Low Fat Vegan Tomato Pasta Sauce ~ With Stepwise Pictures

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On the days that I have pasta on the menu, if I happen to be short on time,  I don't mind using store bought pasta sauces. But store bought pasta sauces are not my first preference. Firstly the taste and freshness of the homemade version easily surpasses the store bought version. Additionally if I happen to have a large jar, I have to worry about storing the balance of the sauce and using it up fairly soon so that it does not spoil.

Increasingly I find myself turning to quick and easy pasta sauces that do not take too much time and effort, yet have the fresh homemade taste. The additional benefit, as with any homemade food, is that I get to see exactly what goes in and enjoy the food without any guilt. This low fat pasta sauce is one of the pasta sauces I make often these days. The first time I made it I was amazed at how quick and tasty it turned out, since then I have made it quite a few times and it always turns out consistently good.

Looking for pasta recipes ? Here are a few other pasta recipes in this space
Pasta with roasted Red bell pepper sauce
Thai Inspired Pasta
Southwestern pasta salad

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Ingredients and Method to make Tomato pasta Sauce (adapted from this recipe)
1 red onion cut fine (pyaaz/ vengayam)
1 green bell pepper/ capsicum deseeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces (simla mirch/ koda molagai)
2 cups diced tomatoes (I needed 3 med large tomatoes for this ) (tamatar/ thakkali)
1 Tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic peeled and cut fine. (lehsun/ poondu)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper ( or 1/2 tsp black pepper powder)
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Prep all the vegetables. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add onion  and garlic and saute until onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes and green bell pepper. Add salt, dried basil, dried oregano and crushed red pepper and stir until the tomatoes and bell pepper is cooked and soft.

Remove from heat, allow to cool and puree until smooth. Place back in pan, heat and serve over cooked pasta of choice. Store leftover sauce after it cools thoroughly in a glass bottle or air tight container in the refrigerator and use within a couple of days for freshest taste.

I served it over multigrain elbow pasta and this quantity of sauce is enough for about 2 and 1/2 cups of dried pasta cooked as per manufacturers directions.

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Tomato Chutney ~ Thakkali chutney for idlis/ dosas.

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The combination of onions and tomatoes in chutney is classic and tastes especially good when made to go with dosa (savory Indian crepes) or idlis (steamed savory cakes) . Something about this combination is just so appealing that trying different variations of chutneys with these two main ingredients never gets old. No wonder than that there are already two other chutneys with this combination that have already made their way into this space :)

This third version is something I make quite often these days. It is super easy, quick and is perfect for when you do not want to spend too much time on the chutney part of breakfast, tiffin or dinner :) It tastes amazing with all kinds of dosa / idli varieties and even as a spread in sandwiches or as a dip for veggies. So if you are looking for a quick, easy and versatile chutney, give this one a try :) 

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Ingredients and Method to make Tomato Chutney
1 medium sized red onion cut fine (pyaaz/vengayam)
3 medium large tomatoes cut fine (tamatar/thakkali)
1 clove garlic cut fine (lehsun/poondu) (optional)
3 dry red chilies (or to taste) (Lal mirch/molaga vathal)
1/2 tsp sugar (shakkar/sakkarai)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
1 Tbsp oil

Seasoning (optional, see notes)
1 tsp oil
3/4 tsp mustard seeds (sarson/rai/kadagu)
a pinch of asafoetida powder (hing/perungayam)

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed medium sized pan. Add onions and stir until the onions are translucent. Add garlic (if using) and dry red chilies and stir a few times.

Add tomatoes and stir until the tomatoes are cooked, soft and mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Puree/ Grind this mixture in a blender/ mixer until smooth. Add salt to taste, sugar and give it another turn in the mixer. Remove and place chutney in a bowl.

In a small pan, heat oil and  add mustard seeds to it, when the seeds splutter add pinch of asafoetida powder and stir once or twice. Pour entire seasoning on the chutney and mix well.

Serve chutney with dosa/ idli or any other Indian breakfasts/ tiffins or you can use it as a dip for veggies or a spread for sandwiches.

Notes:
The seasoning is not absolutely essential, it tastes good even without it, so if you want to skip it you can.

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Tomato Coconut Curry ~ Thakkali Kozhambu ~ With Stepwise Pictures.

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On some days I feel like deciding what to make for lunch or dinner is much more challenging than actually making the food. Especially when the vegetable tray in the refrigerator is beginning to get empty and the choice of vegetables on hand is beginning to dwindle. On days like these, this tomato coconut curry is my fall back plan. Since tomatoes and onions are almost always on hand in my home, this easy curry can be rustled up anytime.

