Recipe : Sheviyo Upma / Multigrain Vermicelli Upma - Vegan

I found a packet of dried multigrain vermicelli at the Indian store on our last trip. I had thought that I’d just steam it and serve it like sheviyos/idiyappam with coconut curry. But after the khao swey last week, this idea wasn’t as exciting and felt repetitive.

I remembered a dish that nana would make with leftover sheviyos and tried to recreate it. Not bad at all.

Ingredients:

200gms pack of multigrain or ragi vermicelli

1 tsp oil (coconut oil preferred, but any neutral oil works)

1 tbsp split channa dhal

2 tbsp split urad dhal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1-2 sprigs fresh curry leaves

2 dried red chillies - broken

1/2 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut

1-3 chopped green chillies for taste

Salt to taste

A squeeze of lime

Sugar - optional

Method :

Multigrain or ragi vermicelli is different from regular maida vermicelli and needs slightly different treatment.

If you packet comes with instructions, follow those.

If it doesn't have instructions, soak the multigrain or ragi vermicelli in warm to hot (not boiling water for precisely 3 minutes.

Don't leave it too long, it will start to dissolve.

Now drain the multigrain / ragi vermicelli and steam for 5-6 minutes either in a steamer or in a covered bowl in the microwave

If using, leftover sheviyos/idiyappam, they can be given a light steam only if they have begun to dry out too much, they don't need soaking

Take a wide bottom vessel, heat it and add the oil.

To this add channa and urad dhal and let them crisp up (not burn)

Now add mustard seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chilli.

When they splutter, add the coconut and stir fry for a bit, to your level of doneness 30sec - 4 minutes.

To this add the steamed vermicelli and stir fry. If it is too dry, add little splashes of water at a time.

Add chopped green chillies and salt to taste.

Mix well and take it off the heat. The vermicelli does not cook for more than 2 minutes.

Squeeze a bit of lemon on top.

Serving Options :

* a sprinkling of sugar

* a coconut chutney

* a salty mango pickle with a bit of coconut oil

Recipe : Manglorean Burmese Khow Suey / Ohn No Khao Swe (Vegan Option)

Many many years ago, I posted an alternative recipe for Khow Suey and I promised to share my regular recipe too. It's only taken me 10 years to post this! 🤦

Khow Suey is a Burmese noodle soup with coconut milk which I have accompanied with Burmese split pea crackers (channa dhal) among other toppings.

I’m not sure how “authentic” my recipe is, given that I broadly follow one from the Manglorean Ladies Club Cookery Book that is over 25 years old. (My copy is the 5th edition in 1988, but the first edition was in 1978) So I suspect that this may be heavily modified - Russian Salad anyone?

But we love the flavours, so I continue to make it this way. The curry is very yum and can also be eaten with Rice or rotis, especially if you have leftovers.

While I make this curry with chicken, you can use boiled eggs, potatoes, veggies of your choice, tofu, or rehydrated beans, thus making this dish vegetarian or vegan as per your choice.

Ingredients :

750 gms boneless chicken - clean & cut into tikka size cubes

1/2 kg onions

2" ginger cleaned

1 pod garlic cleaned

20 long dry red chillies destemmed

1 tbsp fresh ground turmeric or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 can coconut milk (or milk of 1 coconut)

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

4 - 6 nests Egg noodles - cooked as per instructions on packet

Method:

Grind together half the onions (250 gms), ginger, garlic, red chillies.

In a pan, heat some oil.

Add the other half of the onions and fry till opaque.

Add turmeric and fry for a minute or so, until the raw smell goes away.

Now, add the ground masala and fry on a medium flame till cooked and the oil seperates. You can add masala water (water got from rinsing your grinder jar) or thin coconut milk to maintain moisture as you are cooking.

When the masala is cooked, add chicken (or veggies / tofu) and cook till tender.

Now add the coconut milk (medium flame) and cook till it boils. If you want to add any veggies that just need a bit of a steam, add them now.

I added 200 gms sugar snap peas and 200 gms mangetout.

Turn off the flame.

Serve noodles and curry separately with an array of toppings, so everyone can assemble their own.

Toppings Ideas:

Fried noodles

Lime wedges,

Fried onion

Chilli flakes

Fresh coriander

Fried garlic

Boiled eggs

Green chillies

Fresh onion

Pe kyaw

Roasted peanuts

Recipe : Chinese Chicken Sweet Corn Soup

Chicken, pork & sweet corn soup kind of day, today.

The basic recipe is from Gousto Cooking, but I added some chillies, extra ginger & garlic, lemon juice and leftover pork stock & some pork pate that was a little too chunky & gamey to use on toast.

The recipe below, builds on Gousto's recipe with the additions that I would use for myself.

For a vegan/vegetarian version, drop the chicken or substitute it with mushrooms/tofu and replace the chicken stock cube with a vegetarian stock cube.

