1. Barilla
2. De Cecco
3. Sunfeast Benne Vita
4. Blue Bird
5. Bambino

Barilla and De Cecco are foreign brands that are now available in Mumbai in most of the stores that keep high end and imported products like Natures Basket, Big Bazar etc. A lot of small grocery stores have also started keeping these pastas. If you plan a trip to any wholesale market like Crawford Market make sure you pick up your stock for the month as they are slightly cheaper than in the stores. Barilla is available more easily than De Cecco. These products range from Rs 155 – 400 for 250 – 500 grams.
Sunfeast had started their range of pasta’s with ready to cook pastas. After bring successful with it they have launched their new rage of wheat pastas. These are available easily in all grocery stores and inspite of being made from wheat they taste great! These are sold for about Rs 95 for 380 grams.
Blue Bird and Bambino have been the oldest brands that have been available in Mumbai for years. Initially they were of very low quality and had limited variety but through the years they have made changes in their products and got in more variety to compete with the other brands. These range from Rs 18 – 35 for 120 – 250 grams.

Since we are talking about pastas, here are quick tips for beginners to cook pasta perfectly:

- When buying pasta check the pack, if it says drum wheat or semolina, go for it! they will retain their shape even after they are cooked!

- The best way to guesstimate pasta is 1 cup of dry pasta makes 2 to 2 1/2 cups of cooked pasta

-To cook pasta take a bigger pot to cook all the pasta properly, add water and bring the water to boil.

- Once the water is boiled add salt, unsalted water boils faster than salted water. Do not add oil as it will coat the pasta which wont let the sauce coat the pasta.

- Add your pasta and keep a watch you want your pasta “al dente” which means to the tooth or slightly chewy as it will be cooked again with your sauce.

- Drain your pasta and add it to immediately your sauce, i assure you, your pasta will not de shape!

Hope these tips help solve your kitchen disasters and help you cook your pasta like a chef!

Photos by Creative tools and Jacobms used under Creative Commons License.

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Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 1 pack or 2 cups button mushrooms, halved
2. 1 head of iceberg lettuce
3. 1 tbsp olive oil
4. 2 -4 cloves of garlic, minced
5. 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6. 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
7. salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a wok and add garlic in it. Saute for a few seconds and add mushrooms in it, and continue sauteing until the mushroom are cooked. Next add balsamic vinegar, basil, salt and pepper. Once the entire vinegar has seeped into the mushrooms transfer to a salad bowl. Add lettuce and toss well. Adjust seasoning, garnish fresh with fresh basil leaves  and serve.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup rice, washed and uncooked
2. 4  spring onions, finely chopped with greens
3. 2 cups basil
4. 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes
5. 1/3 cup olive oil
6. 1 tsp olive oil
7. 2-4 cloves of garlic
8. 1 tsp chilly flakes
9. 1 cup milk
10. 2-3 cups water
11. 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
12. salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a blender add basil leaves, sun dried tomatoes, 1/3 cup olive oil, and garlic. Blend until smooth. In a thick bottomed saucepan heat 1 tsp olive oil and add onions to it. Fry until transparent. Add uncooked rice and saute for a minute.  Next add the basil and sun dried tomato paste and saute for a minute and add 1 cup milk and 1 cup water. Season with salt, pepper and chilly flakes and let the rice cook. You will notice that the gets soaked by the rice while cooking. Keep adding 1/2 a cup at a time to make sure the rice gets cooked completely. Make sure you don’t add too much water. Once the rice is completely cooked adjust the seasoning and add parmesan cheese. Serve hot!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

200 ml cream

1 tbsp sugar

250 grams dark chocolate, chopped

1 envelope or 2 and 1/2 tbsp of unflavored gelatin

Directions:

In a saucepan add 150 ml cream and heat it with sugar and chocolate. Add gelatin to the other 50 ml cream and let it stand until the chocolate in the saucepan melts. Once done add the remaining cream and mix well. Make sure the gelatin is melted completely and there are no lumps. When done grease remikens with unflavored oil or butter and add the mixture. Cool in the fridge for an hour or until it sets.  Shave chocolate for decoration. Serve chilled!

Preparation time: 30 – 45minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 2 pizza bases or pizza dough
2. 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
3. 8-10 tomato slices
4. 10 – 12 basil leaves finely chopped
5. 4 tomatoes, boiled and chopped finely
6. 1 onion finely chopped
7. 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
8. 1 tbsp olive oil
9. 1 tsp butter
10. 1 tsp oregano
11. 1 tbsp tomato puree
12. salt and pepper to taste
13. pinch of sugar

Directions:

Lets start with the pizza sauce. Heat a saucepan, add olive oil and butter. Next add onion and garlic and fry them until the onions are transparent. Once done add the tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook the sauce until it comes to a boil. Once done cover and cook on low flame for about 15 – 20 minutes. Let cool before you use.

If you are using pizza dough flour the surface you are going to roll it out and start rolling it into your desired size. Homemade pizza dough or pizza made from store bought pizza dough definitely tastes better but i use store bought pizza base when i don’t feel like making it from scratch. Once your base is ready spread a generous amount of the pizza sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese and basil leaves. Top it with the tomato slices and bake at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes. Make sure you keep checking it as the base might burn. Once done serve hot!

To find out 5 best places to eat the best Pizza in Mumbai click here

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Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 ltr olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, halved

1 sprig of  thyme

5-7 leaves of basil

5-7 leaves of oregano

5-7 leaves of sage

Directions:

In a saucepan warm the oil. Add the herbs and garlic and put it back in a bottle. Keep this oil in a warm, dry and dark place like your pantry for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks you will get an amazing herby oil that you can add in your salads or your stir fry’s. If you have a particular herb that you like you can add garlic and just 1 herb. I like to add them all. You can even make this oil spicy by adding chilly flakes to it. After 2 weeks when the herbs have infused in the oil you can remove them, if you let them be in the bottle the oil will start becoming stronger and aromatic. Some people don’t like this strong flavor of garlic. I usually let the herbs and garlic be in the bottle.

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Some great recipes using oregano

Herbed focaccia bread

Dip for dinner rolls and focaccia bread

Herby Oil

Herbed Mozrella Sticks

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Some great recipes using sage:

Sun dried tomato spinach ravioli with sage butter

Fennel and sage mint cooler

Caramelized onion, cheese and sage omlette

Lemon sage cottage cheese satay

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Some interesting recipes:

Caramelized Onion Tarts

Herbed Dip

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