Thukpa

I have managed to travel less so I try to travel trough food cooked in my kitchen at times. I love cooking dishes from the various regions of India: Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, south of India and I am exploring more regions as I come across more recipes to cook.

Very recently a friend travelled to North East and was raving about Thukpa: a clear soup with a piece of meat, noodles and shredded fresh vegetables to add. I googled the recipes available for it and got the basics, adapted it to my vegetarian kitchen. Whenever I have this soup I can see the snowy mountains in the backdrop and feel the cold weather of North East, despite the heavy rains of Mumbai! This beautiful, light yet filling and simple yet flavourful soup with depths of textures of noodles, broth and crispy shredded vegetables, has already become a family favourite and is eaten with great relish at least twice a week!

Hot thukpa soup with noodles and fresh vegetables

Ingredients

For the vegetable stock

1 litre water

4-5 leaves of cabbage

1/2 medium green capsicum

1 medium sized onion sliced

2 inch piece of gourd

Salt

For the broth of the soup

1-2 tbsps olive oil

6-8 garlic cloves finely chopped

2-3 green chillies finely chopped

Prepared vegetable stock

Salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

For serving

100 gms of plain boiled noodles (rice/ hakka/ Maggi)

1 cup of shredded vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, green capsicum

5-10 corriander leaves 

Method

To make the vegetable stock, add the vegetables and the salt to one litre of water. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes and then drain.

For the broth, heat the pan and add the olive oil. Add in the garlic and fry till it turns golden. Then add in the green chillies and fry for 1 minute. To this add the vegetable stock prepared as above and add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for about 10-15 minutes till the flavour of the garlic and the chillies seeps into the broth.

Cook the hakka/ rice noodles as per packet instructions. If you are using Maggi noodles, bring to a boil 300 ml of water, add in the noodles (and not the masala) and cook till they separate out and cook.

To serve, put in some noodles in the bowl, fill in with the broth and add the shredded vegetables and corriander leaves for garnishing. Enjoy!

All set to be slurped and crunched up!

And now I am submitting this post for my first food blogger's event! Fingers crossed! 

http://indian-delights.blogspot.in/2013/06/event-annoucement-monsoon-temptations.html