This is a recipe from the "contemporary curries" section of the book. I'm honestly not a huge fan of a lot of Iyer's fusion curries, so I don't tend to use that chapter very much. There are some decent ones, to be sure, but I tend to find the recipes in that part of the book more miss than hit. So I tend to stick with the more "traditional" Indian curries.

Sadly, this recipe seems to follow that pattern as well. TF didn't really like it at all. I found it... okay, but not great. The arugula doesn't really work IMO. I think the sauce would be much better if made with fenugreek leaves or maybe a mix of spinach and fenugreek. Maybe I'll try it again sometime using that mix, but more likely I'll just save my cooking time and energy for different recipes that I feel have a higher chance of success.

Pasta with Arugula and Jaggery

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g dry pasta, short variety (ziti, rotini, macaroni, etc.)
• 225g fresh (or frozen and thawed) fenugreek leaves, roughly chopped
• 225g fresh (or frozen and thawed) spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 2-4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 500-600mL diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. crumbled jaggery
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Boil the pasta according to package directions.
2. If using fresh greens: add them to the pot of pasta ~1 minute before it's finished cooking.
3. Drain the pasta (and greens) and shock with cold water. Set aside.
4. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and chilies and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
6. If using frozen greens: Add them now along with the tomatoes and jaggery, reduce heat to medium, and cook for ~5 minutes.
7. Stir in the salt.
8. Add the drained pasta (and greens if you used fresh) and stir/toss to coat and cook until pasta is warmed through (3-5 minutes).
9. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.