Soup for the Soul: Pak Choy – Noodles Soup

Pak Choi - Noodles Soup

Where else could you catch a massive cold, if not in wet and cold Britain? I was surprised to see how I survived from Jan to mid Feb from the clutches of cold and flu when colleagues in my office were walking around with a tissue stuck to their nostrils!! Just when it seemed like we are going to celebrate early springs with daffodils smiling at clear blue skies, the temperature plunged to -10 degree celcious. Ha!!! Serves me right for planning my early spring shopping. Once I stocked up enough of cold remedies and boxes of Kleenex, I tried to research the latest findings on how best to tackle the illness that is still eluding the pharmaceutical industry. Well, what else I could have expected. As usual the results were not very encouraging. It seems there is actually no remedy for cold and one wise (wo)man even mentioned "Medicate a cold and it will be gone in 14 days; ignore it and it will be gone in two weeks." So if the cold usually lasts for two weeks then there is not conclusive proof that popping Vitamin C or zinc supplements is gonna work for you. These supplements might simply mask the cold but they don’t actually cure you.

With my nose looking like that of a buffoon’s, blood shot eyes watering continuously due to my coughing night concert, and tissue dangling from my nostrils I usually rely on some tried and tested recipes like pepper rasam, kashayam or bowl of piping hot soup. After all, there is nothing more comforting than boiling few tomatoes with little spices and a good pinch of salt or boiling a glass of water with tulsi (holy basil) with few crushed peppercorns and honey/jaggary. Well, it’s also all you likely to feel up to if you have a really nasty cold. But if it’s your hubby dear who is cooking for the poor you, then you as well give yourself a special treat;)

We created this Pak Choi-Noodles Soup using the ingredients which is sure to comfort me and clear the congestion. Who says creativity can't kick in when your nose is blocked? It's just your nose that is blocked not brain;). This sunshine coloured soup doesn’t require any fancy ingredients or too much of time and energy to prepare. The ingredients used are lemon grass stalk, ginger, black pepper corns and garlic which is a natural remedy for cold and a splash of soya sauce and lemon juice for tingling taste. Addition of noodles, pak choi, and red bell peppers make this filling as well as very comforting meal. I am sending this bowl of Sunshine to Lisa who is hosting No Croutons Required event and she wants us to make a soup that even the most carnivorous diner would drool over. Thank you Pooja for the tip:)

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Pak Choi – Noodles Soup
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

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Ingredients:
4-5 cups Vegetable Stock
1-2 Pak Choy/Pak Choi, cut into bite size pieces
Handful of Noodles (I used medium noodles)
1 small Red Bell Pepper, cut into bite size pieces
1 small Onion, finely chopped (Optional)
4-5 stalks of Spring Onion, sliced
1 inch Ginger, crushed
2-3 Garlic flakes, sliced thinly
¾ tsp Lemongrass Paste/1 stalk of Lemon Grass, outer skin removed and bruised
Few Black Pepper corns, crushed
1-2 Green Chillies, slit (Optional)
¾ tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tsp Sambal Olek (Optional)
Few Basil, roughly chopped
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Pak Choi - Noodles Soup

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion and sliced garlic. Sauté it on medium flame till onions turns translucent.
Pour in vegetable stock and add bruised lemon grass stalk, sambal olek, slit green chillies and crushed ginger. Bring it to gentle boil.
Mix in noodles, red bell pepper, crushed peppercorns, soya sauce and salt to taste. Cook on a medium heat till noodles are cooked.
Add pak choi, spring onion and cook for another minute or two.
Switch off the flame and discard the lemongrass stalk and crushed ginger. Mix in lemon juice and basil and serve hot.

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Update:

With my nose and brain blocked, I kind of forgot to thank Sig for sending me this cute You Make Me Smile Award. Thank you sweetie for this award (You can send me the confession mail stating whether I really make you smile. I cross my heart and promise not disclose the contents of your mail). Well, it really means a lot to me when somebody says I make them smile and I take it as a great compliment. And the big surprise (read shock;) was there are some people who really read my l-o-n-g posts filled with everything under the sun. Boy!!! You guys really have patience ;) So thank you for reading my rants and continue to knock on my door in spite of driving you all mad with my non stop talking. Now to keep my reputation I think I need to post some jokes instead of my monologues dialogues to make you all smile! And I am passing this award to all you people who make me smile with your wonderful comments, suggestions and feedbacks. So spread the smile around because that’s what the world really needs.

