Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Green Noodles

An Indian on foreign turf, makes a beeline for the Indian grocery store, like a homing pigeon. He/she will fill the cart with all familiars like beans, legumes, rice and flours, chai biscuits et al. The bachelor will head to the ready-to-eat section, and unerringly stash his basket with frozen vegetable entrees and rotis/naan  and  then order his meal in the store-cum-restaurant, eat his fill.
The 'family' people stagger out with grocery and walk purposefully to pizza hut and stuff their hungry kids to the brim with pizza and heave a sigh of relief. A newly married couple will pick up items that are a mix of ready-to-eat and some 'experiment on spouse' items and then in all probability head out to a restaurant to try something 'different'. They walk in, uncertainly, into a fast food joint or restaurant and gaze at the menu with curious intensity. This uncertain couple are reflections of my former self, a good 6 years ago. I liked eating out as much as at home, the only hitch being, I was a vegetarian in a meat lovers land! What can I order without lengthy explanations of how I prefer my 'vegetarian' soup without it's chicken/beef stock? In a menu where egg or fish were considered vegetarian, I was treated like an oddball, chafing at the limited options I had, or so it seemed.
Sound familiar?

I haunted the local library for cookbooks, much like a family spectre, vanishing at closing time. I read them like novels, gazing lustily at the glossy pictures. Slowly, I stepped into the world of blogging to showcase my love for food and experimenting with flavors and try to replicate international recipes using Indian spices.  I was thrilled to discover, that using staples in my pantry, but with different proportions and technique, I had a completely new dish to serve up. Mexican, Caribbean, Thai food was suddenly an option and I was lovin’ it.  I discovered that we may be worlds apart, but many of these International cuisines used standard stuff I used in my Indian kitchen! What a thrill that was!


My focus was and still is, on simple recipes that do not require me to buy expensive or difficult-to-pronounce-and- procure ingredients, but mixing and matching what was in the fridge to a couple of store bought items, like the recipe I have for you today.


In fact, I have another sauce that can be used with the noodles and that is coming up soon!  Flat rice noodles, 2 ways. 


I like this sort of thing , two ways with one ingredient, when I bring in one packet of noodles, I can never finish it off at one go and  I do not want to repeat the same  recipe and so having an alternative is great.


Green Noodles
Recipe Courtesy:  Cara Hobday’s Noodles Asian Style. 

1 Garlic clove
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Black Peppercorns
2 oz. Fresh cilantro (leaves and stems)
2 Tbsp.  fresh Parsley, chopped
2 Scallions, chopped
1 fresh Red Chili, sliced (add more if you want the noodles to be HOT)
3 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon juice
2/3 cup Coconut Milk

2 Tbsp. Peanut butter
8 oz. Flat Rice Noodles
Lemon Quarters to serve

Make the sauce: Grind Garlic, salt, peppercorn and cilantro together. Add parsley, scallions and red chili and make a rough paste.

In a saucepan, add the above paste, lemon juice, coconut milk and peanut butter, mix well and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.


Meanwhile, boil water in another pan, switch off the heat and add noodles, cover and let it stand for 5 minutes or as per directions. Drain well.

Final assembly: Toss the noodles in the sauce until evenly coated. Serve immediately with lemon quarters.


Notes: 

·        The noodles are mild, if you want, amp up the heat by adding another red chili. Lemon juice is a must to add a burst of fresh flavor.

·      Leftovers make a great lunchbox option. The flavors soak into the noodles and taste great. Gently re-heat  before serving.

·         This is not a complete meal, add a protein on the side.
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16 comments:

virunthu unna vaanga said...

flavorful...
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA

R.Punitha said...

Hi Manasi ,

Green noodles Delicious Dish !!!

Surely it's a must try recipe:)

Inviting you to

www.southindiafoodrecipes.blogspot.in

Unknown said...

The green noodles looks so fresh and yumm. I am getting hungry now, have only yogurt with me, guess doodha chi tahan taakvar bhagvavi lagnar ahe mala. and yes oh Yes, Mr. Ash was the gawker in most restaurants and he always asked McDonald's guys to skip the sausage and egg in an morning sandwich. They always gave us THE LOOK.
Love Ash.

Unknown said...

Yummy, something new
http://shwetainthekitchen.blogspot.com/

great-secret-of-life said...

delicious and so inviting.. It is new also

Great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com said...

Recipe khoop chan ahe,I read cookbook like story books as well during bedtime :))

AJ said...

They look so inviting!

Manasi said...

Thanks.

Manasi said...

Hope you try and like it! Do let me know :)

Manasi said...

Ash, what I liked in this recipe, when I saw it was, it used most ingredients from our regular Indian pantry. All I had to buy was Rice noodles and parsley,not a bad deal for me!

Manasi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Manasi said...

Thank you.

Manasi said...

Thanks, hope u try it.

Manasi said...

Thanks Runner Girl! Hehehe! another cook book addict, it is a reat read, isn't it!

Priya Suresh said...

Highly irresistible and super tempting.

Indranee Batabyal said...

Very tempting recipe!

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