Curried Noodle Soup -- almost like Khao Soi

"Khai Se" -- said with an East Bengal accent followed by scratching of head or any other decent body part translates to "Oh My Gosh(OMG)"

And no not the "OMG!OMG!!! you look so pretty" said to the bride.

Rather "OMG! #$%#$%!!! I am so sorry. I spilled my greasy butter paneer on your wedding saree" kinda "OMG".

So I wanted to say I made "Khao Soi" because that is what my heart was set on. And I did make "Khao Soi", at least what I thought was Khao Soi. But what I thought might not be exactly what the Burmese thought or the Northern Thai people thought. If they ate my "Khao Soi" in all probability they would say "Khai Se".

I really, honestly did not want to take a Burmese grandmother's curry noodle dish and make a "kachumbar" out of it and then screw up their Gross Hapiness Product. I do not have the guts to do it. I love happy grandmothers. So my "kachumbar" henceforth will be referred to as Curried Noodle Soup -- almost like Khao Soi; the almost saves it. Burmese or Thai grandmothers might find this by Chez Pim more close to heart.

I roughly followed this beautiful recipe from Veggie Belly, rough being the keyword in all I do. She has b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l pictures. The pictures are so beautiful that I skipped steps and even then managed to make the most delicious soup ever.

I wanted the soup to be vegetarian. Not fond of chicken in my soup. Was tilting towards shrimp but stopped and went total veg. It was a delicious soup. Really good. So good that I didn't even share it with anyone. Now that it is all over I thought I can share with you maybe.


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Heat 1 tbsp oil in a soup pot. Flavor the oil with a clove of garlic. When the garlic starts turning brown, remove it from the oil

Now add some vegetables like mushroom, zucchini, carrots, colorful bell peppers etc. I went with finely sliced carrots and thin semi-circular discs of zucchini and orange bell peppers very finely chopped. Saute all of this for a couple of minutes

Next add 1 tbsp of red curry paste and 1 tsp of curry powder. Now homemade-shome made is best but honestly I just went with store bought. With a sprinkle of water mix it with veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes

Now soy sauce time. Add 1 tbsp of soy sauce and then 1 tsp of dark brown sugar.

Ta-Da. Every one's favorite coconut milk time now. Add 1 cup of C.Milk + 1 cup of water.Add salt to taste and let it simmer.

Meanwhile cook some noodles to al-dente. Once the noodles are cooked I immediately wash in cold water and toss with just a tiny drop of oil.

Once the veggies are done and soup is ready, pour soup in a bowl, add some noodles to the bowl and then garnish, garnish, garnish. Wait I forgot to garnish !!! All I did is add some lime juice and then a hot chili-garlic sauce.
You my dear reader is supposed to add crispy rice noodles, pickled mustard greens, green onions, lime and such.

Vegetarian Sweet Corn Soup

Everybody and their nephew must already know how to make a Sweet Corn Soup. I didn't. Before Jan 16th that is. I didn't even want to know. Sweet Corn Soup wasn't the kind of soup I ordered at a restaurant. At a restaurant I usually skip the soup. Except of course if it is Thai where I can practically live on the soup. And if it is Panera where I go to torture myself.

But on Jan 16th after all the PatiShapta and whatnot I went to the gym. It was a miracle that I remembered the co-ordinates given that I was going there after months.

And then I did something I should have never, ever done.

No, not steal towels silly. I stepped on the shiny, new digital scale there.

For a fraction of a second there was dead silence all around, the Zumba ladies froze with their clenched derrieres suspended in mid-air, the treadmills came to a stand still, the spinners hunched on their shoulders forgot to look up, the water drop from the water fountain forgot to drip. And then amidst clanging bells a voice from nowhere said "Beti jao, soup piyo" Translated in English "Go home and drink soup" but the Hindi actually has more punch to it.

I went home enlightened.

Before that I bought two small cans of sweet corn.