The noodles make this a one pot meal. If you just want a plain light soup without the carbs, drop the noodles

This recipe makes 2 bowls of soup.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast or 2 thighs - boneless

4 cloves garlic - peel and finely chop (or grate)

15g or 2" ginger - peel and finely chop (or grate)

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce (2 sachets)
1 chicken stock cube
2 wheat noodle nests
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tin (150g) of sweetcorn or frozen

good squeeze of lemon juice

10g (3.5 tsp) sesame seeds toasted
2 spring onions finely sliced
10g (3-4 stalks + leaves) fresh coriander chopped

2 - 5 green chillies chopped fine

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 

vegetable oil - sunflower/canola

salt to taste

a kettle on the boil

Method:

Dissolve the chicken stock cube in 600ml boiled water – this is your chicken stock

Put the cornflour in a bowl and gradually stir in 100ml boiled water, then whisk to a smooth paste
Tip: the cornflour and water paste will help thicken your soup!

Put the wheat noodle nests with a pinch of salt in a pot and cover them with boiled water until they're fully submerged
Bring to the boil over a high heat and cook for 5-7 min until tender with a slight bite
Once done, drain and return to the pot with a drizzle of vegetable oil (this stops them sticking together)

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a matching lid, with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Once hot, add the chicken breast and cook on both sides for 3 min or until lightly browned (don't worry it won't be fully cooked yet!)

Add both the chopped garlic and chopped ginger to the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 1 min

Add the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and chicken stock, cover with a lid, and cook for 12-15 min until the chicken is cooked

Once done, transfer the cooked chicken from the broth to a clean board and shred it apart, using two forks – this technique is known as ‘pulling’

Drain the sweetcorn

Keep the pan of broth over a high heat and gradually whisk the cornflour paste into the broth until it's silky smooth and thickened

Add the shredded chicken back to the broth along with the sweetcorn and cook for 2 min or until hot – this is your chicken & sweetcorn soup

Divide the drained noodles among large bowls and ladle over the chicken & sweetcorn soup

Give a good squeeze of lemon juice over each bowl

Garnish with the toasted sesame seeds, sliced spring onion, chopped green chillies, coriander leaves and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

Recipe : Chicken Lazone with Chestnut Mushrooms and Creamy Vermicelli

Chicken Lazone with Chestnut Mushrooms and Creamy Vermicelli is another recipe from Gousto Cooking, that we have loved so much, that I have made it on multiple occassions.

It looks and tastes quite decadent, but it easy to put together. Seasoned, pan-fried chicken and mushrooms served over creamy vermicelli noodles.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (or 1/2 kg boneless chicken)
1-3 garlic cloves - peel and finely chop (or grate)
1/2 - 2 tsp spicy cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Italian dried oregano
1 chicken stock cube
150g chestnut mushrooms finely sliced
120g rice vermicelli or rice noodles
1 pot (227ml) of organic double cream
Butter
Pepper
Salt
Vegetable oil

Kettle on the boil

Method:

Marinate the chicken with garlic, cayenne, oregano, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and crumbled chicken stock cube
Season with a big pinch of pepper
Mix thoroughly
Set  aside for 15 minutes or marinate in the fridge overnight if you want to prep ahead, but bring back to room temperature before cooking.

Heat a wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a matching lid over a high heat with 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Once hot, add the chicken spreading each piece flat

Cook, covered, for 5 min

Remove the lid from the pan and flip each piece of chicken

Add the sliced mushrooms around the chicken

Cook, covered, for a further 5 min or until the chicken is cooked through

Stir the mushrooms occasionally

Meanwhile, place the vermicelli / noodles in a dish and cover completely with boiling water

Set aside for 3 min, then drain

Add a big knob of butter to the chicken pan

Once cooked, transfer the chicken with half the mushrooms to a plate and set aside to rest until serving

Return the pan to a low heat

Add the drained noodles and cream to the pan and cook for 1 min or until warmed through, then remove from the heat

Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed,

Divide the noodles between serving plates and top with the chicken and mushrooms


Kim's Tip: cut the noodles up while in the pan for easy eating!

Recipe : Pork Stir Fry with Chilli Coconut Shot (Blue Dragon)

Rushina sent me a food basket, a little while ago. Personally, I rarely pick up ready mixes other than masala powders and the occasional MTR breakfast mixes, so this was the first time that I actually looked at the Blue Dragon ready mix sauce range as they were a part of this basket.

I'd been busy the whole day and I'd left a small packet of pork out to defrost, but had no energy for a whole lot of chopping and stirring, so I dug out these sauces from my pantry cupboard and decided to try the Chilli Coconut shot mix.

From experience, I would recommend boiling the pork before stir frying it, so that it is tender.

