at home without the machinery, but that will take loads and loads of practice and technique, which will take long to achieve.
5. Finally my tried and tested vegan recipe for making pasta noodles:
- mix 1 part of semolina and 1 part of maida together
- add 1 tsp of salt and a teaspoon of olive or any other oil to the flour mixture
- knead the flour mixture with 2 parts of water
- keep on kneading a lot and incorporate all the water slowly in batches
- at one point of kneading the flour might stick all over your hands and on the surface, do not fret, just curse me and keep on kneading with vigorous strokes till the dough is done
- then let the dough rest for minimum 1 hour wrapped in a cloth
- flatten it and cut it into desired shapes
- boil it in water which has 1 tsp of oil in it
- after 2 -3 minutes of boiling, the pasta noodles will float on the top, giving a cue that they are done
- drain them and cook in your favorite pasta sauce
Mail me if you need the sauce recipe too, I believe you are smarter than me in making it yourself. I learned all this just recently.
Buon appetito!!
beautiful post.. although I rarely... very rarely enter the kitchen...but love eating..the recipe sounds just fine.
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Kajal
-Good piece of information.
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