Here in the city to attend the recently held Conosh’s masterclass cookery workshop at The Kitchenette, MasterChef India 2023 winner Nayanjyoti Saikia won our hearts with his charming smile and simple meals with a twist. On the sidelines of the culinary workshop, where he taught how to make eggless pasta with simple ingredients, he shared with Indulge his journey so far.
Share with us your experience at the MasterChef India contest?
I have been cooking since I was a child but it became a regular affair when I left my hometown for higher studies. My culinary experiments intensified during the lockdown. I tried dishing out fancy plates with minimal ingredients using fish, crabs, and mushrooms. When I auditioned for the competition, I was unsure about everything. I made pastries, but with an Assamese touch and tried to use local North Eastern produces as much as possible. But with time, the self-doubts were transformed into self-confidence.
Why did you choose to teach making eggless pasta in the Conosh workshop?
I think most people love a good plate of pasta. I love shaping pasta. Making pasta from scratch is very similar to making handstretched noodles and dumplings. The dough is similar, yet makes the perfect plate. This will also be a great option for vegetarians, so I zeroed down on this.
What’s your favourite food?
Home-cooked Assamese meal or a Naga meal. My favourite Assamese dish is the duck stew.
Some ingredients that are always there in your kitchen.
Butter, refined flour, dry shrimp, shrimp paste, oyster sauce, orange segments and fennel leaves.
How to replace an ingredient mentioned in a recipe that’s hard to find?
You can replace wine vinegar with lemon juice for the acidity of fresh herbs. For Sage butter sauce, if you don’t get sage, you can use thyme or what I use is Kachari, or bushy Lippi, a wild herb that has the fragrance of lemongrass and a hint of flavour like sage.
Your future plans?
I plan to open a restaurant in 2025. For now, I want to collaborate and work with different restaurants to get a first-hand experience.
Creamy Mushroom Filled Tortellini tossed in a Sage Butter Sauce
Eggless Pasta dough for stuffed pasta
Ingredients:
Refined flour 200g + more for dusting | Olive oil 2 tsp | Lukewarm water 100ml
Method:
Mix flour and oil in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add water in the centre and gradually mix with a fork.
Gently knead for about 3-5 minutes, and form a compact dough ball. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water and cover it with a tea towel or wrap it in plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
You can add a few drops of gel food colour to make your pasta colourful.
For the filling
Ingredients:
Finely chopped button mushrooms 200 gm | Cream 150 gm | Butter 40 gm | Salt to taste | Thyme leaves oil | Nutmeg 1tbsp | Finely chopped garlic ½ tsp | Finely chopped onion 2 tbsp | Flour ¼ tsp | Grated parmesan cheese 100 gm
Method:
Put butter and oil in a pan and add thyme, onion, garlic and mushroom and cook for a while.
Add flour and mix and after 2 mins gradually add cream in 3 batches.
Finally, add a pinch of nutmeg and parmesan cheese and let it cool before using it as a filling.
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Stuffing the pasta
Method:
Roll out the pasta into sheets. Divide the pasta dough into quarters. Work with one piece at a time and keep the other pieces covered. Run the dough through a pasta roller on progressively thinner settings until you have a sheet of paper-thin pasta.
Cut the sheet of pasta into squares roughly 3 inches by 3 inches. Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of each square of pasta. Dip your finger in the bowl and run it along two edges of the square. Fold the square into a triangle, pressing the top together and then working your way along the sides.
Add the tortellini pasta with a pinch of salt and a little olive oil. Once cooked, drain the water (save some for later use) and keep the pasta aside until required.
The final prep
Ingredients:
Butter 50 gm | Pasta water ½ cup | Finely chopped garlic ½ tsp | Fresh/dry sage leaves 10 | Chilli flakes ½ tsp | Cream ½ tsp | Parmesan cheese 1 tbsp | Salt to taste
Method:
Put butter and half of the water together in a pan. Add garlic, sage, chilli flakes and cream and cook on low flame.
Now add cream and cheese to the pan and add the other half of the pasta water if required.
Add salt to taste. Gradually and carefully add the boiled stuffed pasta and cook them without stirring much in mid-low flame for 2 minutes, and serve hot.