DS Da Dhaba: Pasta Salad with Tomato Sauce

As result of last evening's research and permutation/combination of pasta compatible spices and vegetables, I came up with this salad. My hubby, despite being a cold food (salad) hater, answered yes to my question, 'Would you like to eat it again?' (That's my way of confirming with him if he liked my experiment).

Ingredients I used:

Onion finely chopped
Tomato, both chopped and grated
Broccoli, cut into small florets
Sweet corn kernel
Capsicum finely chopped
Spinach finely chopped
Dried basil
Oregano
Red chili flakes
Pasta
Olive Oil
Tomato sauce
Vinegar
Salt to taste

(You can also add baby corn and olives)


Directions:

1. Boil pasta and keep aside (add pasta in boiling water, add salt, cook for 10 mins, sieve with cold water).
2. Heat a little oil(1 tbl spoon) and fry a little chopped onion and broccoli. Once the onions turn light brown, add grated tomato and chopped spinach. Add some salt and cook for 2-3 mins. Let this whole mixture cool down.
3. In pasta add a little olive oil, vinegar, tomato sauce(for adding slight sweetness), chopped onions, tomatoes, capsicum and corn kernel. Mix well.
4. Add the mixture that you prepared to the pasta. Add oregano, basil and red chili flakes. Mix well.
5. Refrigerate until it become a little cold.

Picture of the output will be uploaded when I make it next time :)

Ofen, delectably European indeed

A nice cozy restaurant located in posh and beautiful area of Banjara Hills, Hyderabad was indeed my place for a nice weekend breakfast ! Those lovely pancakes topped with maple syrup, and a nice coffee indeed made my day !

Ofen is one of its kind restaurant offering a wide variety of European cuisines and bakery products. The taste of its veg casserole and sizzling chocolate cake desserts still linger in my mouth. Now I feel that I should have conveyed this appreciation to the chef !!

Can't forget to mention that it is one of the best places in Hyderabad during Christmas. Not only do they have special Christmas desserts but the place is decorated very well.



In short, Ofen is a very different eating experience, no pan cakes in the world can match its preparation ! :)

More info on :
http://www.theofen.com/

Needless to say that I envy all the people who have a chance to delight themselves at Ofen !

A thankyou note

Before I start sharing my experiences, I would like to convey my gratitude to all the people who helped my passion for cooking to evolve.

First of all .. Any guesses ?? Yeah you got it right, MY MOM .. ! Despite her regular job and a busy schedule, she did quite a great job in cooking a variety of cuisines for us. And her daily statement, 'If you get in the habit of cooking now, you will not hate it later'. He he ...
All my hostel friends (who were always hungry), that's when I realized that I love feeding people. Cooking with friends in hostel mess was quite fun.
My ex room mate Radhika (while I was working in Hyderabad), whose sole motive was to cook and eat healthy. Mann, she was one hell of a cook. She apparently taught me how to cut a tomato easily :)
My friend/colleague, Swati, with whom the cooking discussion used to go on for hours (ofcourse in the conference room :P). She inspired me to cook and try new stuff, open my eyes towards Marwari delicacies (though I am a Marwari myself).
Last but not the least, my sweet husband, Aman, always game to try my cooking experiments. He loves eating and I love feeding him ! And I will share all the recipes that are approved by him :)

P.S. I still haven't forgotten all the people who quietly ate what I cooked :) Extending gratitude to each and everyone is beyond the scope of this blog :)

I love hogging !

I have been thinking for a while to pen down my feeling towards my passions ! And yes , FOOD IS MY PASSION .. I love eating (hogging) .. ! Yes I do ! I sooo do .. And as people (my mom) say, one who likes to eat, likes to cook too ! Wrong generalization I guess, but its not too wrong for her daughter.

From cooking during my school days to help my mom (though I admit that I hated cooking then), to cooking piles of poha for my friends in hostel, to becoming a successful scientist of different cuisines, my passion to eat and feed never looked back !

So here I am, finally starting to pen down hogging and cooking experiences.. !