Ingredients:

150-200 gms boiled pork/chicken - cut in long thin strips
1 packet (140gm pouch) Blue Dragon's Chilli Coconut shot mix
200 gms chopped veggies of your choice - baby corn, capsicum, beans, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus
6-8 cloves garlic chopped fine
2-4 green chillies - slit (for extra spice - optional)
1/2 tsp oil
250 gms rice/noodles cooked (to serve on the side or mix in and fry)

Method:
Heat the oil in a wok and brown the garlic in it.
Add the meat and cook till done.
Add the vegetables one by one (in order of cooking times) and stir fry on high heat until almost cooked.
Add the green chillies if using and give a quick stir.

Add the Blue Dragon's Chilli Coconut shot mix and cook till done.
Serve hot with a side of rice or noodles.
If you prefer you can add the cooked rice/noodles to the pan and stir fry for a little longer for a one dish meal.

Options:
You can serve the Stir fry over cooked rice/noodles, or chop the meat and vegetables smaller and mix & fry the rice/noodles in the pan itself at the end, for an interesting fried rice/noodle dish.

The recipe will work just as well with chicken or even as a vegetarian dish, without any meat.

A word of warning however, the Chilli Coconut shot mix has fish sauce in it, so its not pure vegetarian.

Review: 
Blue Dragon's Chilli Coconut shot mix was quite tasty but not spicy enough for our taste, so I had to add more chillies when cooking. Other than that it was a lovely balance of flavours and did not taste like it came out of a packet.

Recipe: Burmese Khowswey

My friend Sheryl blogged the other day about making Khowswey for a dinner party that she hosted. I hadn't made Khowswey in awhile and the idea was planted in my head with the cravings increasing daily.

My usual recipe is closer to Sheryl's Khowswey Recipe with a fair amount of cutting and grinding involved. But I'd recently picked up a copy of Tushita Patel's Flash in the Pan which had a much much simpler recipe and that's the one I decided to try today.

As my regular readers know, I can never adhere to instructions in a recipe, so I did tweak it a bit. Here's the recipe I used, with my alterations. I do like my gravy thicker, so it feels more like a curry and less like a soup, but you can change the amount of liquid to suit you. I made the dish for 2 of us, but it can be easily ramped up for large parties.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken (I used thighs today, but I think boneless tikka kebab sized pieces work best)
1 tsp gram flour (besan)
2 cups thin coconut milk (I diluted a 200ml pack of Coconut milk to 500 ml thin milk)
1 packet egg noodles - cook as per instructions on packet.
1 tbsp oil

Marinade:
3 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tbsp fish sauce (I'm not sure how I feel about this ingredient, in this dish. It gave a fishy smell to the gravy which overpowered the kitchen when cooking, but was very lightly flavored once cooked)
salt to taste

Toppings:

1 Finely sliced Onion
4-5 cloves of garlic Finely sliced
1 spring onion chopped
crushed peanuts
red chilli flakes
chopped corriander
lime wedges
Sliced hard boiled egg

Method:
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the chicken in this for at least one hour.

In a pan, warm the oil.
Fry the garlic slices till crisp and light brown, remove. Reserve for topping
In the same oil, fry the sliced onion till crisp and caramelised, remove.
To the same oil, add the marinated chicken and the marinade. Cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in the gram flour and the coconut milk and cook on low heat till the chicken is completely cooked.

If serving khowswey at a dinner, its really pretty and attractive to serve each topping in its own bowl and let the guests assemble and flavour their own portions. See Sheryl's Khowswey Post for serving ideas.

Since I was cooking it for just the 2 of us, I assembled each dish myself. Noodles on the bottom, Add some curry and chicken and then sprinkle whichever toppings you like on it.

You can add any number of toppings. You can add vegetables like baby corn, snap peas and broccolli to the curry in the final cooking stage, if you want to sneak veggies into the dish.

Maybe I will post my other recipe too sometime. Tastewise I prefer the other one, but this is so quick to assemble that its worth adding to your files.

Edited on 17th October to add:
A big question with Khowswey is what to do with leftovers. Especially the toppings.
Fresh ingredients like chopped spring onions, onions, green chillies, corriander, don't keep very well for more than 12 hours, even refrigerated. So I normally add these to the curry before refrigerating leftovers.
The fried garlic, fried onions, boiled eggs will keep relatively well. So pack them individually in air tight boxes. Onions and garlic will keep outside for a couple of days depending on temperature and humidity. Eggs go in the fridge.
Peanuts, chilli flakes can be put into their original boxes if they have remained clean and dry.

If I don't have much left, I just put them all into the curry before refrigerating it.

If you have a lot of curry left and not too much noodles, you can serve the curry with rice the next day. Warm it up and add some fresh herbs on top.

If like me, you run out of curry, you can turn it into a stir fry. I shredded the chicken and stir fried what was left of it with the noodles, some baby corn and topped it with some fresh herbs. (Mushrooms too are ideal at this stage, but I didnt have any fresh ones in stock)