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I believe that salt is to food, what food is to life. In right proportions, it can heighten the taste of what you eat..and in the wrong - destroy! Even the most delicious sweets come added with some salt...to taste!

As for me, I've never enjoyed cooking. And as contrary to my owning a food-blog as it may sound, I always think about daily, routine cooking as a chore. But my tryst with the pots and pans began when I got a kitchen all to myself...I began experimenting and exploring new worlds in my own home. Some outcomes were excellent and some plain disasters. Then sprouted the need to keep track of all those good ones...and hence this blog!

Here, I share those experiments that pleased more than one palate!




July 16, 2009

Quick Veggie Noodles

To say I like Indo-chinese cuisine would be an understatement. It is so much among my favourites of food choices that I could possibly eat it every single day. The flavours and textures transport me into another world. I love the gravies and sauces but have not yet mastered making them myself. But when it comes to noodles, it's all tried and tested. I might not be a professional in this genre of cooking but I know this recipe for noodles can have you asking for more!
Ingredients
200gms Noodles (or as much as you desire)
1/2 Cup Onions - Julienned
1/2 Cup Broccoli florets
1/4 Cup Cauliflower florets
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper (Capsicum) - Julienned
1/4 Cup Carrots - Julienned
1/4 Cup Green beans - Julienned
1/2 tsp Pepper
3 Green chillies - chopped
Oil
And, of course, some salt to taste!


Method
- Heat water in a large saucepan and bring to boil
- Add salt and the toss in the noodles
- Let cook for just about 1.5 minutes (till they become soft and "stirrable" but not overcooked)
- Drain water and flush the noodles with cold water. Drain.
- Sprinkle some oil over the cooked noodles and stir it and set aside
- In a wok/kadai, heat some oil and add the green chillies
- Next add the onions and fry until translucent
- Add all the remaining veggies and stir fry until veggies are crisp
- Sprinkle some more salt to flavour the veggies
- Toss in the cooked noodles and stir using tongs
- Add pepper and stir further


Noteworthy Notes
1. If you like your veggies to be completely cooked then (before you do the stir fry) boil some water, and toss in the veggies for just over a minute to give it a more soft texture. But by doing so, you are running the risk of having mushy veggies in the noodles, hence I avoid this.
2. You can add any variety of veggies/scrambled eggs/chicken/lamb/seafood to this recipe to turn up its volume and taste
3. Use ajinomoto to achieve authentic Chinese restaurant-like taste


SERVES 2

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