Thai style curried noodles

I was driving to work one morning, my usual steadfast yet stylish way, slowing down at junctions, honking as necessary and being good. Two groovy guys on an Activa, the driver with bleached hair and tight T-shirt and a thinner version behind him, veered in front of my car in a big sweeping arc from a side road. I wished to roll down the window and hurl a boulder but steadfast and stylish that I was, instead I braked appropriately and slowed down to let them go. 

These guys were apparently part of the group that can’t accept women drivers. These are also the type of guys who will leer at women on roads, pass filthy comments, whistle for chauvinistic dialogues in films, over-take you on the road, then go very slow, wait for the woman to go past and then again zip past her. They did exactly that and went even further. I don’t know if it was their horn or one of them cried out that way but it was the most annoyingly, shrill, sick howl I’d heard. They did that not once but twice when they were close to my car. I didn’t want to shout, swear or complain. All I wanted to do was bash them up. I played out the Kaaka Kaaka Surya scene where he thrashes the guy in my mind.

We were near a signal and I saw a bunch of traffic police at the junction. The Activa had sped past me and they were nowhere in sight. The policemen had cornered many two-wheelers along the side of the road for various reasons. When I inched closer to the junction, I saw that these two were also among the few the police had stopped.

God is great!

All I wanted to do was break into a dance. I played out the scene in OKOK where Udayanidhi dances outside the theatre in my mind of course.

I am sorry if you were here for the Thai style curried noodles.. in just a moment. My point is karma. It is really hard to NOT do something about something that bothers you. But I have begun to not do it. You should not do it too.

If you are wont to go to that get-together and you’d rather go to office or even back to school instead, don’t put forth your views honestly, don’t express your feelings, don’t argue about it and most importantly don’t expect your family to understand it. Just wait and someone will cancel.

If you don’t really care for liquor prohibition one way or the other but feel it makes your life easier not having to negotiate quotas for your husband, monitor, follow up and argue every time but still maintain with your friends that you are in control; enough to make you want to down a large whiskey to cope with the whole situation, just don’t say it. Your husband is annoyed with the proposed liquor prohibition law. You just nod wisely and tut tut. Let the government answer.

If you are really in the mood for some Thai style curried noodles, go ahead and make it notwithstanding the whole week’s cooking lying in the fridge. Power may go off tomorrow freeing you of the weight of the week’s leftovers in one sweep.

If you love Thai curries, this Thai style curried noodles is for you. Feel free to use store bought curry paste if you’re pressed for time. You may use any Thai curry paste of your liking.

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

Uncooked Noodles – 400 gm
Julienned vegetables – 2 cups (carrots, green beans)
Button mushrooms – 200 gm rinsed and quartered
Onion – 1 large sliced thinly
Chicken – 1 cup boneless pieces
Cooking Oil – 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
Thai Curry paste – ½ cup (recipe below)
Coconut milk – ¾ cup
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves – a handful chopped for garnishing

Ingredients –Thai Curry paste

Whole dry red chillies soaked in boiling water – 5 chillies soaked for 10 minutes
Fresh coriander stems and roots – 1/2 cup thoroughly rinsed and chopped
Ginger – 2 inch piece peeled and chopped
Garlic – 6-7 pods peeled
Fresh Lemon grass – 3 tbsp chopped (you can use lemon grass powder too)
Cumin – ½ tsp
Lemon leaves – 5 leaves chiffonaded (roll up leaves tightly and slice to make thin strips)

Method

1.       To make the curry paste, combine all the ingredients under curry paste in a mixie or food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Add the chilli soaked water if necessary. Set aside.

2.       Cook the noodles as per package instructions. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Break the noodles and drop them into the boiling water. In about 2-3 minutes the noodles will be cooked. Switch off and pour the contents into a colander letting the water drain away. Rinse the noodles in cold water a couple of times till it is cool to the touch. Gently massage in 2 tbsp of oil into the noodles. This will keep them from sticking together. Set aside.

3.       Heat a large wok, kadai and when hot add 3 tbsp oil.

4.       Throw in the sliced onions and stir fry for a minute on high heat. If you are using chicken, throw them in now and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until they turn pale golden. Add the julienned carrots and beans and stir fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Spoon in the curry paste and mix with the vegetables. Add salt, turn heat down to medium and stir around till the curry paste is slightly dry.

5.       Pour in the coconut milk and gently stir it into the curried vegetables. Cook for half a minute or so. The curry will thicken up quickly.

6.       Turn heat down to low and transfer the noodles a handful at a time breaking them up if they’re stuck together before putting them into the wok. Fold the curried mixture into the noodles. Repeat adding remaining noodles in the same manner – breaking them up, transferring to wok and gently folding them in. When all the noodles has been folded in, toss to make sure the curry coats all the noodles and the veggies are all evenly distributed. Cook for a minute till everything is heated through. Switch off. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.