Spaghetti with Ghee & Curry Leaf

Never knew that a trip to India can be this simple & easy! The divine smell of "curry leaves toasted in ghee" takes you on a quick nostalgic flight to Perumal kovil in South-India, with a priest handing out a dhonnai full of hot venn-pongal !!!

A perfect pasta recipe but with a bold "desi" twist to have in your back-pocket as an alternative to rice. With some steamed/grilled veggies on the side, makes it a perfect picnic lunch! Skip red chillies for mild flavor, and kids will be ga-ga over this recipe!

Recipe source - Veggie Belly

Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep time - 5 mins
Cook time - 20 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients
Spaghetti Pasta (or any variety) - 1 lbs (appox 500 gms)
Ghee - 2-3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilli - 1 no (broken into 2 halves)
Hing - 1/8 tsp
Curry leaves - 10 - 12 nos
Salt - to taste

Method

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil over high heat. Add spaghetti and cook until al-dente or according to the package instructions. Drain (without rinsing), reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.

In a large pan, add ghee. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Add hing, red chilli and stir for few secs. Add curry leaves and stir for a min until fragrant.

Add drained pasta, reserved pasta water and toss well.

Serve warm.

Tips

- Cook pasta with just right amount of salt in water. Perfectly salted pasta adds to the taste.

- Use this recipe as a guideline and play with it according to your likes. For instance, you can roast urad dal, peanuts, cashews for extra crunchiness.

- Only ghee can give that unique, nutty flavor to pasta.
- Make sure that the mustard seeds are popped completely before adding hing/red chillies.