Tomato pasta

Think global act local!

What an apt catchphrase, for cuisine picked up from other countries and customized according to locally available ingredients and tastes. Pasta is one of these. I wonder if Italians ever add cumin seeds to their pasta. Indians do.  

Ok, here's one pasta dish I enjoy making and eating, especially on cold winter evenings.

What would you need?   

200 grams dried pasta

2 teaspoons oil (any refined oil will do if olive oil is not available)

7 - 8 medium sized ripe red tomatoes 

2 – 3 dried red chillies broken into large pieces

1 – 2 medium flakes garlic crushed

Grated cheese to sprinkle 

Toasted bread bite-sized pieces (optional)

Salt to taste.

Method:

Chop the tomatoes into small pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai (wok). Add the garlic and chillies.

Once the garlic begins to brown, add the chopped tomato.

Add salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Boil the pasta till cooked al dente. Dump the pasta into a sieve to drain off the water.You can save some of this water to add to the tomato sauce if you prefer a soupy pasta. 

Add to the tomato prepared above. Serve hot, sprinkled with cheese, toasted bread croutons, and torn basil leaves.

Note:

- You can add a teaspoon of sugar to the tomato sauce, to soften the harshness of garlic and sour tomato.

- If you have to cook pasta in advance, rinse the cooked pasta in a sieve under cold water tap. Add a tsp of oil and toss so the pasta pieces do not stick to each other.

- You could add boiled corn, cauliflower florets, peas, carrot juliennes, broccoli, french beans to the above tomato sauce.