Coconut Curry Ramen | Maggi Noodles in Coconut Milk

 

8th November

I already feel the winter! Bright sunny days, chilled evenings, fresh winter vegetables in the produce market, the compulsory addition of ginger in the teas...finally this year feels good. 

The weekend has just whizzed past and now while I write this on a Sunday night I feel like I need another weekend immediately to offset these two days. It has been a mad crazy weekend due to ten thousand things that had to be done before the Diwali week. Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. Gawd where does this much dust come from on 10th floor!! I will never be able to fathom that. Then there was shopping to do for the pujas - both from the local market and from amazon and flipkart. You never can let go crazy deals na, even if you are on the edge of being bankrupt, sniff. As much as I resent spending so much, I really was tempted for a few things. 

Finally I am beginning to reap some benefit from the social media after all these years! Brands have been reaching out to me more frequently now for collaboration and even though it might be very small scale right now, but I was super excited when I received my first collaboration product. So that also adds to my already tall list of work. It is exhausting but it is rewarding as well. It feels good when someone appreciates what you do.

Then there was another person on Instagram who one day out of the blue told me that they were gonna try out one of my recipes from the blog. that was a pleasant surprise but I felt so humbled. People actually saw value in the contents I create. Its not that I am talking to the wall most of the times. This makes me motivated to push harder, make better contents and do more experiments in the kitchen.

Something nice is coming up in Instagram this week. I am going to announce a contest there. So all those who have an Instagram account check it out. It has lovely prizes for the winners and also special prizes for some of the special mentions.

Now coming to the recipe. Busy week means I end up spending a lot less time in the kitchen, especially for making lunch. This weekend I just wanted to clear my fridge and also make something real quick for lunch. I would have just made Maggi with vegetables as I do many a times when I don't have time. But I remembered a Ramen recipe I had recently seen and wanted to try. I scanned my pantry for the necessary stuffs. Coconut milk check, spring onions check. Surprised? yes that's about what you need to make this amazing recipe.  I did an egg check also as I wanted to add a sunny side up egg. And yes I had a few paneer cubes ready for some other subzi, so I thought to throw them in as well. But the last two things are totally optional. 

This would make a delicious and comforting meal when you’re craving something warm, light yet satisfying. The toppings and noodles are extremely versatile, so everyone can pick and choose how to style their bowls and add on practically anything you want.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes  

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 1 bowl

Ingredients:

• Maggi Noodle / Ramen - 1 Packet
• Full fat Coconut Milk - 1 and a 1/2 cup
• Spring onion - 1/2 cup chopped
• Cracked Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tsp

 

Equipment:

• Skillet

Procedure: 

1.  Cook the noodles as per instruction in water without adding the spice mix/ flavoring oil. Usually I bring the water in the pan to a rolling boil, add a pinch of salt and then drop in the noodles. With a fork I separate out the noodles and let them boil for about 5 minutes on high. Boil till the noodles are 3/4th cooked.

Tip: Do not cook the noodles till the end, else it will turn mushy. 3/4th cooked is what we are doing in this step because in next step we are again going to cook it. 

Note: You can basically use any brand's instant noodles for this recipe. So no stress there!

Note 1: We will add the spice mix/flavouring oils at a later stage.

2. Now drain the water from the noodles using a strainer. Put it under running water to stop further cooking. Drizzle about 1 tsp of oil and toss the noodles. Let the water drain totally.

3. Now in a skillet on medium heat, warm the coconut milk.  It will slowly start bubbling a bit. add the sugar and stir in. At this stage add the 3/4th cooked noodles. Keep the flame low to medium as it might stick to the pan. Fold everything in gently and let the noodles cook the remaining 1/4th. Which will roughly take 2-3 minutes. 

Tip: This recipe tastes nicer with a little sweetness. But if you are not a fan of it then you can skip it. The coconut milk will impart a little sweetness on its own.

Tip 2: If you do not have coconut milk, you can use coconut milk powder and mix it with warm full fat milk and it will give you similar outcome

Note: You can vary the amount of the coconut milk based on whether you want a normal noodles texture or a soupy noodles texture. For soupy noodles add more coconut milk and vise versa.

Note 2: Please don't ruin this recipe with skim milk. Full fat coconut milk is what you need for that super creamy texture.

4. Add the spice mix of the ramen/noodles and fold in while the noodles is still cooking.

5. Now add the chopped spring onions and fold in. Do not skip this step. This is what makes the recipe come together. 

6. Add cracked pepper, a pinch of salt and stir in. Once done top it off with more spring onion.

Serve warm with your favorite toppings - sunny side eggs, poached eggs, tofu, paneer cubes, more spring onions, chilli flakes, sprouts, mushroom, purple cabbage etc...the choices are infinite.