Chinese Stir fry Vege with curry Laksa

Last thursday our dinner. Sometimes for a change we make noodles and stir fry vege. Curry laksa is noodles dipped in curry which is lightly spiced with a elegant flavour of coconut milk.

Laksa (Chinese: 叻沙; pinyin: lèshā) is a popular spicy noodle soup from Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore. The name may originate from the Sanskrit word laksha (लक्ष), meaning “many” and referring to the soup’s many ingredients; the word is also the origin of the Hindi term lakh.for more look at here

Let me come to the recipe first for Laksa.  My pictures are not clear at the very right moment my camera battery went low phew! So i took all pitures in my handphone which came handy at the right time. My daughter and H werein a hurry to eat with tofu and bean sprouts not left for the photo …..
 

 

All you need

Laksa boiled thick soft white rice noodles - 1 packet

bean sprouts - 2 cups

boiled egg - optional

fried tofu cut into triangles

spring onions/coriander for garnish

Thick coconut milk -1 cup

 

Make a raw Paste of the following

shallots - 4

red chillies - 8

ginger - 2 inch

garlic pods - 4

lemon grass bulbs - 2

coriander powder - 1 tsp

turmeric powder - 1 tsp

 

• Take oil in a kadai fry the paste until fragrant
• Add 1 glass of water and the noodles, salt boil until soft
• Add coconut milk, tofu pieces  simmer for 2 minutes care not to put in high flame
• Take a serving bowl add the soup nooddles, bean sprouts, boiled egg
• Serve with spirng onions garnished. Yumm noodles is ready

Note: Can substitute milk for coconut milk, some of my friends did say even one of the recipe link at the wikipedia has a similar recipe.

Tofu Khofta Curry

This one of my trials with tofu.  Since long time i wanted to try khofta curries. But due to the laborious process of frying then making the curry always thought it is more time consuming.  Well the curry turned out quite well but i should say some more spice would have made it more tasty. 

For Khofta

Tofu - 2 chunks

Potato - 1 boiled

onions - 1

green chillies - 2

garam masala - 1 tsp

coriander leaves - 2 tsp

besan Flour - 2 tbsp

salt to taste

For curry

Cashew nuts - 5-6

coconut - 1/4 cup

poppy seeds - 1 tsp

fennel seeds - 1 tsp

cloves - 3-4

cinnamon - 1 inch piece

tomatoes - 1

onions - 1 big

ginger- garlic paste - 2 tsp

chilli powder - 1 -2 tsp

garam masala - 1 tsp

coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

salt to taste

Khofta: mash Tofu, potatoes. Mix all the ingrediants for khota together to form a firm dough. IF the dough is very loose or watery add some more besan flour to hold the khofta together. Shape the dough into balls and deep fry.

For curry: Make a paste of cashew, coconut, poppy seeds,saunf, cloves and cinnamon with water. Cut tomatoes and onions finely.  Take oil in a heavy sauce pan. Add whole garam masala if required (optional). When the oil is hot enough fry onions until light pink. Add ginger garlic paste fry for some time to remove the raw smell. Add tomatoes and all the powders, chilli,coriander, turmeric, garam masala and salt. Let the tomatoes cook and leave some oil. now add the ground paste. Allow the paste to be cooked and let it boil, this paste can be mixed with some water to attain the required consistency for curry. The cashew paste will make it thick.  Add the khoftas to the curry . Garnish with coriander leaves.

 

Tofu Beensprout Fry

Tofu and bean sprout get along very well.  This was my very first vege that i had when we stayed as a paying guest. A little story behind how i learnt of tofu.  The very first time we landed in Singapore that is 10 years ago, yes it has been 10 years!!.  The owner’s wife was a vegetarian but i was very suspicious, as she told me today she will cook and i need not cook though i was reluctant to take it but finally agreed. I also was very new to the cooking world ever since from my school days to my engineering i hardly cooked any full meal. After she finished cooking she showed me tofu fry and told me i can eat this as this is pure vegetarian but i was harldy aware of what is tofu made of?? When i had a look i felt a sour smell with the bean sprout more looked like jelly kind at first look i thought it was some worm which is supposed to be vegetarian for these Singaporeans. The owner was very nice to me and explained how Tofu was extracted from soya and also had a look at the raw bean sprouts which looked so fresh wow i though to my self! The first time i had this dish i did not like the taste of it slowly i started to adapt it and now it is favourite food for my family. This is best when cooked fresh.

 

Tofu - 3 huge chunks

Bean spourts - 2 cups

onions - 1

green chillies - 1

cloves - 2

cinnamon - 2 pieces

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

turmeric

sambhar powder - 1 tsp

salt to taste

coriander leaves

garlic - 2 pods

Cut Tofu into small chunks like how we do for paneer. Heat oil in a pan, add fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon fry for a few minutes add curry leaves. Add green chillies onion fry until onoins are light brown. Add garlic fry for a few secs until slight brown. Add tofu and fry it on high fire until brown layer formed on each of them. Add bean sprouts, turmeric powder, sambhar powder salt and continue frying until bean sprouts change color.