Bell Pepper Noodles, With Desi Tadka

I simply love noodles. Oh ya! I can live on noodles. Any noodles thin, flat or round is completely okay with me. Well one can make it healthy too, simply adds lots and lots of vegetables and the wholesome meal is ready. 

I have cooked schezwan noodles and egg noodles before (I told you I love noodles :-))This time is added only green capsicum and I was happy with the taste. Capsicum provides that crunch and mild sweetness to spicy noodles. I also wanted to give some desi tadka, so I opted to make them in south Indian style with some curry leaves and urad daal. Yup I was right it did tasted yummy and my experiment was successful.

Ingredients:

3 cups thin noodles

6 cups water

2 green capsicums/bell peppers/shimla mirch sliced

1 medium sized onion sliced finely

2 green chillies chopped finely

1/2 tsp mustard seeds/rai/sarso

2 tbsp oil

Red chilli powder-1 tbsp

Tomato ketchup- 2 tbsp

Salt as required

Urad Daal-1 tsp

Curry Leaves 4-5(I skipped this)

Method:

I used thin noodles so I broke them in to small pieces, so that resembles like seviya.

Boil water with some salt and oil. When water comes to boil, add noodles and boil.

Heat oil in the pan, add mustard seeds, urad daal, curry leaves. After it splutters add onion, green chillies and suate well.

Now add the capsicum pieces and cook till capsicum is half done.

Then add noodles, salt, red chilli powder and tomato ketchup. Cook covered for 2 minutes.

Notes:

Any other vegetables like pea, sweet corn, carrots, and tomatoes can also be added.

Add peanuts and coconut for more authentic south Indian taste.

Taste:

Hot and spicy with hint of sweetness.

Egg Noodles- Indo-Chinese, With Vegetables

There are so many cuisines that have become popular all over the globe. One among them is Chinese noodles. We now see momos, chowmein, stir fired vegetables, noodles being sold in every corner of the world. There are so many variations and methods to make noodles.  Some like to add chicken, prawns or even fish to it. There is also a great variety of Chinese noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation.

What I chose to make was Chinese Egg Noodles with vegetables –my one more stop at Indo-Chinese adventure. I like to add loads of vegetables for nutrition and spicy sauces to bring the Indian twist to the noodles. For me it is the quick answer to “What’s for dinner tonight?” 

Ingredients: Noodles – 1 packet (approx 500 gm), cooked per packet instructions Sesame/til Oil – 1 Tbsp Oil – 2 Tbsp Garlic/lehsun paste – 1 Tbsp Ginger/ adrak paste – 1 Tbsp Onion/pyaz – 1 small, sliced Carrot/gajar – 1 large, cut into strips Cabbage/patta gobi – 1.5 cups packed, shredded Capsicum/shimla mirch– 1/2 large, cut into strips Egg – 1 (optional) Black Pepper/kali mirch – 1/2 tsp or to taste Soy Sauce – 2 Tbsp White Vinegar/sirka – 1 Tbsp Any Chinese Sauce – to taste Red Chilli Sauce – to taste Method 1. Cook noodles per package instructions (usually 3-4 minutes), drain, and rinse with cold water and toss with 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil. Keep aside. 2. Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a large pan on very high heat. 3. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for 30 seconds. 4. Once the raw smell of garlic fades away mix sliced onions and cook for 30 seconds. 5. After that add carrots and allow them to soften just a little.(do not overcook.) 6. Mix cabbage and capsicum and cook for 1 minute. 7. Push veggies to one side of wok and break an egg in the pan. Scramble the egg until cooked and mix together with the veggies. 8. Add Black Pepper and mix. 9. Finally add noodles, white vinegar, soya sauce, Chinese sauce and red chilli sauce. Toss noodles once before adding them to the pan. Mix well to coat all noodles. 12. Taste and adjust any of the sauces.

Notes: I used egg noodles, but suji, wheat or any other kind of noodles can also be used. Adding eggs is completely optional. But it does bring the flavour of egg noodles we get in the restaurant. Any vegetable can be added or omitted as per your choice. It is very important that you cook this dish on high flame, as it helps to get the authentic taste of Chinese cuisine. If you do not get Chinese sauce in the market, add schezwan sauce mixed with tomatoes sauce. Look for schezwan sauce recipe HERE Taste Spicy and hot noodles with Indian twist also with goodness of vegetables

Schezwan Sauce/ Indo- Chinese Chutney

Schezwan Sauce is used in all the Indo Chinese food. It gives unique taste and beautiful colour to the Chinese rice, noodles and other dishes. I enjoy having it with nachos, chips, papad...almost everything.

Ingredients :
10 dried red chillies
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp Sesame seeds (optional)
Salt to taste
4 tsp onion chopped
Tomato puree of 1/2 tomato
1 tsp Vinegar

½ tsp soya sauce

Method:
Soak dried red chillies in water overnight. Drain the water, add salt and blend coarsely the next day.
Heat oil in a pan. Once oil is smoky hot add chopped garlic, ginger, sesame seeds and onion. Saute onions till it gets translucent.
Add tomato puree and fry untill oil separates.
Add red chilli paste and fry for 2 minutes
Lastly add soya sauce (it brings nice dark red color to the sauce).

Schezwan Sauce is ready now. Find more chutney recipes HERE

Notes: -You can use tomatoes ketchup instead of tomatoes pure also

-Oil must be very hot for any Chinese recipe you make.

-Adding 1 more tsp oil will make the sauce last longer. Store it in ait tight container for 1 week in the fridge.