HOW TO MAKE Basic Pesto / Simple Pesto / Italian Pesto

Basic Pesto / Simple Pesto / Italian Pesto



Italian Lunch : Pennie coated with pesto, garden salad using home grown

cherry tomatoes dressed with raspberry vinaigrette



Ever Since I tasted the Pennie Pasta coated with the green delicious pesto, I have become addicted to that greenish oil and herb sauce. I never fail to taste this pesto at least once a month. Not only me, my family loves this pesto and urge me to make this more often in my kitchen. As its abundant during summer, we could enjoy our home made pesto this time using our home grown fresh basil leaves.

Though Basil leaves are prominently featured in Italian cuisine, its originally a native of India. Health benefits of basil is mainly due to the essential oils present in basil, and its widely used in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, stress related issues due to its antiviral, antioxidant properties. There are many varieties of basil found in the world and their culinary use varies with different regions.





Ingredients




Fresh Basil Leaves - 2 Cups packed
Garlic Pods - 3
Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
Broken Walnuts - 1/2 cup
( Pine nuts can be substituted if available ).
Black Peppercorns - 1/2 tbsp
( Add more pepper powder if you want to ).
Salt - To Taste.


Method

Wash the basil leaves and keep ready. Dry roast the walnuts and black peppercorns first. Then grind them in a mixer grinder coarsely along with other ingredients. Add salt and black pepper powder according to your taste at the end. Keep the sauce in an air tight container. Add portions of this pesto to the cooked pasta and thoroughly mix this with the pasta and enjoy with a side of  a garden salad and fresh sparkling apple cider. A perfect Italian meal on any special day in your life.

HOW TO MAKE Sorakkai Paratha / Dhoodhi Paratha / Lauki Paratha

Sorakkai Paratha / Dhoodhi Paratha / Lauki Paratha



Garam Dhoodhi parathas with a side of Methi Kadi and some onion

Bottle gourd which is called as "Dhoodhi" or "Lauki" in Hindi and "Sorakkai" in Tamil and "Sorakaya " in Telugu, has more water content, fills the stomach and easy for digestion. As it has very less calories, its ideal for weight reduction too. We can make Dal, Payasam / Kheer, Kootu, etc using this vegetable. But when i first tasted this Dhoodhi Paratha few years before, I liked it very much. This paratha was first introduced by a Gujarati aunty who helped us in our kitchen after my delivery. Till today, I have been following many of her recipes in my kitchen and the dishes always remind me of her cooking, taste and kindness..

Ingredients

Bottle gourd / Sorakkai - 1 Medium

Wheat Flour - 5 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Green Chillies - 2 Medium

Omum / Ajwain Seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1.5 tsp

Coriander Powder - 3-4 tsp

Fennel Seeds/Sombhu - 2 tsp ( crushed into powder ).

Method

• Peel the skin of the Bottle Gourd and grate them carefully.
• Knead the dough by mixing all the ingredients as mentioned above without adding water. Make sure that the paratha dough is bit tight and its always better to prepare the paratha dough few minutes before making the Parathas.
• Make lemon size ball and spread it into a big round using a chapati roller. While making the paratha, if required just flip the sides with wheat flour or maida flour which in turn makes the process easier.
• Cook the parathas on a heated kadai/pan on both sides. Apply little ghee or oil over the parathas after its done and serve hot with any of your favourite side dish.
• Generally we love to have a side of Kadi and some tangy tomato pickle on its side at our home. Trust me, parathas taste very good with a side of Kadi or raita.

Tips/Variations 

• If the peeled skin of the Bottle Gourd is thin and fresh, preserve those for making a very tasty pachidi/thogayal.
• Instead of using coriander powder, crush the coriander seeds and fennel seeds / somfu coarsely and add that freshly grounded powder while making the dough. This fresh powder gives an unique taste to the Parathas for sure. ( As told by my friend ).