How to make Friday dinners special!

Instant coffee, heat-and-eat food, 2-minute noodles, 30-minute pizza delivery - food is increasingly becoming a less about enjoyment and more about speed.

Understandable for we live in nuclear families, work long hours and juggle many things besides homes and careers.

One Friday, I wandered into the kitchen to make myself a cup of adrakwali chai (ginger tea). As shreds of the ginger I was grating fell into the boiling water, its characteristic aroma rose up and had my mouth watering for something hot, spicy and delicious for dinner.

Something like keema pasta!

This Keema pasta -- the unholy result of Spaghetti Bolognese corrupted with spices and silky Bambino macaroni (not healthy dhurum wheat pasta touted as proper these days, but the maida version that reduces to a stodgy mess if overcooked) -- is the reason why the finest Spaghetti Bolognaise pales in comparison for me even today.

I was soon immersed in a whirl of activity. Assembling ingredients, a quick call for keema to the corner shop, chopping and sautéing onions, garlic and tomatoes.

At this point, if we were on one of those swank television cooking shows, I would whip out a perfectly cooked specimen of the dish in question, snag a dainty morsel with a fork, pop it in my mouth and ooh and aah over it.

Dinner that night was a hit. My family loved the new dish and the change from the usual roti-subzi (breads and vegetables). Even my son wiped his plate clean! And despite doing his usual pick-out-the-pasta-dump-the-rest gig, I quietly revelled.

All you mothers out there, the one great benefit of Keema Pasta is that the keema gets into all the crevices of the pasta. So a fair amount of protein is ingested.

Friday night specials need not mean a marathon kitchen session or even any cooking. Just a break from the 'rut'ine we so easily fall into.

Get your cook or maid to cook up something special, splurge on quality cold cuts, good bread and toss some salad together or order in something yummy -- and moderately healthy -- that your family loves from your favourite restaurant.

The idea is not so much about food, but about sitting down to a meal as a family and leaving the cares of the world at the doorstep.

Friday night specials are now a tradition at home. And I am hoping my column -- which comes to you every Friday -- will do for you what the first of the specials did for me: inspire you to forget about life's travails and slow down a little.

NEXT PAGE: KEEMA PASTA RECIPE

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KEEMA PASTA RECIPE

Ingredients (Serves 6 - 8)

1/2 cup ghee (don't freak; when you divide it, it doesn't amount to that much)

500 grams onions, chopped fine

2-3 whole cloves,

1 inch piece cinnamon

5-6 peppercorns

2 green chillies

1 kg chicken mince at room temperature

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

500 g tomatoes, chopped fine

1 tsp salt or more to taste

500 g pasta, cooked, (use pasta that has lots of crevices that will get full of the mince)

1 cup coriander, sorted, washed and chopped for garnish

Method

• Into hot oil in a thick bottomed pan, add whole spices, green chillies and onions.
• Stir fry until onions lose all moisture and are well browned.
• Add chicken mince, breaking up lumps as it cooks. Add ginger garlic paste to mince and stir fry until it has released all its juices.
• Keep cooking till dry. At this point, your mince will be crumbly and well on its way to browning.
• Add spice powders, lower flame and stir fry. Add tomato, mix well and cook, stirring occasionally till the tomatoes disappear.
• Cook till oil rises to the top.
• Taste and adjust seasoning. Your keema should be slightly saltier than you like because the pasta will come in.
• Add previously cooked pasta and mix well (this is where a big pan comes in handy because things begin to fall out otherwise).
• Cover and let cook for a few minutes. Open. A fragrant cloud of steam laden with aromas will waft out. Awesome!
• Top with chopped coriander and serve.
Serve with: Bread and a salad on the side. (I never bother because nobody touches anything else once the pasta is served!) Tip: I usually balance out the meal by serving a fibre-rich fruit salad for dessert. MORE FOOD NUGGETS BY RUSHINA Delectable salads from Rushina's kitchen The best laid food plans Tokyo drift: To the grub lane!