Lockdown Recipe: Cuminised Beans and Lemon Pepper Butter Pasta | By Chef Vicky Ratnani

At a time when there is no scene of partying and eating out to keep mood swings at bay, here are some healthy yet interesting dishes with basic ingredients that are easily available in the markets.

We are going to complete three weeks of quarantine and we don’t really know how long this lockdown will continue. With no domestic help around and no time to pester our moms with recipes, here are some really simple dishes prepared by some of the leading chefs from the country. Bon Appetit!

Dish: Cuminised Beans and Lemon Pepper Butter Pasta

Chef: Vicky Ratnani, Mumbai

Chef’s Note: There are very few ingredients in this recipe and are quite basic ones -- easy to prepare and tasty too. I am sure everyone has these ingredients at home; and if they don’t have them, it is easily available.

Ingredients:

• Green beans: 1 cup or 200g
• Peeled garlic:  4 cloves
• Ginger: 1/2-inch piece
• One peeled onion
• Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil
• Pasta: 200g
• Lemons: 2
• Butter: 50g
• Black pepper crushed: 2tbsp
• Green chilies: 2

Now, the preparation:

• Blanch the green beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.  Take it out of the water and shock in ice-cold water.
• Do not discard the boiling water; add the spaghetti or any pasta of your choice, while the pasta is cooking.
• Heat some oil in another pan.
• Add the onions, ginger and garlic. Add the cumin seeds and sauté for a minute.
• Season to taste with salt and cracked pepper.
• Plate the  beans
• Drain the water from the pasta.  Reserve 3 tablespoons of the water.
• Add the butter in the pan (in which you cooked the beans).
• Add the drained cooked pasta, squeeze juice from one lemon and sprinkle one teaspoon of black pepper to the pasta.
• Add the water which you reserved from the pasta and add it to the pan.
• Lemon pepper butter tossed pasta is ready.
• Serve the two dishes together or separately.