This curry is my adaptation of a tomato kozhambu recipe that I came across in a Mallika Bhadrinath book a while back. When I first came across it, the ingredients and simplicity really appealed to me. I have made this a few times now and have further simplified this recipe. I love how this curry consistently turns out so well,  and in spite of such minimal ingredients and spices, every bite of this curry is just bursting with flavor. Whether this is served with plain steamed rice or with some phulkas (Indian flatbread) this curry never disappoints :)

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Ingredients and Method to make Tomato Coconut Curry
2 red onions sliced lengthwise (pyaaz/vengayam)
2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies slit lengthwise
6 medium sized tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Yielded 2 cups of cut pieces) (tamatar/thakkali)
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or any other flavorless oil)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/manjal podi)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
1 cup coconut milk (nariyal ka doodh/thengai paal)
7 to 8 curry leaves torn in half for garnish.

Coconut Masala Paste
1/2 tsp chopped ginger (adrak/inji)
3 dry red chilies (or to taste) (Lal mirch/molaga vathal)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam)
1/2 cup grated coconut (nariyal/thengai)

Grind the 4 ingredients mentioned under masala paste with a little bit of water to a smooth paste and keep aside.

 
In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil, add onions and green chilies and saute until the onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp salt and stir until tomatoes are soft and cooked.

Add coconut milk, coconut masala paste,  salt to taste and water as required to achieve desired consistency and simmer for a few minutes until the flavors mingle.

Garnish with torn curry leaves.

Remove from heat and serve hot with plain steamed rice, or with some phulkas/ chapathis.

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Tomato Rice

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As I mentioned in this post, weeknight dinners are usually the time when I look for simple meals that are hearty and satisfying. Nothing fancy or elaborate looks appealing then, I just want something that is quick and tasty. And this tomato rice fits the bill perfectly. It is super easy, requires a minimum of ingredients and yet is big on flavor and taste. Or maybe it's just because I am a tad bit partial towards tomatoes :)

I usually pair this with a hearty mixed vegetable raita such as this one or sometimes with this palak raita (spinach yogurt dip) , but you can just as easily pair this with any kind of curry if you wish. So if you are a tad bit partial to tomatoes too, give this easy peasy rice a try and as always, let me know what you think about it :)



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Ingredients and Method to make Tomato Rice
5 cups of cooked rice (see notes) (chawal)
1 large onion cut fine (pyaz/ vengayam)
4 medium large tomatoes cut fine (Yielded 3 cups of cut pieces) (tamatar/ thakkalli)
1 Tbsp oil
4 Thai or Indian variety green chilies slit lengthwise (or to taste) (hara mirch/ pachai molagai)
3/4 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ kadagu)
3/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam)
salt to taste

Cook rice and spread on a plate to cool. If you are using day old rice, then you can just proceed to the next step.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds to it, when the mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds. When cumin seeds sizzle, add green chilies and stir a few times.

Add onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, a pinch of salt and stir until the tomatoes are cooked and soft.

Add cooked rice, salt to taste and mix well. Allow the rice to heat on low to medium low heat for a minute or so until it heats through, stirring gently so as to not break the rice.

Remove and serve hot with any kind of curry or with any kind of raita and chips/ papad on the side.
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Suggested variation : Add 1 Tbsp of tomato ketchup to give this rice a slightly saucy taste:)

Notes:
You can use either brown short grain rice, brown basmati, white basmati rice or short grain white rice for this recipe. Just cook the rice until it is done, yet each grain is separate and firm.

I usually make this with brown basmati rice.After rinsing the rice, I soak about 1.5 cups of brown basmati in about 2.25 cups of water for about 30 minutes, then I pressure cook it until done. Remove from the pressure cooker after it has subsided, spread to cool and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

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Onion Tomato Chutney version 2

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While browsing the internet an article titled, "The most unhealthy veggie sandwich" caught my eye.Curious to find out which sandwich got this title and also apprehensive that it may be one of those veggie sandwiches that I occasionally have when eating out, I warily clicked on the article. I was relieved to find that the sandwich mentioned in the article is something I have never had, yet the information was quite shocking and I immediately thought this was something I wanted to share with my readers. 

The article  says that Blimpie's Veggie Supreme sandwich (12") contains 1106 calories. Imagine that, a veggie sandwich that contains 1106 calories, seems totally insane. In addition it contains 56 g of fat seemingly because this sandwich uses three types of cheese and a lot of oil too. This sandwich was not the only shocker, the article then went on to list a whole list of extremely high calorie foods available at restaurants including a Dessert Ravioli at Romano's Macaroni Grill that contains a whopping 1630 calories and 74 g of fat. Amazing isn't it, I am so glad that neither of these items nor the other items mentioned in the list have been ones I have ever ordered when eating out. 

