Spicy Thai Noodles

Given a choice of cuisine while deciding on where to have lunch/dinner, Thai would be the first thing that pops up in my husband's mind. I'm not as big a fan as him, but Thai is something I do enjoy eating. Noodles cooked in a sweet-spicy-sour sauce with Tofu - vahrevah!! 

After looking around for Thai recipes, I landed up on this and that. A fusion of both is how I cooked and needless to say (bragging :) ), IT WAS AWESOME !!!

Ingredients:

1. Thai Rice noodles  (Got Rice sticks from Trader Joes)  - 1/2 packet (serves two)
2. Extra Firm Tofu 
3. Green and Red capsicums - 1 each
4. Basil leaves - a bunch
5. Carrot - 1 
6. Onion - 1 
7. Peanuts - a cup
8. Jaggery - 2 tblspoons
9. Chilli sauce
10. Soy sauce
11. Garlic powder - 2 spoons
12. Lemon - few drops
13. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Thai restaurants add what is called "fish sauce" to most of their entrees. When I order, I remember to tell the waiter not to add any egg in my noodles. We tried a different Thai cafe recently, and when I told about my "no egg" thing, the waiter was smart enough to guess that I might be a vegan. He promptly asked if fish sauce was okay. That came as a surprise to me, & for one moment, I cursed myself for eating fish all the while :( So, if you are also a vegetarian, let them know that you don't want fish sauce.

Method:

1. Drain excess water from Tofu and cut into into 1x0.5 inch rectangles.
2. Spread a drop of oil on a pan and fry the Tofu pieces till they turn golden brown on all sides.
   
   
   
3. If you are using Rice sticks from TJs, cut them such that each stick breaks into 4 equal pieces. Soak them all in luke warm water for about 20minutes till they get moderately soft.
4. Cut capsicums, onion and carrot into inch-long pieces.
5. Wash the basil leaves. Basil is the Star ingredient of this dish. Can't get Basil? - don't even think of making these noodles. If you can't get fresh basil leaves, you could substitute with dried basil.
6. Prepare the peanut sauce by dry roasting the peanuts and grinding them with jaggery and salt. Add water to the ground mixture so as to make a semi-thick sauce.
7. Heat two tblspoons of oil and fry all the vegetables with some salt. Cook till tender, not to overcook.
8. Add Tofu, chilli sauce & soy sauce.
9. Now add 75% of the peanut sauce and garlic powder and then mix all the contents of the pan.
10. Taste the curry above, and check the following:
    
    
    
    1. Sweet? - no: add sugar dissolved in water
    2. Spicy? - no: more chilli sauce
    3. Salty? - less: little more salt
    
    
    
    
11. Time to go back to the noodles. If they are soft enough, you could stir fry them. Or else, boil them along with the water used for soaking for few minutes till they get soft. Adding noodles to boiling water (like the way we make Maggi) would result in a soggy mess. So, add noodles and water at the same time and heat them just until the noodles are soft enough to bite. They needn't be too soft.
    
    
    
12. Once the noodles are ready, add the remaining peanut sauce. This step is important, as the noodles would taste bland otherwise. 
13. Mix the curry and noodles along with few drops of lemon juice and coriander leaves. Don't add too much lemon, it should just be a little sour, not too sour.

That's it! Enjoy your meal.... "home-made" with "restaurant-taste"

Entry to events:

1. I do see a lot of green & red in the noodles, so posting this recipe to the Red & Green food event, with a link back to this.
   
2. It's a vegan world: Thai