And then I told Mom: "Ma, today I will cook and then we will drink only soup for dinner"

Ma: "Ok, but after you eat rice and maacher jhol"

Me: "I guess you didn't understand me. ONLY soup for dinner. NO rice. I need to lose the whole 3 lbs that I gained since November to go back to a weight that was far from ideal in the first place"

Ma: "Why, what is wrong with rice. What has it to do with weight?"

Me: "Rice is grains and that translates to Carb. Dear lady have you not heard of South Beach-Palm beach-Myrtle Beach and such where humans do not eat rice and thus achieve a figure like Priyanka Chopra."

Ma: "That is okay, Priyanka Chopra is much younger than you. You eat Ruti. You know our neighbor in Kolkata, the Sen's, since her son relocated to Gurgaon they only speak Hindi and eat Ruti"

Me: " But Maaa...Ruti=Wheat=Grains. What did I say?"

My Mother gives me the royal ignore: "Do whatever you want. It is your house, your kitchen. but at this age don't tell me that eating rice one gets fat. It is exercise that you need to do."

Enter BigSis: "What soup are you going to make Mommy? The Thai Shrimp soup?"

Me: "Nope.Sweet Corn Soup. Remember in 2008 March you had it at N's house and loved it. Well that is what I am going to make for dinner today. Ta-da."

BigSis: "You know what, I am actually full. Didun gave me maacher chop after school. I really don't need dinner today"

The husband man knew the menu that comes up in January and so is already on the first half of his extended travel plan where they do meetings in BeerGartens.

So I made a huge vat of soup and am eating it or drinking it (what ever is grammatically correct) all by myself for three days. I can do anything. I am also having the maacher jhol and bhaat. And then day before actually had dinner at a Portugese place where I ate paella and clams and lobsters. In between the soup is keeping me warm.

The recipe I kinda followed is this one here, but I did not add chicken or ajino moto or eggs.Instead I added thinly sliced carrots. Mushroom would have been good but I did not have any. I also used garlic, soy sauce, chilis and vinegar. I used the Sweet Corn Cream Style in a can and so the whole thing was pretty effortless. It actually tasted pretty good too and BigSis did have a bowl of it.

Heat 1 tsp Olive Oil. Add 1 fat clove of garlic minced to flavor the oil. Add some finely chopped green chili and then the thinly sliced carrots. Next add 1 tsp of Soy Sauce and a splash of the stock or water. Cover and let the carrot cook. Once the carrots are almost done add the sweet corn, about 1 cup of it.

Next a little vinegar followed by 1 whole can of chicken or vegetable broth. Meanwhile mix 1 tbsp of Corn flour with 4 tbsp of cold water. Add this to the pot. Add salt to taste. Let the soup simmer to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with chopped scallion.

PatiShapta on Sankranti -- with a touch of Nutella and Maple Syrup

I really had no intention to make a dessert again today. Sankranti, Columbus Day, Republic Day -- no, I wasn't going to celebrate them by making anything sweet. Enough !! My Ma though had other ideas. She had already made the coconut-kheer stuffing and was all ready to launch into Poush-Parbon frenzy.

"Nah, no more sweets. Do you realize how much of sugar we have consumed all through December?"

My Ma, a very sparse eater herself of course did not consume all that.But I was quiet adamant. Then she said she would make some moog-samali. I of course had no idea, what that was. She wanted to do a savory version of it which needed green peas.We had no green peas.

Then this happened. Late yesterday night, Poli sent a mail asking for a Pati Shapta recipe for her boys. I was filled with guilt. My girls deserved something sweet on Sankranti, I thought. And so do my parents. And well the husband. And maybe me too, a tiny bite. What is a tiny bite in fact in the bigger scheme of Poush Parbon.

The recipe is same as my old one. No rice flour this time. If you scroll down there I have updated the batter recipe.

Also I have smeared with nutella the inside of the pati-shapta because the kids love nutella more than the coconut-kheer thingy. Drizzled with some maple syrup these were soft, sweet delights for the new beginnings of a new season. Never mind that is just cold, winter here.

Pati Shapta Recipe


Gokul Pithe Recipe