Ramen Stir-Fry Recipe

Hello everyone! Quick question, how tedious has this week been? Honestly, I am so knackered. Its only Thursday, but I want to crawl into a corner somewhere with an endless pit of tea, cozy blankets and a good book. Or a big bowl of pipping hot ramen? either will do really. I just want to be warm and lazy.

I don't know about you, but noodles have changed my life. Remember when Nakumatt on stocked Heinz noodles? And all you had to do was pour hot water over it and cover for 3 minutes? And then remember we all went through that phase in college where we had Indomie noodles for breakfast and dinner.



Okay, Now think of all that fancy Chinese stir fried noodles that cost KES. 600 per plate. And then think about how that giant packet of Indomie costs KES. 35. Now thank me, for changing your noodle game forever.

 
Love,
Lola

Ingredients

- 1 package any flavor of your favourite noodles,(120g)

 

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

 

- 2 cloves  of garlic and one inch of ginger, finely minced

-* 1 package fresh stir-fry vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, snow pea pods and bell peppers) (4 cups) 

 

- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

- 1 tablespoon sugar

 

- 1/2 tablespoon salt

- *Cooked beef strips/ Chicken/ fish

Directions

• Prepare noodles according to package instructions.
• In a wok/ deep pan, lightly fry the garlic and ginger and vegetable mix on low heat, stirring frequently until your vegetables are crisp-tender. You don't want chewy vegetables.
•  Mix together, the soy sauce, sugar and salt.
• Once the noodles are fully cooked, drain half the water from the noodles.
• Add remaining water and noodles to the vegetables and lightly stir.
• *If you are using any meat, cook it in with the noodles.
• Finally, add the stir-fry sauce (soy sauce with salt and sugar) and stir until hot.
• Serve hot!

P.S: I like adding a little cheeky dash of Worcestershire sauce and paprika because I'm a rebel

1. *. You can get a prepacked package of stir-fry veggies from big stores or, you can prepare your own veggies, which is what I prefer because it means I know the exact thing that will go in my plate. I obviously encourage you to prepare your own selection of vegetables. You can customise it to your needs.

2* meat is always optional for me. Even though the pictures used here have beef strips, I have made this meal numerous time without any meat and It is delicious, all the same

Coconut Lentil Curry

When I was around fourteen, my baby brother and I spent a week or two at one of my great aunt’s place in Majengo, Mombasa, a neighborhood known for its vast Swahili community and rumbling buildings.

I don’t remember much about it, if I am being honest. I was super shy as a kid and I found myself wanting to go back home after just one short day. What I do remember though, is being sent out with Baby J (that was my cousin’s name) to go to the posho mill to buy pounded yellow lentils, or daal, for lunch.  I also remember trying to watch my great aunt cook. I didn’t make it past the lentils being soaked.I also remember quite vividly how delicious that coconut rice and coconut lentil meal was. I had never before had anything like it. We just didn’t cook lentils at my home. They are more of an Indian and Swahili dish and we were the new age Mijikenda that ate a lot of Ugali and Sukuma.

One day as I was visiting friend, we were served with a different kind of lentil curry. Red lentils in coconut sauce with spices toasted in ghee served with cumin rice. It brought back memories of a meal served in a sinia on a jamvi outside my aunt’s kitchen. That is the coastal way.

The urge to recreate my aunt’s dish hit me like a bludger and it never left my mind for a really, really, really long time. So I tried. And I failed. Numerous times. But when you are as passionate as I am about food, you don’t give up.  You learn that perseverance pays, and boy did it pay, because while this isn’t as creamy as I remember from my childhood, it is ever so warm and with the right consistency to be had as soup with a good thick slice of fresh bread, or as a stew with rice or chapatti, or for my favorite, on its own on a cold Sunday afternoon with a good book. We all love cold afternoons for the soups, don’t we?

I call this soup number 2.0 because I have tried to make it around a million times but this is where I changed my game from the beginning. I toasted my spices with ghee. And Holy Molly was there ever a time I cooked curry without toasting something in ghee? Because I don’t remember! That time, as far as I am concerned never existed. Expect a post on the numerous ghee benefits to your palate and health soon!

Another thing I feel should come as a disclaimer is that; I grew up in a traditional coastal family. I have known how to ‘kuna nazi’ since I was a preteen. So in my coconut based dishes, I will almost always use fresh coconut as opposed to packaged coconut. I have only ever used packaged coconut cream once and to be honest guys, I really didn’t like it. So I am sticking to good old fresh coconuts from the market, thank you very much.

Love, 
Lola

Coconut Lentil Curry.

