This recipe is Iyer's take on an Indian restaurant's take on spaghetti arrabbiata. It incorporates ginger, garam masala, and cilantro (among other things) into the spicy, tomato-based sauce which is then tossed with cooked spaghetti and topped with Parmesan.

It's quite tasty, but definitely more of a side dish than a main course on its own. It's very starch-heavy, so you really want some vegetables and protein to go with it to make it a complete meal.

I did end up serving it with a couple other curries. But, as I'm still playing catch-up with the blog write-ups, I'm afraid that I no longer remember which ones. I do remember being happy with the resulting meal though. Everything worked quite well together!

Indo-Italian Spaghetti Arrabbiata

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. ground Deggi chilies (or 1 tsp. each cayenne and sweet paprika)
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri garam masala
• 2 c. water
• 4 c. chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 450g dried spaghetti
• grated Parmesan, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin seeds and chilies and cook until chilies blacken (15-20 seconds).
3. Add the onion and stir-fry until light brown around the edges (5-8 minutes).
4. Add the tomato paste, ginger paste, garlic paste, ground chilies, sugar, salt, and garam masala.
5. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally until the paste develops and oily sheen on the surface (~4 minutes).
6. Add the water and deglaze the pan.
7. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce begins to thicken (~10 minutes).
8. Add tomatoes and cilantro and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are warmed through (3-5 minutes).
9. Cover and keep warm over low heat while pasta cooks.
10. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
11. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente.
12. Drain the spaghetti and toss it with the sauce.
13. Top with Parmesan and serve.