Spicy capsicum/green bell pepper Pasta

What I use:
Green bell pepper/capsicum - 1 small to medium size (chopped into bite-size pieces)
Onion - 1 cup (chopped into bite-size pieces)  
Oven-dried tomatoes - 1-2 tbsp (optional, you can use regular tomatoes chopped - 1 cup)
Sun-dried tomato pesto - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp (or to taste, you can use chilli flakes or paprika as per your liking)

Oil - 1 tbsp (You can use butter if you like)
Salt - as required 
Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese (grated) - to sprinkle on top (optional)
Pasta of your choice (dry) - 2 cups (I use Bowties/Penne/Rigatoni)
Water - to cook the pasta

How I make it:
Fill a big-enough pot with water and bring it up to a boil.Once the water comes to a boil, add a generous sprinkling of salt, mix, and add the pasta to the water (Cook the pasta as long as your package says).
In the meanwhile, in a hot pan, add butter/oil, add the onions and green bell peppers, season with a little salt and cook until they sweat. Then add the oven-dried tomatoes, sun-dried tomato pesto, mix well and allow the flavors to combine for a minute. Then add the garam masala and chilli powder and mix it well. 
By now your pasta should be cooked. Drain the water and add the cooked pasta in here, mix well, check for salt and add salt if required. Allow a minute for the pasta to combine with everything else, then switch off the flame and sprinkle some Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese on top if desired and serve hot.

Optional: Finally, you can also add cream (half & half) and a few herbs (I use rosemary and thyme) and let it simmer for a bit and finish off to make this creamy. Top it off with some Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese and enjoy!

Kudai Milagai Kootu (Capsicum/Green Bell pepper Dhal)

What I use:

Capsicum - 2 or 3

Mung dal/Toor dal - 1/2 cup

Turmeric Powder - a pinch

Salt - as required

List 1: - For Tempering:
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Urad dhal - 3/4 tsp
Channa dhal  - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - a few 


List 2: - For Grinding:
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Whole pepper corns -1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Raw Rice - 1 tsp

How I make it:
Cook Mung dhal / toor dhal in pressure cooker until it is soft.
Grind the items in list2 to a paste. Chop the capsicum.

In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil, and add the list 1 items - mustard seeds, and after they splutter, add urad dhal, channa dal, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Add the chopped capsicum, salt and turmeric powder and saute until they are soft. Then add cooked dhal and let it simmer for a bit. 
Now add the ground paste and mix well. Add little water if its too thick, but don't add too much because kootu won't taste good if its too thin or watery. Let it simmer a little and then switch off and serve hot.

Kudai Milagai Sadham (Capsicum/Green bell pepper Rice)

This is a very simple, quick and easy recipe. If you have left over rice at home and you are not in a mood to cook many items or you want to finish off cooking and hurry somewhere, this is one of the dishes you can make.

What I use:

Capsicum / Green bell pepper - 1 or 2 (1 if big, 2 if small)

Onion (finely chopped) - 1/4 cup

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Garlic - 5-6 cloves

Dry Red chillies - 4 or 5 (or to taste)

Cooked rice - 1 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - as required

How I make it:

Chop the bell peppers. Grind the ginger, garlic and dry red chillies to a coarse paste. (You can sprinkle little water to help grinding, but don't put too much water. We don't need a very fine paste)

Heat the oil in a pan, saute the onions till they are translucent or golden brown.

Once the onions are done,  add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste to this and saute till the raw smell goes.

Then add the chopped bell peppers. Add salt and saute them until they are soft.

Now switch off the stove and allow it to cool down a little bit.

When it is warm, add the cooked rice and mix well. You can serve this with raitha or it's good by itself.