Finally... I did it: Aloo Paratha

Stack of Aloo Paratha

I have had seen his larger than life pictures in many blogs, glossy cookbooks and magazines, cooking shows. He had tempted and seduced me enough to touch his well toned body, caress his face, and smell his heavenly fragrance! Oh!!! How badly I wanted him. He was always out of my reach and it was my friends whom he favoured. I envied them and the way they seemed to compliment each other. He never seemed to mind the way my friends treated him and never complained about it when most of them seemed to take him for granted. I never knew I was capable of loving someone so much but all I could do was admire him from distance. I was scared of rejection and couldn’t bear the thought of him or my friends laughing at my poor attempt to attract him. I had attempted few times to lure him and failed miserably until two months back… Yes, at last I conquered my fear of rejection and I can’t stop beaming stupidly. It was just few weeks back that I got hold of necessary ingredients to get his attention and since then there is no looking back. Like every fairly tale or M&B's it is happily ever after for me and my round, dark, handsome Paratha!!!

Mastering the art of making perfectly round, well shaped Paratha is not an easy task. And it’s more so when you make stuffed parathas. My Roties and Chapattis are (in)famous among my friends as they use them as examples for Geography classes. It seemed I somehow didn’t manage to inherit ‘perfect round chapatti rolling’ genes from my Amma. To make things worst, it seemed I skipped making ‘soft chapatti’ genes too. There was no trick and tips that I didn’t follow to get soft, round chapattis and the more I tried, the more it resembled some country map. Just when I was thinking of shooting the person who said ‘practice makes perfect’ everything changed drastically. Nope, I didn’t stop making chapattis. I just happened to find the purr-rrr—fect Atta (whole wheat flour). Well, I am not kidding when I say that 90% of credit goes to Atta for delicious Roti/Chapatti/Paratha I make. Using good quality Atta has always been the secret for soft, fluffy roties which you can tear using your thumb and fore finger. Three brands which Amma likes in India are Pillsbury Chakki Fresh Atta, Annapurna and ITC’s Ashirwad. I use Pillsbury Chakki Fresh because that’s the only brand I get in my Indian grocery store and I am happy with the soft, fluffy chapattis it makes. And since then it’s been stuffed Parathas at our place every weekend. Don’t be surprised if you see Stuffed Paratha Parade coming in Monsoon Spice because I am kind of enjoying (read obssesed with) making stuffed parathas these days. And please do share about the brand of Atta, little tricks and tips you follow at your home to make soft, fluffy roties. :)


Today I am posting Aloo Paratha. I used Fresh Green Peas in Atta to give it colour, taste and also little boast of nutrition. The green chillies give bit of heat and mint leaves gives little kick of freshness to the dough. The filling I used is usual mashed potatoes flavoured with kalonji and jeera powder. You can also add Garam Masala if needed but I like the subtle flavours of pungent garlic and hing which compliments sweet taste of potato. This Aloo dish is my humble entry for my an Ode to Potato event and lovely Dhivya's The Potato Fe(a)st.

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Aloo Paratha
Prep Time: 20-30 mins
Cooking Time: 15-30 mins
Makes: 10 Medium Parathas

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Ingredients:
For Dough:
3 cups Chapatti Atta/Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Fresh Green Peas
2 Green Chillies
Few Fresh Mint Leaves
Salt to taste
Warm water to knead

For the Stuffing:
2 large Potatoes
2 tbsp Onion, finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp Garlic, finely chopped
¼ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
¼ tsp Nigella Seeds/Kalonji
A big pinch Hing/Asafetida
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds(Optional)
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Aloo Stuffing

Method:
For Dough:
Grind fresh/frozen green peas with green chillies and mint leaves to smooth paste adding very little water.
Sift chapatti atta, salt to taste and make stiff dough by adding green peas puree and warm water as needed. Cover the dough with wet cheese cloth and keep it aside in a warm place for at least half an hour.

For the Stuffing:
Cook potato chunks with little salt and turmeric powder. Drain water, cool completely and mash it with a wooden masher without leaving any lumps.
Mean while heat oil and add jeera and kalonji. When they sizzle add finely chopped garlic, green chillies and onion and sauté for few seconds. Switch off the flame and mix jeera powder and amchur.
Transfer these contents to mashed potatoes and mix well. Make small lemon sized potato balls and keep aside.


Aloo Paratha- Work-in-Progress

To Make Stuffed Paratha:
Take dough and knead again for about minute and make big lime sized balls.
Dust it with wheat flour and roll it into thick poories of about 4 inch in diameter.
Place the Potato balls in center. Cover and seal the ends and roll again, dusting flour if necessary, into ½ cm thick roties using rolling pin.
Heat a griddle at high flame and lower it to low-medium flame.
Place Stuffed Paratha on griddle and cook on both the sides till its cooked and brown spots start to appear on top. Apply little ghee/oil if desired.
Serve hot Aloo Parathas immediately with any curry or with plain yogurt and pickle of your choice and enjoy.

Aloo Paratha

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Note:
Before mashing the potatoes let them cool completely. This way the filling will remain dry and filling will not ooze out from covering.
Make sure that the potatoes are mashed without leaving any lumps. This helps in rolling the parathas with even surface.