Thai Green Curry Pasta

Pasta is so versatile; really, it shouldn’t be restricted to Italian cooking. I love pasta with mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, chili and cilantro – Indian style. I even had a pasta desert in someones house a long time ago – it was pasta cooked with sugar and coconut!

Ok, so the sweet pasta wasn’t exactly good. But I dont think i’ll ever stop experimenting with pasta.

And what better way to enjoy a rainy, cold weekend than to watch movies with a steaming bowl of pasta shells with creamy, flavor packed green curry.

Pasta Shells – 1/2 box
Coconut Milk – 1 can
Thai Green Curry Paste – 3-4 tbsp, I use Thai Kitchen Green Curry paste.
Peanut Butter – 1 tbsp
Soy Sauce – 2 tbsp
Sriracha or chili paste – 1 tbsp, optional
Onion – 1 small, diced
Garlic – 3 cloves, chopped
Ginger – 1 tsp minced
Mushroom – 1 box, sliced
Carrot – 1/2 large carrot chopped
Cilantro – chopped, for garnish
Oil
Salt

Boil the pasta till al dente. In the last 1 minute of cooking, add the carrots to the pasta water and boil. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Drain the shells and carrots.

To the coconut milk, add the green curry paste, peanut butter, soy sauce and sriracha. Mix well.

Heat a pan and add some oil. To the oil, add the onion, garlic and ginger, saute till onions are translucent. Then add the mushrooms and saute on high for 3 minutes. Pour the coconut milk-green curry mixture over the mushrooms. Then add the reserved pasta water. Let it come to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt.

To serve, pour the green curry over pasta and carrots. Garnish with chopped cilantro or scallions.

Peas, baby corn, broccoli or bamboo shoots will also work very well in this recipe.

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Peri-Peri Grilled Halloumi & Portobella Pita with Chilli Jam

This is a copy cate recipe for Nando’s halloumi and portobello pita with chilli jam.

Ever since I had this pita pocket at Nando’s Restaurant in England , Ive been wanting to recreate it. I loved their Peri-Peri spice – they put it on everything including fries! And you can buy Nando’s Peri-Peri sauces online in the US – http://www.nandosusa.com/.

My friend D called to say she was dropping by tonight after a tough day at work. So I thought the grilled Halloumi will be a special treat for her. At the same time I wanted something easy enough for me to put together on a working day. I couldnt think of anything better than this pita! D loved it and even took some back for her husband to try!

Spicy peri-peri on grilled lemony Halloumi…what can I say :)

Grilled Halloumi & Portobella

Halloumi Cheese – 10 oz, cut into slices
Portobella Mushroom – 6 caps
Olive Oil
Lemon juice
Peri-Peri spice – 1 tbsp, see below for recipe
Roasted red pepper
Pita Bread – 3
Mann’s Rainbow Salad - 1 cup. Substitute with shredded carrot, red cabbage and broccoli
Chilli Jam – recipe below

Cut the cheese into 6 slices. Using a spoon, scrape the gills from the mushrooms. Drizzle olive oil on the mushrooms and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. The halloumi doesn’t need oil or salt, so sprinkle just some freshly cracked pepper on it. Heat a grill (I used an outdoor grill) and place the mushrooms and halloumi on it. Grill about 4 minutes each side, depending on your grill. Remove the mushrooms and halloumi and squeeze some lemon juice on them. Then sprinkle the Peri-Peri spice over.

Toss the rainbow salad with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Refrigerate till use.

To make the pita sandwich, warm the pita bread. I put it in the microwave (15 seconds per pita). Cut each pita in half to make pockets.

Spread some chilli jam inside the pocket. Place one grilled mushroom cap and one grilled halloumi slice inside. Then fill the pockets with the rainbow salad and some roasted red peppers.

Chilli Jam

Vidalia Onion – 1 large, finely chopped
Garlic – 3 cloves, finely chopped
Pickled Jalapenos – 10-15 slices, less if you don’t want it hot!
Sugar – 3 tbsp
Apple cider vinegar – 1 tbsp
Olive oil – 4 tbsp
Water – 1/4 th cup

Heat the olive oil, add the onions. Cook onions on low heat till slightly brown and fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium-high for about 5 minutes. Let the jam cool and then blend till smooth.

Peri-Peri Spice

I picked up a very nice Peri-Peri spice when I was in London. California Tortilla also has a killer Peri-Peri sauce which I love. But you can easily make your own spice blend.

Ground Peri-Peri – 1 1/2 parts. Substitute with cayenne and paprika
Dried Basil – 1 part
Dried or powdered Onion – 1 part
Dried or powdered Garlic – 1 part
Salt

Mix all ingredients together.

Above: the Peri-Peri blend I used in this recipe
Below: Nando’s amazing Peri-Peri sauces
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