Indian Style Pasta Recipe

Spicy, slightly, saucy peanuts instead of pine nuts and familiar Indian flavours in this Indian pasta recipe. This is that pasta bowl from my teenage days when this was simple macaroni and not Indian style pasta. Full of veggies Indian style pasta recipe that needs no fancy sauce to back it up.

First of all, let me start by saying that I know pasta is Italian because that's my second most favourite cuisine after Indian cuisine. But this Indian pasta is something that we Indians adapted at the time when pasta was not pasta it was macaroni. Macaroni was only pasta available in small towns in 80's that too not very commonly. Only one or two shops would store it and we mostly had this spicy macaroni as an evening snack or breakfast!

Those of you who are young may not realise this but at that time even red sauce pasta or white sauce pasta were terms that were not very common in small towns. I first tasted red sauce pasta in Delhi during summer vacation when in high school. Again it was not named pasta it was Italian macaroni.

The other day when I went to Mom's place on Sunday Mom made it again. It tastes exactly as nostalgia served on a plate :). Pasta which we used it eat back then, the only thing changed was macaroni is replaced with Rigatti pasta.

My today’s recipe is all about easy, full of veggies Indian style pasta recipe that needs no fancy sauce but still tastes Amazing!  This easy macaroni recipe makes a perfect weeknight dinner or maybe weekend brunch. I will not even call it an Italian recipe with Indian twist because it is not! In my opinion, it is out and out Indian veg macaroni recipe.  

This easy macaroni recipe is hot because I use green chilli paste to spike it up. You do not need to make any pasta sauce for it. And, you can call it a healthy pasta recipe as I have used lots of veggies in it. Plus, no way Indian pasta is complete without fried peanuts for crunch. I like to use some grated cheddar cheese these days. Mom used the processed cheese to make macaroni from tin we used to get in those days.

This can make an excellent lunch box recipe for kids as well as adults. You can pack some salad or chopped fruits to go with it and you have got yourself a nutritious lunch box for adults. This masala macaroni pasta is a perfect lunch box recipe. 

Masala Pasta Recipe is different from the typical pasta in red sauce recipes as it is wrapped up in healthy vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, peas and dressed up with grated cheese and coriander leaves. It is enough to make any stomach growl on its sight, mine definitely did. :p

How to Prepare Pasta at Home

Cooking Indian style pasta is easy. All the veggies that go into this spicy Indian style pasta recipe are mostly present in the fridge. This recipe is totally an *I will choose whatever veggie I want to eat recipe*  😀

Pasta and Macaroni

As I said previously that macaroni and pasta were the terms used interchangeably. Still, sometimes these questions are asked so I thought to answer them here.  “ Is pasta the same as Macaroni” or “What is a Macaroni” or “Which pasta is better for making recipes” or “how to make pasta with vegetables”. 

Actually, pasta is nothing but a dough which is made with wheat flour/semolina and water. It is shaped into and different shapes and dried for longer shelf life. You can make fresh pasta and consume it fresh as well. The shape of pasta changes the taste and texture of the ultimate pasta dish. Macaroni is one of the pasta shapes as well. These days you can get pasta made with so many different grains.

You can use regular macaroni pasta or Rigatti pasta. Or pick from whole wheat pasta, quinoa pasta or rice pasta if you eat glutenfree pasta to make this spicy macaroni recipe. I usually prefer eating whole-grain pasta because of lower GI and more fiber. Pasta is definitely healthy if you add a whole load of veggies in them. You can learn how to easily cook Indian pasta with recipe video given below.

