Spicy Vegetable Schezwan Pasta (Fusilli).

"Spicy Vegetable Schezwan Pasta (Fusilli)" ... prepared pasta along with other dishes for lunch today ... in anxiety during the month of April- September 2020 after facing a lot of hardship, I went overboard and stocked up on food ingredients that would last for an year ... Sigh !!! and now I need to finish it off ... veggies are available in plenty, so added them on and here is a delicious bowl full of pasta for all ... Yummilicious ....

** Prepared some pasta again adding loads of veggies to pass it on to my friend who had sent some sweets and I had to send back her dabba with something filled in. Remember I had written once long back that her son had casually made a comment that aunty cooked only amchi and did not know continental. Lol kids these days are so observing by nature, I had assured my friend that he was right and that I really did not know much and was also reluctant to try them out at this age as there were no one who would relish them. Well, as noodles and pasta is something we relish once in way, I had stocked them last year on my haste to keep my home well stocked during pandemic which I have already mentioned before and I need to finish it off before its expiry date. 

** I thought of surprising the kiddo with this dish while praying all the time he would like it and not give me a few more thoughts to think on. The kid loves spiced dishes, so changed the same by increasing it by adding on some kashmiri mirchi powder. First I tasted it myself so that everything was ok to my hubby's amusement, coz. he had never seen me so much in tension regarding any food dish as this one. Well, that's me, I worry when I need to serve others even if it's amchi dishes, and here was a kid who was used to God knows which hifi restos and would be issuing me a certificate. Well, the dabba was packed and sent and I waited in high tension. I was wondering what happened when there was no new for over 3-4 hours and assumed I had failed.

** Well, that's it I thought and went about doing my work while all the time I never bothered to check my phone as I had offed notifications and sound as it keeps tinking and I get irritated while doing office work. At lunch time I saw my friends message where in the kiddo himself had written and sent a beutiful, smiley of hug and thumbs up and written Aunty, You rock. Oh, it made my day, but still had my doubts and asked my friend who had written the message and she vouched it was her son, who had not only relished it but shared with his friends too, Ahhaaa after a long long time my day was made. I congratulated my friend for putting up with him, Sigh, it is no joke these days to satisfy a kid, they are too smart and clever having exposure to all worldly knowledge at a young age. 

** Here is my simple recipe for "Spicy Vegetable Schezwan Pasta (Fusilli)"… the recipe is similar to other with minute difference as pastas are something I have not yet ventured into preparing something different … and yes a huge bunch of thanks to my friends kid, my little hero, for the motivation, I am not including names as requested by them to avoid exposure ..... 

** Preparing the Fusilli (Pasta) : Boil about 2 liters of water and when it comes to boiling point add in about 200-250 gms of Fusilli/ Spiral shaped Pasta and stir once, let it come to boiling point again, once it does, let cook for a few minutes say about 3-4 minutes, it turns a bit soft, then remove from fire, add in a teaspoon of oil, mix well and keep it aside covered for 5-10 minutes. Keep checking in between to avoid the noodles getting mushy, It should be just done, soft and slightly transparent, takes about 5-7 minutes. Now drain off the excess water by putting it into a colander. Rinse under running water till the cooked noodles are completely cooled. Keep it aside allowing all water to getting drained off properly, keep this ready aside.

** Peel of the skin of one large sized Carrot (Gajjar) and cut them into 3 inch sized strips. Also wash and cut the green Capsicum (Donne Mirsanga/ Simla Mirchi) into strips of the same length. Cut Cauliflower (Phool Gobi) also into similar sized florets after checking out and cleaning if there are worms. Similarly also do cut Cabbage (Gobi/ Kobi) into strip of same size. Shell the Green Peas (Vatana) if using fresh ones and keep them too ready.

