A noodles-y lunch

My first tryst with noodles was… ah, forget it! Why? Because I, too have forgotten.

Honestly, noodles, especially the instant variety, are such a staple in the middle-class Indian household these days that one hardly remembers their first encounter with them. However, they are eaten mostly as afternoon or evening food, or sometimes even breakfast.

Pooja and I, however, seem to share some of our taste in food, which means instant noodles can easily be our lunch or dinner. And can be as filling and nutritious, too! Here’s how she does it.

Capsicum, otherwise known as “shimla mirch” almost everywhere throughout India, is one of Pooja’s favourite veggies. Tomato and onion are staples. But she has also used beans, carrots and peas in this recipe. Not this time, though.

Oh, and I am the one doing the cooking. She has chosen the place behind the camera. Which probably explains why the veggies are so unevenly cut:

“The oil must cover the pan’s entire surface,” I had learnt many moons ago.

In go the onions first. That stray piece of capsicum is yet another bit of evidence that an inexperienced hand is at work.

After the onions have softened a bit, in go the rest of the vegetables.

And then the noodles, which have been boiled separately and kept aside, along with the water that was used in the boiling process. Is that what they call the stalk?

Then goes in the “masala”, and a lot of stirring ensues.

Now, I may be the one wielding the cooking utensils, but this is Pooja’s recipe, and she has come up with what turns out to be a welcome addition to the concoction: cumin powder.

After the entire thing has been mixed well so that there are no lumps, and before the noodle starts to stick to the pan, it is transferred to the dishes.

Time now for the scrambled egg/and bhurji.

The pan’s been coated with oil again, and the whisked egg on top of that heated oil looks good to be an omelette. But that’s not what we planned for it.

Let the scrambling commence:

And here’s the final product.

And this is our cat Dodo, who I think is sulking because he got only boiled fish to eat, and no noodles.

Got something to tell us? Feel free!

Originally posted on June 4, on a temporary blog.

Arkadev Ghoshal

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Post comment