Vegetable Noodles

Vegetable Noodles

If you know a child that does not like noodles, I would love to hear from them. Well, they certainly popular in my family, both the big boy and the small boy love it. To me, I think the best noodles are the ones we can get in road side shops in Chennai. I remember once I went to a sports meet while in college (oh, don’t get me wrong, I am not atheletic at all but I had good fun) and they had roadside shops sort of arrangement. It was quite inexpensive but very tasty. I am guessing it is the ajinomoto (mono sodium glutamate) that gives it so much flavour. However, I do not use it in my kitchen so I had to resort to other ingredients to bring flavour. Anyway, as I said earlier there will be fewer and fewer time left for me to write stories and will dive straight into the recipe. Where appropriate, I will however try to give information on nutrition and health benefits of key ingredients.

1 pack noodles of your choice, cooked as per instructions on package

2-3 cups of finely chopped vegetables (I added green beans, green pepper, red pepper and carrots)

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 generous teaspoon ginger garlic paste

3 tablespoon tomato ketchup or sauce (I used Maggi hot and sweet sauce)

1-2 tablespoon soya sauce

½ teaspoon vinegar

Salt to taste

Oil, preferably toasted sesame seed oil or stir fry oil

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. I used a mixture of sunflower oil and toasted sesame oil as the latter smokes very quickly. Add the onions and sauté for a minute

Add the rest of the vegetables and ginger garlic paste

Saute until they are just about cooked but still have a bite. Now, this may depend on your taste. Typically, Chinese cooking is done at high flame for a short time and this leaves the veggies crunchy. If you like them softer, then cook longer

Add all the sauce and vinegar and sauté for a couple of minutes

Add the cooked noodles; I added a few drops of water just so that it does not dry out quickly. Mix well and serve