Few days ago, we had invited our friends for dinner. Our friend Jyoti told us, she makes this delicious Pad Thai atleast once a week to take in her lunch box. What interested me most was the fact that she told me, she does not use any kind of sauces in it. Though I have used Soy sauce, fish sauce etc in the past, I am making a conscious effort not to use them now due to various reasons. The only sauce I have on hand these days is hot sauce . I asked Jyoti for her recipe. I made some minor modifications and absolutely loved the end result. This is not a traditional Thai recipe, but I can safely say it is a healthy and easy version of the classic.
Ingredients: 1/2 lb Pad Thai noodles 1 Egg 1 tea spn garlic 1 tea spn red chilli flakes 1 tea spn red chilli sauce 2-3 tbl spn brown sugar 3 tbl spns coarse peanut powder 1 tbl spn coriander leaves 2 tbl spns lemon juice Oil Salt Vegetables – Green beans cut into thin long pieces Carrot cut into thin long pieces Snow peas Zucchini Extra firm Tofu (did not use these) Bean sprouts (did not use these) Broccoli (did not use these)
Method: Cook noodles according to packet instructions. Heat 2 tbl spns water, sugar and red chilli flakes till it thickens a bit. Heat oil in a big wok and add tofu. Stir fry them for few minutes. With a spoon, push them to a side of wok and add eggs in the remaining space. Scramble the eggs. Now add all the vegetables, garlic and fry them for few minutes. Let them cook for a bit. Add cooked noodles, salt and the prepared sugar-red chilli sauce. Add the red chilli sauce(if using). Mix everything well. (Taste it at this point and add more chilli flakes or sugar if necessary). Add lemon juice, peanut powder and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Serves : 1-2
Give me any vegetable and I mix it with rice to make a quick lunch box item. We both enjoy these lunches and V is very happy to find a different one, each time in his box. Well, he really likes some of them more than others and asks me to repeat them, but I would have forgotten the recipe by then. I decided, no matter how simple they are, I will post them here so that I can make them or even V can make them.
Here is one that we enjoyed a lot. I was bored of simple stir fry, dal using cabbage. So this dish was born.
Ingredients: 1 cup cabbage 1/4 cup onion 1 cup rice 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
Spice paste : 1/2 tea spn chana dal 1/2 tea spn sesame seeds 1/2 tea spn coriander seeds 1 tbl spn coconut 4-5 red chillies 1 tea spn chopped ginger
Method: Cook rice such that each grain is separate. Keep it aside till it is cooled. Heat oil and add chana dal, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, coconut, red chillies. Grind with ginger to a coarse paste. Heat Ghee/oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Add onions and cabbage, Add the paste, mix well. Add salt, 1/4 cup water(only if required, most cabbages leave lots of water while cooking, so be careful). Cover and cook till cabbage is done. Switch off the heat. Add cooked rice and mix well.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 25mins