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)

- 1 large, red onion, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic (more, or less, with your preference)

- 1 inch of fresh ginger

- 1 tablespoons ground cumin

- 1 tablespoon curry powder

- 2 teaspoons garam masala

- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

- 2 heaped tablespoons tomato paste

-1/2 cup water

- 2 cups soaked and pre-boiled yellow lentils

-1 medium sized coconut grated and sieved with one cup warm water.

-salt to taste

Method

-In a saucepan, fry the onions in two tablespoons of ghee on low heat. Cover the saucepan with a lid to sweat out the onions (this means your onions will be translucent and not caramelized);

- In a mortar, mince together the garlic, ginger, ground cumin, curry powder, garam masala, black pepper and salt until it forms a thick pulp. Add the pulp into the cooking onions, stirring frequently so that your spices don’t burn.

- Once the garlic cooks, (it will become more fragrant), add in the tomatoes, stir and cover the saucepan again. This will speed up the cooking of the tomatoes.

-To the half cup of water, dilute the tomato paste thoroughly then gradually add it into the cooking tomatoes. Add salt to taste and let simmer.

-While stirring, slowly add in the pre-boiled lentils. Turn up heat and let it cook to a boil for around ten minutes. If it appears to be too thick, add in another half a cup of water.

-As it boils, add in the coconut milk, lower the heat and let it cook for fifteen minutes to a slow boil while frequently stirring to avoid the curry from sticking to the bottom of the pan

Comfort Food Series: Potato, Celery and Carrot Soup

I love it when things just work out.
Sometimes you want something hearty, and guilt free, something that is easy on your body and soul.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can live off of soup and salads for the rest of my life.
One of the main reasons is that they are so fuss free, yet so full of color and flavor; but my main reason for trying at least to eat what I think is a healthy diet is the 'feel good' vibe you get off of it.
I love the good vibe more than anything else, you are full, and comfortable, you can eat enormous portions and still feel energized. I find that with unhealthy foods you feel lethargic afterwards, and tired, and groggy, eurgh. I absolutely HATE that feeling, and I know you can feel insanely satisfied, and sometimes over satisfied with a big meal, but not feel tired afterwards.


So when I say things work out this is what I mean:

1. Creamy,
2. Vegan,
3. Low calorie,
4. Fat free/ low fat
5. Hearty,
6. No fuss.

This soup is my own recipe that I created when I had a tonne of potatoes that I couldn't decide what to do with them.

serves: 6 people
Serving size: 3/4 cup

INGREDIENTS

-1 kilo potatoes cubed into small pieces
- 3 large carrots, diced into small bite sized pieces
- 1 cup green peas
- 4-6 stalks of celery

- Cooking Spray/ cooking oil
-1 large white onion, chopped/ grated
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
-  2 TBLSPNS tomato paste,
- half an inch ginger
-2 cloves of garlic
-salt
- a pinch of black pepper, cumin and thyme
-3 cups or more of vegetable broth


DIRECTIONS

- In a pot/ pan , lightly fry the onions until translucent. As the onions are cooking, finely grate/pound garlic and ginger with salt.*
- Once the onions are cooked ttranslucent or golden brown, add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until fragrant...don't burn the ginger and garlic or your soup will become bitter.
-Add in your spices, and fry lightly. Please do not burn this...
- Then cook in your tomatoes, until soft.
-Add potatoes and two cups of the broth.
-Cover and let boil until slightly tender. Around five minutes if your potatoes are smaller cubes.
- Once the potatoes are slightly tender, add in the celery, peas and the carrots, adjusting salt according to preferences.
-Cover and let cook until the potatoes are completely tender, that a fork or knife can cut through, and the carrots are also cooked but crunchy. Again, this is for preference. Some people like their carrots tender, others like me, like them slightly crunchy.
-If you feel like the soup has reduced, add half a cup of the remaining broth
- Reduce heat to a simmer.

- This is where it gets tricky, if you have a blender, use it, if not, use a potato masher. Personally I Prefer to blend because the smoothness is consistent.
-If blending, you need to be careful that you don't get injured, I know this cause I have had hot soup splashing on me and its not fun!
- Blend 3/4 of the contents in the pot, if you want some lovely chunks of potatoes, peas and carrots in your soup, or you can blend the whole thing for a creamier soup
- All the while your heat is still on simmering, so you have to be quick. If you find that you are unable to be fast, just switch off the heat.
-Return blended soup to the pot and stay on low heat, as you add the remaining half a cup- one cup of broth depending on how thick or thin you like it...

Serve hot, with bread, rice and a cheeky teaspoon of chevda.

Love, me,

Lola