Spaghetti Recipe (Indian Style) – Cilantro Peanut Pesto Pasta

spaghetti indian style

I

like to stick on to the taste of Indian food, absolutely hot & spicy along

with the Indian staples rice or roti. Though I do not like to experiment much with

foods, at times I do try out new recipes for my kids and hubby. Just like the

masala pasta, wanted to try a spaghetti recipe which has the kick of an Indian

desi food but without the use of much garam masala. During the lookout, I found

Martha Stewart’s Pasta with

Cilantro-Peanut Pesto recipe and I absolutely fell for it, looking at the

simplicity. I tried out a couple of times, just followed the recipe as it is

except adding cumin / jeera to give an indian touch and excluded soya sauce and lemon zest. It is very

simple to prepare and barely takes 30 mins. Iam sure this Spaghetti Recipe in Indian style will be liked by many of us.It can be accompanied with any

clear soups or salads. I prefer the vegetable chicken soup or vegetable barley soup or chickpeas soup (yet to post) along with this spaghetti. If you have

little kids to relish this, do reduce the chilies.

Note:

The freshness and amount of coriander leaves (cilantro) that you use is very

important here. If you do not use enough cilantro, it does not taste good and

is not flavorful too. If you feel your spaghetti is less flavorful, grind

additional leaves and just stir in the spaghetti.

Ingredients

Serves

2

160

to 180 gms spaghetti

1

• cup of tightly packed fresh cilantro + fistful of additional leaves (coriander leaves)
• 1
• to 1 ½ tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 2
• to 3 hot green chilies
• tsp. of cumin
• 1
• tsp. sugar (optional)
• Salt
• to taste
• Lemon
• juice as needed
• 2
• tbsps. Sesame oil + olive oil
• cup of peanuts (can reduce 1 tbsp.)

Method

1. Dry roast peanuts

till they turn slightly golden. Set aside to cool and remove the skin.

2. Cook spaghetti to al

dente by following the instructions on the pack. Drain, rinse, drain thoroughly

and set aside

3. Meanwhile pulse peanuts coarsely

and set aside ¼ of this.

4. Add cilantro,

ginger garlic paste, cumin, green chilies to the same jar. Pulse till a coarse

paste forms. Your pesto is ready

5. In a large bowl,

add oil, pesto and lemon juice

6. Add your spaghetti

and toss well.

Garnish

with cilantro and peanuts that were set aside

Serve

with soup or salad or as it is.

*Change in the color is due to the different sources of lighting