Served on a bed of noodles…….
When I read blog posts about the farmer’s markets in the US etc, I know exactly what the feeling is. In North India, at this time of the year, the local bazaars are overflowing with fresh produce. Every little corner stall will offer coloured bell peppers, bok choy, sweetcorn,mushrooms, broccoli etc at ridiculous prices! Such is the temptation, that each time I step out, I’m lugging this cartload home. Then again, its time to convert it into a hearty meal! I love it!!!
Now how tempting are these? They colour my world….
I turned the blogosphere inside out in my search for a sambal chili sauce. The listed ingredients made me see stars. I eventually picked up a dipping sauce & merrily added my own bits & pieces. The resultant sauce was a bit on the sweeter side,despite all the chili flakes & garlic I threw in; the culprit was a dash of honey! Anyway, Pepy, who has a very authentic Indonesian food blog enlightened me, and will help me through the next time I venture in this direction. Until then, do enjoy this fusion that I cooked up!!
Ingredients:
Rice noodles for 4
Chicken – 2-3 breasts/ chopped into bite sized pieces
Mushrooms – 200gms
Broccoli – 3 small heads, steamed to crisp
Bell peppers -1 each red, green & yellow
Spring onions – 5-6 with stalks
Garlic – loads of it / chopped fine
Bok Choy – 2-3
Cashew nuts – a handful / dry roasted
Thai Dipping Sauce (or if you have some, Sambal Chili sauce)
Method:
- Crush some garlic + red chili flakes + honey in a pestle (just a dash of honey). Reserve half.
- Make a marinade with the other half adding oil + salt + a tbsp of dipping sauce/Sambal chili sauce.
- Marinade the chicken in this for about half an hour.
- Chop up the veggies as you would like them to be.
- Begin to prepare the noodles . Once cooked, I pan fried them in garlic and chili flakes & a dash of dipping sauce again (eye-balled it)! Next time it will be Sambal chili for sure.
- Heat the oil in a wok. Put in chopped garlic + chili flakes + reserved half of garlic-chili mix (or Sambal chili sauce).
- Toss in the chicken pieces, fry them well for 2- minutes, followed by mushrooms. Stir fry on high till all the water evaporates.
- Toss in the peppers + broccoli + spring onions (stalks chopped up too) and bok choy. Add salt; adjust seasonings. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes till bok choy is wilted.
- Serve over a bed of hot noodles, topped with cashews!
- Note: Omit the chicken altogether & you have a wonderful vegetarian option.
PILE IT UP HIGH!!!
P.S. Zlamushka, this one’s savoury too!!