** All veggies should be cut into thin strips of same size and kept ready. The final beauty of pasta/ noodles always lies in just cooked even sized veggies, so do keep that in mind while slicing and cooking. You can leave out any or add in any of your choice too. Peel off the skin of one large sized Onion (Piyavu/ Kanda) and slice them lengthwise as thinly as possible. Peel off the skin of 8-10 large sized Garlic (Losun/ Lehsun) cloves and finely chop them. Keep all of these ready before you begin to prepare the Noodles.

** In a thick bottomed wide mouthed thick bottomed kadai add in 2-3 tblsp of Oil/Tel and bring to smoking point heat. Now add in the finely chopped garlic and fry for a minute, immediately add in the sliced onions and continue frying for just 2-3 minutes. The onions should just be stir fried and should not change in colour. Now add in carrot, cauliflower and green peas and stir fry on high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Lower the heat cover and cook for 3 minutes

** Now raise the heat and add in capsicum, cabbage and stir fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Then once again lower the heat, cover and cook all together for just 2 minutes. Do not over cook the veggies, you can also add in 50% prior cooked veggies which will make the cooking procedure faster and easier. My procedure may differ from that of those who have ample knowledge of cooking pastas, but this is the way I found to get them perfect cooked.

** Note : Frying should be done on high heat initially as when done so it traps the water in the veggies within or else the crispiness of the same gets lost and turns out soggy. However, in doing so care should be taken to see that the veggies do not get burnt. This tip was shared by worldwide famous Chef. Sanjeev Kapoor ji in one of his hosted program decades back and that which I always follow and have found to be of great help too.

** Now heat a small pan with 1 tblsp of oil, when hot lower the heat and add in 1 tsp of kashmiri red chilly powder and immediately add 1-2 tblsp of soya sauce, 2-3 tblsp of red chilliy sauce, 1 tsp of white vinegar and 3-4 tblsp of tomato sauce and mix well. Let cook taking care to see that it does not stick to to bottom, now remove and add this to the veggies along with the prepared and kept aside fusilli (pasta) and toss all well together. Cover and let cook for a few minutes till well heated within and remove from fire to be served immediately.

** "Spicy Vegetable Schezwan Pasta (Fusilli)"… is done and is ready to be served. Always serve it piping hot right from the kadai to plate as it tastes best that way, though you can eat it later on too. Tastes awesome when served for dinner or when children come home hungry from playing out in hot sun or from school too. It is winter time now and due to the pandemic children are bound to home and online classes which makes them get very irritated and hungry all the time. The addition of veggies makes the pasta nutritious and once in a way it is great to have these though personally I do not recommend the sauces, but then anything in limits is fine and definitely better than store bought noodles or instant ones available now.

** Note : Addition of Salt is individual choice. I do not add as I believe in cutting off salt as much as possible which is not good for health. Here addition of the sauces ensures that enough of salt is added as these sauces have high content of salt in them. In case you wish to add as per the taste of your family do check in and add only that much how much is necessary.

** Note : I have neither added Aji-no-moto or vinegar as somehow I do not like them and I find that there is no much change in taste too if they are excluded. Some do add in a pinch of sugar, which again I have not added. White pepper powder is added on preferably to Chinese or Italian dishes instead of black, I have avoided pepper powder all together this time, though I do add in black pepper powder sometimes.

** Note : The variation I made here was addition of kashmiri red chilly powder which gave the pasta a very lovely reddish tinge and increased the spiciness without having to increase the red chilly sauce. You may increase the amount of red chilly sauce if desired depending upon your family choice and avoid chilly powder but try it out once as these sauces are not very good for health. The choice off course is exclusively yours. I somehow, prefer to be keep it simple and I have found the taste to be same as that of which is served in the restaurants.

** Note : Instant noodles, pastas are OK if consumed once in a while and do not make the habit of the same. Instant noodles are really not that good for health though we all love to eat them when we are hungry and short of time. A little bit of planning when done ensures you serve a healthier meal to your family. You can always prepare Hakka Noodles with plenty of veggies of your choice and serve it during dinner as it hardly takes time to cook while it ensures that your children eat healthy veggies.