Macaroni Muddle

This is a recipe I can fall back on when I am feeling a little unreasonable, that is, I want something "different" for dinner (different from the usual dal chawal or roti sabzi) but I do not want to eat out nor invest much energy on cooking something grand. Moreover, this dish is perfect if you want to use up all those little scraps and bits of things lying around in your fridge or kitchen.

The best part about this dish is that no matter how many times I make it, it never tastes the same; simply because every time I make it, there is either some new ingredient or some ingredient missing from the earlier version ! Its possible to change the taste and texture of this dish also by replacing the macroni with any other kind of pasta. You can find a huge list of different types of pasta here, though the most commonly available ones are the penne, fusilli, farfalle and macaroni.

So much said about the possible variations in the prepartion , here is my version of the recipe.

What you'll need:
Small sized onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise allowing the layers to fall apart.
Green bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into 1 inch pieces
Cocktail sausages cut breadthwise into small roudels
Mushrooms (pre-sauted in butter)
Chopped garlic and green chilles.
Packet of macaroni
Soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
Grated Cheese (Cheddar or Mozerella)

The method:

Boil half a packet of macaroni with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil (to prevent it from sticking together), till soft and well cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a non-stick Wok, saute the onions and garlic till golden brown, add the rest of the ingredients including the macaroni and saute for a minute. Add the sauces, ketchup and salt to taste. Stir fry for another minute and remove from heat. Remove into a serving dish and sprinkle with grated cheese while still hot, allowing the cheese to melt.

 

For the vegetarians - replace the sausages with small cubes of paneer. I've tried that variation, and it tastes as good !