Healthy Whole Wheat Spaghetti With Red Kidney Beans Sauce By Tikuli Dogra

Tikuli Dogra is an internationally published poet, author and blogger from Delhi whose work has appeared in print and online literary magazines includingLe Zaporogue, MiCROW 8, The Smoking Book (Poets Wear Prada Press, US), Life And legends, Levure Littéraire 10, The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, Open Road Review, Cafe Dissensus, Mnemosyne Literary Journal, Dissident Voice, Women’s Web, Tuck Magazine, The Criterion, Peregrine Muse, Knot Magazine, Asian Signature Magazine, The Bombay Review, The Thumb Print – A Magazine From The East, The Peacock Journal and The Peacock Journal Anthology, TEKSTO- The People’s Magazine, Guntur National Poetry Festival Anthology, Melange – a Potpourri of thoughts, Le Zaporogue Print editions and the much acclaimed Chicken Soup For The Indian Romantic Soul (Westland). Her debut poetry book, Collection of Chaos, was published in 2014 by Leaky Boot Press. Her second book of poems Wayfaring was published in 2017 by Leaky Boot Press. Her third book of poms Duets, written in collaboration with James Goddard, was released in November 2018. She blogs at tikulicious.wordpress.com

 

 

Here comes the recipe in her own words —

 

Whole wheat spaghetti/ pasta  is one of my favorites when it comes to a “meal in jiffy”. It is healthy and easy to prepare. I use Colavita but there are many brands which make 100% whole durum wheat pasta.  I prefer it over the white refined pasta for its immense nutritive value.

This spaghetti is made with red kidney beans in tomato sauce. Red kidney beans are good source of cholesterol lowering fiber and when combined with whole grains they offer fat-free high quality protein. They have many other nutritional benefits too. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene and have great amount of Vitamin C and beta carotene apart from other benefits. Whether it is whole, crushed, diced or paste, tomatoes provide a healthy base for many dishes with the right balance of sweetness and acidity. So here we have a good combination of carbohydrates and proteins in a healthy quick meal. Enjoy!

 

For the Red Kidney Bean Sauce you need 

 

  • Small Kashmiri Red kidney beans – 1/2 cup (boiled)
  • Tomatoes-  4 big Red ripe ones
  • Garlic – 4 big cloves
  • Coriander or cilantro – 1/4 cup
  • Red Onion – 1 big
  • Salt  to taste
  • Black pepper – freshly crushed to taste
  • Green chilli – 2 medium (depending on taste and sharpness of the chillies)
  • Chilly flakes – to taste
  • Tomato ketchup / – 4 tablespoon
  • Tomato chilli sauce – 2 table-spoon or to taste. (optional)

 

Other Ingredients 

  • Whole Wheat Spaghetti or any other pasta – 1/4 packet  (about 100 gm)
  • Olive oil – 2 tablespoon
  • Coriander – to garnish
  • Spring onion to garnish

 

To make the sauce 

  • Wash and pressure cook / boil the red kidney beans with a little salt till soft. Keep in mind that they should be soft and  cooked properly  but not squishy. Blanch, peal  and  crush tomatoes or just grate them after removing the seeds. cut the onion and garlic very fine. Grind the green chillies with a bit of salt. I usually grind them in Mortar and pestle with salt and let the mixture dry completely. Then I store it to use in various things.
  • Take a pan and put it on medium heat. Add olive oil. Add finely chopped garlic and let them roast to a delicate golden brown color then add finely chopped onion. Cook them till translucent then add grated or blanched tomatoes. stir properly and let the mixture cook on medium heat. Add salt and pepper. Oregano  and chilli flakes if desired.
  • You have to be careful with salt as it is added at various stages. We don’t want to ruin the dish, do we? 🙂
  • Once the tomatoes get cooked properly add the tomato sauce and the chilli sauce. Stir and lower the flame.
  • Add the boiled kidney beans and gently mix the sauce and the beans so that the beans don’t get crushed.
  • Add cilantro/ coriander and finely chopped spring onion ( just two tablespoon)
  • Let the  sauce simmer for sometime. We don’t need to dry the beans sauce.

 

Prepare the Spaghetti 

  • Whole wheat spaghetti takes a long time to cook so before you begin with other things do keep the spaghetti ready to add.
  • For that, boil the spaghetti in a big pot of boiling water with a little salt  and a few drops of olive oil  and cook as instructed on the pack or till al dente. Once done strain the spaghetti and rinse under cold water so they don’t stick together.
  • Add the spaghetti to the red kidney beans tomato sauce and toss gently till the sauce lavishly covers the spaghetti.
  • Turn off the stove and serve it hot with cilantro or coriander garnish. Toss a few chopped spring onions if you like them. You can add herbs of your choice in it but I prefer it rustic and simple.
  • You can also serve it the way I have. Layer the pasta and Bean sauce instead or mixing them together and garnish. 🙂


Garnish Tip –

You can make florets of the spring onions by cutting the white root leaving a two-inch stem. Slice the brown hairy root at the top.  Now slice the white part from the top to bottom lengthwise leaving a little space at the end . Place them in a bowl of ice-cold water and refrigerate for two hours till the leaves curl to form a floret. It looks fabulous as a garnish.

 

 

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