That’s when I was like, I need to make this at home and eat as much as I want and not bother troubling them in their time of ‘crisis’.

Lasagna is made with several layers of pasta sheets alternated with sauces and various other ingredients.

In my version,
Lasagna = (Pasta Sheets) + (Meat cooked in Tomato sauce) + (Bechamel Sauce)

Ingredients:

Pasta Sheets – 8-10

Meat cooked in Tomato Sauce:
Oil – 2-3 tbsp

Sausages – 10 (ground)  //You could use any kind of ground (minced) meat – 3 cups
Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp
Tomato Paste – 1 cup
Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Bechamel Sauce: 
Butter – 4 tbsp
Flour – 5-6 tbsp
Milk – 2.5 cup
Salt- 2 tbsp
Pepper – 1 tsp
Cheese – a handful (any kind) //optional 

To garnish:
Chopped Spinach / Parsley – a handful  (optional)

Step 1:  Boil the pasta sheets and let them cook until 80% done. Strain and keep aside.

Step 2: In a non-stick pan, heat some oil and add the tomato paste, garlic paste, chilli powder and sausages to it. Cook for about 5 minutes or until done.

Step 3: In a pan, heat the butter and add the flour to it until well incorporated. Now add in the milk and whisk until its starts to thicken. Turn off the flame and let it cool while it continues to thicken. Add salt, pepper, and a handful of your favorite kind of cheese. Mix well.
(Here’s the link to Laura Vitale’s Bechamel Sauce recipe. I’ve followed the same technique, but used only the ingredients mentioned above.)

Step 4: In a baking dish, smear some oil and start layering.

Minced meat, bechamel, pasta sheets, bechamel, minced meat, bechamel and so on.

I like to start with minced meat as I feel it serves as a decent base. I also like to end with minced meat and top with the bechamel sauce. This way, once baked, its like a thick layer of bechamel and you can see the meat through the cheese. Makes it look all the more tempting. You could also sprinkle some chopped spinach/parsley leaves on top. I’ve used spinach as I like the flavor it imparts.

It wouldn’t take much time to set as all the ingredients are already cooked. Bake for a total of 20 minutes or until done.

Slice & enjoy hot! 🙂

In the beginning, the main ingredient I added to anything and everything was tomato paste. It is still one of my favorite ingredients to add to a dish because I absolutely love the flavor it imparts.

Ingredients:
Serves: 2

Brown rice – 1.5 cup
Fish fillet – 3 pieces
Fish Masala – as required (I used ‘Eastern’)
Oil – 5-6 tbsp
Onion – 1 cup
Capsicum – 1 (chopped)
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 heaped tsp
Tomato Paste – 0.5 cup
Chilli powder – 1-2 tbsp (add according to how spicy you want your dish)
Salt & Pepper – to taste
Coriander leaves – a handful (chopped)

Step 1: Marinate the fish and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Step 1: Boil the rice until cooked. Strain and keep aside.

Step 2: Pan-fry the fish in minimal oil. When its almost done, you can start scrambling the fish in the pan itself. Once done, transfer the fish to a plate.

Step 3: In the same pan, add a little more oil if required and saute the onions until translucent. Add in the chopped capsicum and cook for a while.

Step 4: Add tomato paste, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes or so until its raw flavor is lost.

Step 5: Now mix in the cooked fish, rice and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

You could add in more ketchup/hot sauce according to your taste.