Maggi- Instant Noodles with Instant Nostalgia

Crispy Maggi

Now you will think what is so special about it? Instant noodles haan- thats it. 

Well yes, but for me  (and many like me ) it brings a sense of instant nostalgia.Those born and grown up in 90's will know what i am talking about. Maggi was the like the international fast food for us.

I remember coming home from school and having a bowl of Maggi almost everyday watching hindi dubbed American series like I dream of Jinnie.Wow those were the days of playing Lapa Chupi ( Hide and seek),watching shaktimaan,slurping Dudh ki pepsi (milk flavored ice popsicles) and collecting trump crads.

Now before i drift into the past,let me share with you my version of  Maggi. It is like an exotic cousin of the plain water maggi that one can has It has 3 layers, with boiled maggi at the bottom a sauce in between and topped with fried maggi. 

Why complicate a simple dish? Well ITS TASTY.. Simple!!!!

A little Trivia-

Maggi was introduced by Nestle in the 80's in India and topped the charts in the instant noodles market for a decade.For those of you who havent had Maggi before this is how it looks. It has instant noodles and a packet of taste maker inside.

Maggi packets

Inside- Noodles and a taste maker

Ingredients- 

Maggi noodles- 2 packets
Tomatoes- 2-3
Onions- 1
Capsicum- 1 small
Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tsp
Vinegar- 1 tsp (optional)
Soya Sauce - half tsp (optional)
Tomato ketchup- 2 tsp (optional)
Oil - to fry
Water- 1.5 cups
Salt- to taste


Procedure-

1. Add 1 packet of maggi with the taste maker to 1.5 cup of water. Cook it on medium flame for 2-3 mins till the noddles are cooked. 

   
    

   Boil Maggi

2. Make a paste of Ginger and garlic.
3. Chop tomatoes,onions and Capsicum.

   
    

   Chopped Vegetables

4. In a pan add 2 tsp of oil,add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.
   
   

   

   Saute ginger garlic paste in oil

     
5. Add in the onions and saute till they are translucent.Add capsicum and stir fry for a min.
   
   

   

   Saute onions and capsicum

6. Add in the tomatoes and salt.Stir.Cover and let it cook.
   
   

   

   Add in tomatoes

7. Now add vinegar and soy sauce and ketchup (this is optional) and add in the taste maker
   

   
   

   Add in sauces for taste



Sauce 

 
8. Let it cook for a min more. (Add water to adjust consistency)

   
   

   Add in tastemaker

9. Deep fry the remaining packet of maggi noodles till golden brown colour( Crush it into small pieces before frying for ease).

   
   

   Fry crushed Maggi noodles

10. Assemble - Sauce on the boiled maggi topped with fried noodles.

    
    

    Assemble Maggi and sauce

11. Garnish with coriander and enjoy it Hot.

    
    

    Enjoy your Maggi

My tip-

You can add boiled carrot,peas to the sauce incase your kid doesnt eat it otherwise.

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A quick Breakfast- Pohe

There is an old saying - Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

Well in our case it somehow doesn't seem to get through. Its been a week we have returned from our US trip but have been struggling to adjust back to the UK timings. So instead we - Eat no breakfast,munch for lunch and dine like a royalty- which is quite the opposite of how it should be.
Desperate to change our eating habits i decided to get up early today and finally make some breakfast- only to know that we had very limited ingredients :( Determined to give up the idea i decided to create something with the available ingredients.

And the verdict- It was yumm!!!

So here is my version of ' Pohe'

Kande Pohe

A little trivia

Pohe is a very popular breakfast preparation of Maharashtra (India).In fact it is so popular that it is a dish served during the bride- viewing programs in arrange marriages in Maharashtra.[ Now imagine a dad telling his son- I chose your mom because she could make the best Pohe in the world :P]

Pohe literally means flattened rice (easily available in the Indian grocery stores). It can be made with Onions (Kanda Pohe) or Potatoes (Batata Pohe).Either of them are equally tasty!!

My version of Pohe

Ingredients-

Onions - 1 medium sized
Tomato- 1 small
Carrot - 1 small (to make it healthy)
Jeera- 1 tsp
Pohe - 1 cup
Turmeric powder- 2 tsp
Red chilly powder- 1 tsp
Coriander and Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste
Coriander - for garnish (i didn't have any,so i used spring onions instead)
Lemon juice- 2 tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch
Oil

Procedure:


1. Wash the Flattened rice (pohe) drain and keep aside.

Washed and drained pohe

2. In a hot pan, add 3 tsp oil. Once the oil is hot enough, add a pinch of asafoetida, and jeera (make sure not to burn it) If the oil is too hot,take it off the flame and add the powder masalas- turmeric,red chilly and coriander and cumin powder.This is what gives it its colour.

My Spice Dabba

3. Now add the onions and saute for a min. Add the carrots and tomatoes.Saute for a min.

Saute for a min well

4. Add salt at this stage as you do not want to mix too much after adding the flattened rice. (the salt should be slightly more considering you will add the flattened rice )

Stir in the Pohe gently

5. Garnish with lemon juice and coriander (i used spring onions though)

Garnish it

Your mouth watering breakfast is ready

My tip - 

Eat it while its hot. You can also add some sev incase you need a crunch in its texture.

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