Naughty Curry Pasta Salad

Courtney-Clove's Note:

Indian spices and Italian dressing? YES! No tired old 'curry powder' here. Spiral noodles and colorful vegetables, all mixed up with a light Italian dressing and a shimmering Indian spice mix of its own...

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 cups rotini pasta
• 1 1/3 cups light Italian dressing, plus more as needed
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 3 green onions, minced
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/3 cup carrot, chopped
• salt
• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
• chili flakes (optional)

Spice Mix (use 1 1/2 Tablespoons)

• 1/4 cup cumin seed
• 1/4 cup coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 2 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon asafetida powder

Directions:

1. Dry roast the Spice Mix spices, except for the ginger powder and the paprika. Whizz it to a powder in your coffee grinder, then mix in the ginger powder and paprika. Set aside.
2. Cook the pasta until it is done but still somewhat firm. Rinse with cold water.
3. Combine the pasta with the vegetables in a large bowl. Stir in the salad dressing. Add salt and 1 1/2 Tb of the spice mix.
4. In a small skillet, heat a dab of oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add the black mustard seeds. As soon as they have quit popping, dump them in the pasta bowl.
5. Mix everything together. Cover and refrigerate. It's best to let it chill at least an hour before chow time, if you can stand it.

Reviews

[Three Kids Make Me Crazy]

This was good even though I'm an airhead. I had started out making another pasta salad with tuna, then decided to make this. Soooo, I mixed in the tuna with everything else without thinking. But it ended up tasting pretty good and made a more complete lunch so I guess it all worked out! Thanks Courtney.