Sevai (Thin Rice Noodles)

Sevai is a huge south Indian favorite. They are essentially thin rice noodles and are either eaten plain or mixed with spices to make it savory or like a sweet pudding. It is sort of difficult to make - it needs a bit of muscle work - but no more than, say, kneading dough or churning ice cream!

The rice noodles are thin and delicate and absolutely delicious.


Sevai

1 cup Parboiled Rice (or puzhungal arisi), soaked in water for 2 hours
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp Oil

Special equipment needed: Sevai press. The traditional ones were large and stood on the floor (that's the one I have). Now you get smaller, sleeker table-top versions - even automatic electric ones, that require you to just push a button.


After soaking, grind the salt and rice together with the water until smooth.

Heat a saucepan with the oil and add the batter. Keep stirring for approximately 10 minutes or until thick.

Remove from the stove and while warm, roll into tennis-ball sized balls. Steam the balls for about 1/2 hour, until cooked and tender.


Place the balls, one at a time, in the compartment of the press.


Turn the handle a couple of times, and presto - out comes the beautiful sevai!


Serve hot with more kozhambu. I've also frozen sevai and it keeps well for up to 3 months. When you are ready to serve, just sprinkle on some water and heat, covered, in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Other popular types of sevai: Mango Lemon Sevai, Coconut Sevai, Sweet Sevai and a healthy Ragi (finger millet or african millet - available in most Indian grocery stores) Sevai.

Sesame Peanut Noodles

In this month's edition of Taste & Create, the talented Nicole paired me with HoneyB of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. She has such an amazing blog and is quite the baker.

I actually bookmarked about 10 recipes that I wanted to try, sadly knowing I could only enter one for T&C. But, oh, the mac and cheese and the galette truly made me want to reach in and grab a bite!

I chose the Sesame Peanut Noodles. We would have this quite often when we were in California, but I haven't seen it here in India and so, I was excited to see this recipe. Its creamy and peanut-ty and lovely!


Sesame Peanut Noodles
(modified slightly from the original recipe)

6 oz Noodles, cooked and cooled (I used thick Udon noodles)

Sauce:
1/3 cup Peanut Butter, smooth
1/2 cup Water
3 tbsp Ketchup
3 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Garnish:
2 Scallions, greens and whites separated
2-3 tbsp Peanuts, crushed (this is the only part that I modified from the original)

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and heat on medium in a saucepan. Stir until well mixed together.


Mix the heated sauce with the cooked noodles. Garnish with the scallion greens and peanuts.


Thanks, HoneyB. We loved the noodles and will definitely be making it again.

Vermicelli Upma

Vermicelli (or Semiya as it is known in southern India), is a versatile ingredient used in different types of foods. Most popularly it is used in kheer or payasam (a sweet dessert pudding) and in upma. Sometimes, it is even used as a substitute for rice in a yogurt-rice mix. It looks and feels like a thin rice noodle, and is probably the closest thing that India has to the noodle.



Here, I've made a semiya upma. A very popular breakfast food in several parts of India, and a huge favorite of mine.

1 cup vermicelli, lightly toasted to a golden color
1.5 cups water
2-3 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds, for seasoning
2-3 curry leaves, for seasoning
Salt, to taste

Add a tablespoon of oil to a saute pan. When the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard starts to splutter, add the curry leaves, green chillies and onions and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the water and salt to the pan and let it come to a boil. Now add the vermicelli and keep stirring. The water will be absorbed and the vermicelli noodles will become soft. Remove from heat.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Night. Check out some of the recipes - they're delicious.