Saturday, September 20, 2008

Spaghetti a la Gosht (Indian Style Marinara Sauce)

This is an adaptation of an Indian dish, lamb rogan gosht, a braised lamb dish with curry and yogurt sauce. I made a batch of this sauce the day before without the yogurt and the result is a fresh marinara sauce with Indian flavorings and a perfect use for the last of the vine ripened tomatoes.

Indian Style Marinara Sauce Recipe:
olive oil
1 onion, medium diced
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
2 T minced ginger
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
2 chinese eggplant , sliced
(or 1 globe eggplant, peeled and diced)
1/2 cups of white wine
6 - 8 cups of diced tomatoes (about 3-4 whole tomatoes)
yields 6 cups of sauce

Heat a large skillet over high heat and pour in generous amount of olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan with a little extra.
Cook onion and garlic, stirring and season with salt about 3 minutes (lower heat if onions start to burn).
Add ginger, garam masala and cardamon saute for 2 minutes.
Add more oil if pan is too dry.
Add eggplant and toss, adding more oil if necessary. Season with salt.
Pour in white wine and allow to boil until reduced by half.
Add tomatoes, stir evenly and cover.
Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring a few times during the cooking process.
Puree with blender and adjust seasoning: add 1-2 T sugar, 2T soy sauce and salt.
(Always use caution when pureeing hot ingredients)
Cool and store in the frig until ready to use.

Spaghetti A La Gosht with Tilapia:
3/4 - 1 pound of spaghetti
olive oil
3-4 zucchini/green squash, medium diced
2-3 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
4 each 3-5 ounce tilapia fillets
3 cups Indian marinara sauce

Cook pasta and set aside
Pan cook tilapia fillets and set aside.
In the same pan, saute the vegetables in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Pour sauce into pan to heat through.
Gently crumble in the tilapia, keep it a bit larger than desired as they will break from handling.
Place pasta into bowls/plates and top with sauce.

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