I know this sounds strange and overkill - putting potatoes AND pasta in the same dish... too much starch.
However, this dish was created by my friend Janah during college times, mixing two different recipes from our Indian cookbooks. And I just love it!
Janah and I shared our passion for Indian food and had several Indian cookbooks :)
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tps cumin, 1 tps coriander
- 2 small onions - diced
- 3 tomatoes - diced
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- 1/2 tsp chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1 chili pepper - sliced
- 3-4 potatoes - big cubes
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 carrot - sliced
- 1 zucchini - sliced
- 1 bell pepper - diced
- 4 muschrooms - sliced
- 1/2 cup corn
- 2 cups pre-cooked pasta (Fusilli)
- salt, pepper to taste
Preparation:
Precook the Pasta
Precook pasta according to package instructions. Try al dente, maybe even a minute less, as it will be mixed in with the other ingredients and heated up again. Drain and set aside.
Prepare Indian spiced Onion-Tomatoe Base
Heat up the oil in a frying pan. Add the Indian spices (cumin, coriander) and seeds (mustard, fennel, cumin), heat up for a minute, keep stirring so that the spices down burn. Heated up they will develop their aroma. Add the onions and fry for a couple of minutes till translucent. Then add the tomatoes, garlic, chili powder and salt. Stir and let cook for a few minutes till the spices have infused the tomato mix.
Cook the Potato-Veggie Mix
At the same time, heat up oil in a big pot. Add the sliced chili pepper, the potato cubes and the mustard seeds. Stir and let the potatoes brown a bit on the edges for about 3-5 minutes, but don't let them stick to the bottom. Add salt and tomato paste. Mix everything. Add maybe a few tablespoon water, so that the tomato paste is dissolved. Add the carrots and let everything cook for about 5 minutes. Potatoes and carrots are the hardest vegetables and need the longest.
Now, add in the Indian spices onion-tomato base. If the tomato-onion base have already soaked up some of the juices, then add some more water. Mix everything well. Then, add the last veggies (bell pepper, mushrooms, corn). Cook another 5 minutes till all the veggies are fork soft.
Mix everything
Lastly, add the pasta. Mix everything and add salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add a bit of water and tomato paste if you like (makes it a bit saucier). Heat up for a couple of minutes. Serve.
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