Day 124: Nepal and Thukpa

Good evening, Raffies!

Today was another great summery day with the perfect temperature.
We are going to Nepal and we are making Thukpa. This easy soup is perfect for warming your bones in the cold winters. It is a traditional soup in the Northern region of the Himalaya. But we are going to make it with 32° C warming us up also from the outside.

First of all, today my husband went to a farm only 3 minutes away from home to pick his own vegetables. A colleague of mine who shall remain unnamed - but you know who you are out there - suggested we go get fresh vegetables from the field. Ditto. Since the farm is only open for the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I sent my husband to try it out first. When I came home from work, I was welcomed by a mountain of fresh veggies! Rhubarb, salads, sweet peas, beans, onions, cucumbers and cabbage were piled up on the table.

Needless to say, I had to use some of the ingredients in tonight's dish.

For Thukpa you'll need:

For the paste:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp timur powder (Szechwan pepper)
1 pinch asafoetida
1 green chili, chopped
200 g tomatoes, chopped

For the soup:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 l chicken stock
300 g chicken meat
300 g rice noodles
100 g carrot, julienned
1/2 red pepper
salt
pepper
coriander

Start by making the paste. Combine all ingredients, apart from the tomatoes and process them in a blender or food processor. Add the tomatoes and combine them.

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the paste. Cook for a few minutes, until it gets creamy. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the chicken meat and cook for about 10 minutes on a medium flame. If your chicken had bones, roughly pull the chicken off the bones.

Now boil the noodles in water as written on the package. Rinse with cold water to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
Add the carrot and the pepper to your stock and cook for about 5 minutes until tender. I added some fresh beans from the farm, too. Pour the lemon juice into the stock and salt and pepper. Divide the noodles between the serving bowls and top with the stock and coriander.

The soup was delicious! Spicy and savoury. I'm looking forward to cold winter evenings now :)

 Love, Raffi