Is it Italian-Is it Indian ? - Fusilli Marries Sambhar !!

Trust Hubby Dearest to cook up a storm (literally !) :D . Not in the mood for anything elaborate, I made a hasty lunch on Sunday which was to be a quickie rice n sambhar. Hubby had his own plans of making the sombre affair into something devilishly good! He spotted fusilli in the pantry and the sambhar that I had cooked for lunch and guess what makeover it got - yup Italy meets Chennai in my hearth and what a jolly good encounter it was! 

In hubby's hand the fusilli happily gels with all n sundry items in the fridge - on its way to yum city it embraces charred onions & amp; pepper, fried mushrooms & cottage cheese before finally blending with sambhar mixed white sauce. 


Verdict:- It had something for everybody - mushrooms & olives kept my daughter hooked while my son was happy with cottage cheese in it. As for me, the whole dish got me all  =p~ and :) . Hubby "Chef" Take a Bow ! 
For the un-initiated Sambhar is a tangy gravy of lentils with veggies spiked with Sambhar Powder that is a fuse of various spices like coriander seeds,red chillis etc and is usually paired with rice or tiffins like dosa/idlis /uthappams.

Sambhar & Sambhar Powder (Spice Mix)

So what's in it :- (adjust quantity as required)

• Fusilli Tricolure  - 200gms -approx - use any pasta you like
• Podi Sambhar - 150 ml or as required
• Sambhar Powder - 1 tbsp -(I used store bought)
• Butter - 50 gms
• Al Purpose Flour - 50 gms
• Milk- 500 ml - boiled
• Cottage Cheese - 100 gms - cubed & fried
• Mushrooms - 100 gms - sliced & fried
• Onion - 1 or 2 large - sliced & grilled
• Green pepper - 1 char grilled
• Olives - a few
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - 5 gms
• Nutmeg Powder - 5 gms

How:-


First take equal amounts of the butter and flour. Mix well after melting the butter - this mix called as roux. Add the boiled milk into the roux and mix it well to avoid any lumps. Thicken it on a low flame to a sauce like consistency. This is the basic white sauce of french cooking also known as Bechamel Sauce. To this add the Sambhar powder. Take it off the flame and add about 150 ml of sambhar, a pinch of salt (if needed), about 5 gms of pepper and 5 gms of nutmeg powder, to get an Indo-Italian Sauce.

Keep the other ingredients ready. Cook the fusilli as per instructions on the pack and set aside. On a skewer add the onion slices  & pepper and char it directly on stove top. The cottage cheese & mushroom pieces are deep fried for a few seconds and put on the absorbent paper.

Charred Veggies/Fried Mushrooms & Cottage Cheese

Finally mixing time :-
In a big wok , add the pasta and olives. To it add the charred veggies & fried mushrooms & paneer. Toss it well. Finally add the sauce and mix it well with a fork.

Serve hot & Enjoy !

Sending the dish to Fusion Food : Pasta happening @ Ramya's Recipes





Linking it to Vardhini's Dish it Out - Mushrooms & Onions, guest hosted by Kalyani@Momchef