Indian Style Pasta — a plant-based Indian recipe by BOSH!
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Indian Style Pasta

We genuinely didn't know if this would work when we first made it, but Indian Style Pasta has become one of those recipes we keep coming back to again and again. It's got all the warmth and depth of a proper curry but comes together around a big bowl of pasta, which somehow just makes sense. The roasted peppers bring a lovely sweetness, the spiced tomato sauce is rich and aromatic, and the whole thing has this comfort food energy that's hard to beat. If you're bored of your usual pasta nights, this is the one to shake things up.

Cook: 25 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Large baking tray
  • Large pan

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper - chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper - chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper - chopped
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tbsp coriander stalks finely chopped
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 onions
  • ½ tsp fenugreek
  • 1 green chilli - diced
  • 3 garlic cloves - minced
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger - peeled and chopped
  • 6 tomatoes - chopped
  • 125ml water
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 100g frozen peas
  • cooked penne - enough for 4 people
  • handful of coriander leaves

Method

1

To start

  • Put the peppers on a baking tray, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and roast the peppers for 20 minutes
2

Make the sauce

  • Pour the rapeseed oil into a pan, warm it up, add the spices and let them simmer for 1-2 minutes (until the aromas have been released
  • Add the onion and fry it until it's soft and then add the garlic, coriander stalks, ginger and chillies. Stir everything together until everything is covered in spices
  • Add the tomatoes to the pan, stir them in and let everything simmer for 7-10 minutes
  • Add the salt and water, stir it in and let it simmer for a minute
  • Add the the roast peppers and peas to the pan and fold everything together.
  • Add the cooked penne pasta to the pan, fold it through the sauce
3

Time to serve

  • Serve immediately with a garnish of coriander

Tips & Variations

  • Roast the peppers properly: Don't rush the roasting step even if you're in a hurry. Those 20 minutes in the oven are what give the peppers that sweet, slightly caramelised flavour that makes the sauce so good.
  • Adjust the heat: We love this properly spicy but if you're cooking for mixed spice tolerances, start with one chilli and taste as you go. You can always add more, you can't take it away.
  • Use fresh ginger if you can: It makes a real difference here. If you only have a tube of ginger paste, it'll still work, but fresh ginger gives it a brightness that really lifts the whole dish.

Why This Works

The trick is toasting the spices in the oil right at the start. That one or two minutes of letting them sizzle before anything else goes in is what builds the real depth of flavour in this sauce. We find that adding the coriander stalks in with the onion rather than saving them for garnish at the end makes a big difference too, they're packed with flavour and most people just throw them away.