Sphagetti Cheese Balls

         Flavourful and succulent cottage cheese balls; tangy tongue-tickling tomato sauce; and perfectly cooked, herbed spaghetti... each of these is as perfect as can be, whether in terms of flavour, texture or appearance, and when they come together the outcome is nothing short of magic. Lets c how to do this...

INGREDIENTS:

For The Tomato Sauce:

• 1 3/4 cups fresh tomato pulp
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
• 1/2 tsp dry red chilli flakes (paprika)
• 2 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp fresh cream

For The Cottage Cheese Balls:

• 1 1/2 cups crumbled paneer (cottage cheese)
• 2 bread slices , torn into pieces
• 3 tbsp curds (dahi)
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• salt to taste
• oil for deep-frying

For The Herbed Spaghetti

• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 3 cups boiled spaghetti
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic (lehsun)
• salt to taste

METHOD:

For The Tomato Sauce:

• Heat the butter in a broad non-stick pan, add the onions and sauté on a medium flame for 1 minute.
• Add the fresh tomato pulp, chilli flakes, sugar and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 3 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
• Add the fresh cream, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute, while stirring occasionally. Keep aside.

For the cottage cheese balls:

• Combine the bread slices and curds in a bowl, mix well and cover with a lid and keep aside for 5 minutes.
• Combine all the ingredients along with the bread-curd mixture in a deep bowl and mix very well.
• Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball.
• Heat the oil in a deep non-stick pan and deep-fry a few cottage cheese balls at time on a medium flame till they turn golden brown in colour from all the sides. Drain on an absorbent paper and keep aside.

For the herbed spaghetti:

• Heat the butter in a broad non-stick pan, add the garlic and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.
• Add the mixed herbs, spaghetti and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Keep aside.

How to proceed:

• Divide the herbed spaghetti into 3 equal portions and keep aside.
• Reheat the tomato sauce, add the cottage cheese balls, mix gently and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute. Divide it into 3 equal portions and keep aside.
• Place portion of the herbed spaghetti on a serving plate along the circumference of a plate.
• Put the tomato sauce along with cottage cheese balls in the centre of the spaghetti.
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 to make 2 more servings.
• Serve immediately.