Having said that I realize that most of the food served at restaurants tend to be much higher in calories than when we make them at home. This is the reason I avoid eating out too much and when I do,I try and make smart choices by sticking with low fat soups or watching the portion sizes and eating smaller portions. On the rare occasion that we order dessert (which is really a rare event) we just share one serving of dessert so that all our efforts in watching our weight and counting calories is not rendered completely ineffective in one fell stroke.This usually works well and is a better alternative than giving up eating out completely.I am sure all of you have your own techniques to avoid weight gain even when eating out, do share them.... I would love to hear these tips.

Moving on to the recipe which is in complete contrast to the discussion above, this chutney is  low fat, wholesome and tasty and I use it to make sandwiches at home and avoid disasters such as Blimpie's veggie sandwich :-) I call this chutney onion tomato chutney version 2, my earlier version of this chutney can be found here. I use this chutney in veggie sandwiches in place of mayo  but this works just as well in accompaniment with any traditional Indian dish such as dosa's, idli's or roti's or as a dip to go with raw veggies :)

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Ingredients and Method to make Onion tomato chutney version 2

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seed (methi seeds/ mendiyam)

6 curry leaves (optional)

6 whole dry red chillies (or according to taste)

1 large onion cut fine

4 large tomatoes cut fine ( I used roma tomatoes)

salt to taste

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add mustard seeds to it.

When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add fenugreek seeds to it.

When the fenugreek seeds start getting a little browner, add onions and saute until onions are transparent then add tomatoes to it.

Saute the tomatoes until it is soft and mushy. Add whole dry red chilies and curry leaves if using and stir a couple of times. Remove from heat.

Allow to cool completely, then grind this mixture to a smooth paste, add salt to taste and mix well and serve with any dosa, any roti, use in sandwiches  instead of mayo or use as a dip to go with raw veggies.

Refrigerate the balance and use within 2 to 3 days.

This chutney is off to the Chutney/Dip Mania Event being hosted by Ramya

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Onion Tomato Curry ~ Sev Tamatar ki Subzi ~ Sev tomato nu shaak ~ With Stepwise pictures

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This curry made with tomatoes and onions is from Gujarat, a region in the western part of India. I am not sure though, of its origin in my kitchen :-) I believe I read this recipe a long while ago in some book or magazine and have been making it since then. I love the tangy spicy taste of this curry and find the speed and simplicity of this a real plus, especially when I am in a hurry or when I am running out of veggies.

Before I get to it though, let me share something completely off topic. Recently while working on my glossary I was researching the health benefits of mustard seeds.If you are familiar with Indian cooking then you know that mustard seeds play a prominent role in most dishes especially curries. I never really gave any thought to mustard seeds and if I would have had to say why they were used in cooking I would have concluded that they were there for taste and for decorative purposes :-) I am sure that my fellow bloggers will agree that mustard seeds, split gram lentil, cilantro and other garnishes have gained special importance as decoration, now that we have to take pictures for our blogs :-)

Anyway I was amazed when I learned that mustard seeds actually are rich in selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. They are also a good source of phosphorous, magnesium iron, zinc and calcium. Really, who knew? I, for one did not..... hmmmm so the next time I feel like skipping the seasoning for my chutney, I should keep
this article in mind :)
  


 
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Ingredients and Method to make sev tomato nu shaak
2 large onions cut fine (yielded 2 cups of cut pieces) (pyaaz/vengayam)
5 to 6 large tomatoes cut into 1/4 inch pieces (yielded 4 cups of cut pieces) (tamatar/thakkali)
1 Tbsp oil
3/4 tsp mustard seeds (rai/sarson/kadagu)
3/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam)
1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi/ manjal podi)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
1/2 tsp chilli powder ( or according to taste)
1 to 2 heaped tsp sugar (shakkar/sakkarai)
a pinch of asafoetida powder (hing/ perungayam) (optional)
sev according to taste (fried gram flour noodles) (available in all Indian groceries)
2 to 3 Tbsp cilantro cut fine (coriander leaves/ hara dhania/ kothamalli)(optional)

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds to it, when the seeds splutter, add cumin seeds to this oil.

When the cumin seeds sizzle,add asafoetida if using stir once or twice, then add onions and saute until the onions become transparent.

Add tomatoes, turmeric powder,  salt, sugar and chilli powder and stir until the tomatoes are cooked and become soft.

Garnish with cilantro and sev just before serving and serve hot with phulkas/ chapathis/ rotlis or any other kind of flat bread.

Serves approximately 2

Notes:If you plan to serve this a while after you make it, add sev just before serving.

Related RecipesCreamy Mushroom Curry 

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