Indian Pasta Recipe Video

Pasta is a great recipe to make on weekends or midweek when you want to eat something light and fuss-free. If you love making pasta then you will love my other favourite pasta recipe as well. My other favourite recipes after Indian Style Pasta are

Red sauce pasta,

Creamy Mushroom pasta,

Tomato Pasta Soup and

Vegetable Pasta in White sauce

How to Make Indian Style Veg Pasta Recipe

• To check if the pasta is perfectly cooked take out pasta from the pan and gently press it with your thumb and forefinger. Let the pasta be slightly chewy otherwise, the pasta will turn mushy later on.
• Reserve pasta water to add later when you are making pasta sauce. In this Indian style pasta recipe, I added pasta water too.
• Since it is an all veggie pasta, you can always add your favourite vegetables in the recipe and avoid the ones you don’t like.

📖 Recipe

Indian Style Pasta Recipe - Spicy Macaroni Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Indian, indian cuisine

Keyword: India, pasta, pasta recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 300kcal

Author: Rekha Kakkar

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Macaroni/ Rigati Pasta
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• 6 baby Tomatoes
• ¼ cup Sliced Onion
• 1 teaspoon Green Chilli and Ginger Paste
• ½ cup Tomatoes Chopped
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup Peas
• ¼ cup Capsicum Chopped
• 2 tablespoon Peanuts
• ½ cup Cabbage Chopped
• 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
• 2 tablespoon Tomato Chilli Sauce
• Grated Cheese
• Coriander Leaves

Instructions

• Steps How to Perfectly Boil Pasta
• The first step towards perfectly boiling a pasta starts with a good choice of container. Always pick a large pot that has enough room for the pasta to move around.
• After choosing a large pot, load up the pot with lots of water in it. The water should be to a point that the pasta can totally submerge in it.
• Now, comes the salt. Salt is the key ingredient here after pasta of course! :p While adding salt make sure you are adding a tablespoon of it. Yes, a tablespoon of salt will not only help in perfectly boiling the pasta but will also give the pasta a flavor boost.
• When it is time to add the pasta do not add them when the water is merely simmering, let the water boil and then add pasta in it.
• Always stir the pot at least 3-4 times while cooking the pasta.
• Always check if the pasta is perfectly boiled by fishing out a pasta and gently pressing it with your thumb and forefinger. Let the pasta be slightly chewy otherwise, the pasta will turn mushy.
• Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, take two seconds and before you drain the water, save a single cup of it. This starchy water will help bind the sauce and pasta together and give your pasta a great flavor.
• Steps on How to Make Macaroni Masala
• The process of making cheese macaroni first starts with perfectly boiling the pasta (you can choose whatever pasta you feel like be it Macaroni or Rigati).
• When the pasta is perfectly boiled and you have discarded the pasta water while saving ¼ cup for cooking the recipe go ahead and grab a pan.
• Now, heat the pan and pour 2 tablespoons of oil in it. After that take 2 tablespoons of peanuts and add them in the pan. We will roast the peanut for 2 minutes and when they are perfectly roast, take them out of the pan and keep them in a small bowl. These roasted peanuts will be used later in the recipe.
• It is time to proceed with the recipe by adding ¼ cup of sliced onion in the pan. I love how the color of the onion changes to translucent. We will do the same here by sautéing the onion until its color changes to beautiful translucent/ golden brown.
• While you are sautéing the sliced onion add 1 teaspoon Green Chilli and Ginger Paste in it.
• Now, add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and cabbage in the pan. After that add ¼ cup of peas and capsicum respectively. Saute all the veggies until they are soft.
• When all the veggies are soft we will add 5-6 baby potatoes in the pan and cook all of them for another 2-3 minutes.
• After 2 minutes we will add salt to taste and the spices in the pan. With spices I mean 1 teaspoon of red chili powder and 2 tablespoons of tomato chili sauce in the pan.
• We will cook all the spices for 2 minutes in the slow heat and then add cooked macaroni in the pan. (You can use your favorite pasta here, I personally love macaroni)
• We will let the macaroni cook in the pan for 2 minutes and then add the roasted peanuts (which we roasted earlier n the recipe) and then mix all the ingredients well.
• Our Indian Style pasta is ready to serve with some grated cheese and coriander leaves on it.
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Nutrition

Calories: 300kcal

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