Spaghetti all'aglio e olio con spinaci

What?
Aglio is Italian for garlic, olio is oil and you get no points for guessing what spinaci is. Aglio e olio is a traditional Italian pasta dressing, its USP being that it doesn't need expensive ingredients such as bell peppers which cost ¥200 a piece (~INR 130). I had this two weeks ago at ITC Maratha and it tasted fairly interesting, so I decided to make it, and tossed some spinach in there too.

How did it look?

A posteriori
Somehow, whenever I make pasta, the sauce falls short. The same happened this time too, so I had to toss some more garlics and spinach separately and add it to the mix. It became better then. And some parsley on top. Also, I didn't throw all the pasta water away, thinking it would help the whole thing mix, but it still was enough to make it all wet. Lesson learnt.

14th December 2011—Breakfast—Scrambled Eggs with Parsley

For those of you who've been wondering (or dreading) whether I will resume this blog again, there's both good news and bad news. The good (or bad) part is that I will resume it, and the bad (or good) part is that the posts will be relatively infrequent. Unlike with the previous two editions of this blog (WIGH Germany and WIGH Canada), I would post on WIGH Japan only when I make something not previously on the blog.

What?

I have a brunch here at about 11 a.m., and dinner around 8:30 p.m. Brunch is usually heavy, and is a mix of eggs, milk and something else that can double up as a part of the dinner. Today, among other things, I scrambled two eggs and added some parsley and pepper on top (this is only the second time I'm trying scrambled eggs, the first time being yesterday).

How did it look?

A posteriori

Nothing much for the moment. I don't see too many fresh herbs here, so I think I'm gonna have to do with packed powders. Next time, I will try it out with chives or thyme and see whether it tastes better.

14th July 2010 - Lunch - Chana Masala

What?

Since the last post, I had been either in the US or Toronto, surviving on fast/expensive food and it it had gotten on my nerves. Finally, when I reached London on Monday, my first sentiment was that I would be able to cook again and eat something that was not, fundamentally, stuff kept between two pieces of bread.

As this summer in Canada nears an end, I am wrapping up my cooking here, trying to finish things that have been lying since a while now, and the packet of kaale chane had long been trying to catch my attention.

How did it look?

A posteriori

• I added delta tomato, that wasn't part of the original plan, but the result turned out quite well, so I am not complaining
• A bit of that Chhole Masaala I had also gave it a nice flavour, and there was lemon juice on top for the twang
• Another first timer that yielded a satisfactory result

25th June 2010 - Breakfast - Upama

What?

Was another one of dishes I had screwed up last year, and avenged them in the second try. I have Rawa/Suji from back home, so Upama with some vegetables was a neat idea.

How did it look?

A posteriori

• Although I was aware that you need to add a lot of water while making it, I was simply not prepared for the way it kept on absorbing all the water that I poured into it. It really swells up, this stuff. When I thought it was over, I tasted it, and it felt very uncooked - it was after another half a litre of water and 15 minutes that I finally got what I wanted.

23rd June 2010 - Dinner - Mushroom Sauté

What?

This was a quickie. Sangram and Ramu bought a can of mushrooms that day, so I thought I would give them a try. This was the first time I was making anything with mushrooms, and I generally don't like them too soggy, so I went for this thing that we had as a starter. I took some regular butter, a dollop of garlic spread and stir fried some green peppers and tomatoes with these cut mushrooms. Some ground pepper, salt and lemon juice later, we had a tasty appetizer. Partial credits to Anasuya for the idea.

How did it look?

A posteriori

• Some garlic spread on the thing gave a good end taste the whole thing.
• So, the general funda now is - take some garlic spread and butter and use it to stir fry peppers and anything else for some time - add salt, pepper and lemon juice - and you have a winner.

11th June 2010 - Lunch - Gaajar ka Halwa

What?
Plain and simple. Gajar ka Halwa, something that was long overdue this summer. We didn't have a grater earlier, but then it was available for like $3.5 so I thought we might as well purchase it. It was useful though. I also use it for grating onions, whenever I want to make a gravy in which onion paste is needed. Short of a mixer/grinder, this gives reasonable results.

How did it look?

A posteriori

• No condensed milk this time, just simple 2% milk.
  
• In tune with my general technique, I did the preliminary cooking in the µWave and then proceeded with adding milk gradually.
  

17th June 2010 - Dinner - Paav Bhaaji

What?

This year, apart from making routine stuff, I have decided I would avenge all those dishes that got screwed up last year. Uptil now, noodles, fried rice, kofta sort of stuff have come out pretty well, and next in line was Paav Bhaaji. When I had tried to make Paav Bhaaji here and here, the result had been pretty disappointing. In both cases I had added cabbage, a most terrible mistake, worsened by the fact that I had used red cabbage. On top of all this, the masaala I had purchased was of some random company, and that clearly showed.

However, this time, none of this was to be. I stuck to potatoes, carrots, peas and carrots, and had Everest Paav Bhaaji masala.

How did it look?

A posteriori

• At home, we make it in a slightly different way. Tomatoes are boiled with the rest of the vegetables and blend in. But, since I use minced tomatoes here and because I wanted the restaurant sort of red look, I skipped boiling them and rather used onions and tomatoes to make the gravy in which the boiled, mashed vegetables were mixed. If you have ever seen the guy at Gulmohar cafeteria make paav bhaji, his approach is similar - mashed vegetables are kept separately, and as per the order, he takes some tomato gravy on his big black pan (for lack of a better name) and mixes them.
• At the end, liberal quantities of lemon juice and butter, along with some cilantro of course.