Sometimes one feels too lazy to do any serious cooking, but still want to eat something delicious. This recipe is for that mood.

In continuation of celebrations for World Coconut Day, cook up Coconut Curry Noodle Soup. It's a tasty combination of a bunch of simple ingredients and is a pure bliss on a gloomy, rainy, day.

This is a standard recipe for the coconut curry soup, but you you can get creative with your toppings to enhance both the look and the taste of your bowl of soup. Add veggies of your choice, like sauteed spinach, mushrooms, sprouts, roasted bell pepper, broccoli, zucchini, and/or tofu, paneer, soft-boiled egg or boiled boneless pieces of chicken or prawns. Garnish with spring onions/mint leaves and serve hot.

Coconut Curry Noodle Soup

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut milk, fresh or store-bought
• 100 gm hakka noodles or rice noodles, uncooked
• 1 tsp vegetable or extra virgin olive oil, optional
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic pods
• ½-inch piece ginger
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• A few pudina or mint leaves
• Spring onions, chopped, to garnish
• Bean sprouts, to garnish
• 3-4 pieces stir-fried tofu or paneer
• Water
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp

Method

• In a blender, grind the onion, ginger, garlic and the green chillies to a coarse paste.
  Transfer into a bowl and keep aside. 
• In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook the noodles as per the instructions at the back of the pack.
  Once cooked, take off heat, drain the excess water and keep aside. 
  You can toss it with 1 tsp of vegetable/olive oil so that it doesn't stick.
• Heat the coconut oil in a kadhai or large saucepan over medium heat. 
  Add the onion-ginger-garlic-green chilly paste.
  Add the tomato paste and cook until fragrant, for about 5-7 minutes.
  Sprinkle some water in, if the mixture begins to stick to the pan.
  Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk.
  Add water if required to get the right soup consistency.
  Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  Add the cooked noodles.
  Add the sugar, salt, garam masala, lemon juice and let it cook for another 2 minutes.
  Take off heat and garnish with the mint leaves, bean sprouts, spring onions, stir-fried tofu or paneer.

• REDIFF FOOD