Pasta with tomato basil sauce

A basic tomato sauce with rotini pasta. I have used fresh basil leaves from my garden here. Growing basil from seeds is very exciting and a nice way to make our own sauces. Tukmaria / sabja / pachilai thulasi is the name of basil in India. Grow this fragrant herb in your garden and have fun.

Ingredients:
Pasta - 3 handful
Tomato -  3 ( 4 tbsp puree)
garlic - 2 cloves
salt - as per need
shallot - 2
black pepper - 1tsp
basil leaves -10
butter - 1 tbsp
EVOO - 1 tbsp
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
water - 1/2 cup
brown sugar - 1 tsp

Method:
Bring water to boil. Add the pasta and cook as per direction (little firm - Al dente).
Drain and add cold water. Drain again and keep aside.
 
In a separate wok, heat butter. Put the minced garlic+shallot and fry for a few seconds. Then add AP flour and fry for few seconds till raw smell goes. Now add the finely chopped tomato or tomato puree, olive oil and cook till it seems mashed. Then add pepper powder, salt, 1/2 cup water, chopped basil leaves, brown sugar (sugar) and cook for a minute.

Mix this with pasta or serve over it.

Pasta with tomato basil sauce is ready!

Note:
Serve this pasta as main course meal.
This sauce can be stored in fridge for a month.
It can be kept frozen also.
I use this basic sauce in making pasta, pizza, enchilada etc.
If needed add dried Italian seasoning powder along with other ingredients to get a more fragrant version.

Ginger garlic chilly pickle

Some months ago, I saw a lot of peeled garlic in sale in an Indian grocery store near our house. Getting peeled garlic is like a jackpot for me, as I started imagining ginger garlic paste, garlic pickle and garlic kulambu as soon as I saw this heap. Then I bought a good amount of garlic and some ginger. After coming home I thought of making a different pickle than my usual garlic pickle, as hubby likes green chillies in his pickle very much. The same night I started making a bottle of this ginger garlic pickle and it tastes incredible. I am keeping this pickle in fridge, as it couldn't be sun dried here. But keeping / warming in sunlight for the first 2 or 3 days will make it more stable in room temperature too.

Ginger garlic chilly pickle

Inji poondu milagai oorugai

Ingredients:
Whole garlic - 4
Green chilly - 6
ginger (chopped) - 1/2 cup
tamarind - 1 lemon size
jaggery (brown sugar) - 2 tbsp
white vinegar - 4 tbsp  + 1 tbsp
red chilly powder - 2 tsp
sea salt -  3 tbsp
To temper:
whole red chilly - 2
mustard - 1 tsp
channa dal - 1 tbsp
hing (asafoetida) - 1/4 tsp
sesame oil - 1/2 cup
To fry and powder:
fenugreek / methi seed - 1 tsp
mustard - 1 tsp
(hing - small bit , if not used for tempering)
oil - 1 drop

Method:
Peel the garlic, ginger and rinse in water. Remove the stem in  green chilly, rinse in water + 1 tbsp vinegar solution.
Drain water and pat dry using a dry cloth / kitchen paper towel. Keep it in a plate or paper towel to dry in room temperature (under fan) for 4 - 5 hours.
Take 1/4 th portion of garlic, ginger and grind to a fine paste using a mixie.
Chop the remaining ginger, green chilly finely. Slice all the garlic into two.
Extract thick tamarind juice using 1/2 cup of BOILING water and keep side.

Heat 1 drop of oil in a wok, fry the mustard, fenugreek and powder them.

In the same wok, heat 1/2 cup oil . Add mustard, channa dal. After the mustard starts crackling, add bits of red chilly, hing powder.
Immediately add the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilly and saute till it seems semi cooked.
Then add the ginger garlic paste, tamarind extract and cook in low heat till raw smell goes.
Add required salt, jaggery, red chilly powder and bring to a boil.
Before switching off, add the prepared mustard, fenugreek powder.
Let this cool completely.
Mix the vinegar and stir well using a dry spoon.
Store in clean dry bottles.
Ginger garlic chilly pickle is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with rice or chapati.

Note:
This pickle is good for digestion.
Vinegar can be replaced by juice of 2 lemons (but vinegar increases the shelf life of any pickle in all climates).
Using solid hing will make the pickles more flavorful (I have used a small bit of LG compounded asafoetida / hing).