The Soba noodles brand I used is made with Buckwheat and whole wheat. It is a good source of fiber, non-sticky and has nutty taste.
Buckwheat is also called as Kuttu in Hindi and Papparai in Tamil is a flowering plant cultivated for its grain-like seeds.
This noodle dish has 100g of Tofu which nourishes your body with protein, fiber, carbs and small amount of fat.
If you want to try tofu in the form that is not scrambled or marinated then you should definitely give Bolognese a try.
I have added Kashmiri Chilli powder for the colour lift as all the other recipes on the internet uses a heavy quantity of canned tomato puree which has bright red colour. Whereas I have used only one medium tomato and pureed it in blender with both skin and seeds on.
Bengal gram flour/besan is used to give the Bolognese an invisible creamy texture and you can even consider it a replacement for nutritional yeast.
Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t like thyme’s taste but as the Bolognese simmered away, the flavour merged very well with the rest of the ingredients.
Usually Celery is added along with onions but regular grocery stores in India don’t sell them. On researching what can be replaced with celery, I found that cabbage will do the job just well. Lucky I had bought both green cabbage and purple cabbage.
I cooked the buckwheat (soba) noodles according to the packet instructions which were to cook it in salted boiling water for about 6-7 minutes.
This is a generous serving of One or snacky serving for two.
INGREDIENTS
Total Time = 40 minutes
NOTE: All the vegetables are measured after peeling and before rinsing with water.
Onion – 90g
Pureed tomato(skin-on and with seeds) – 65ml
Cabbage – 36g
Carrot – 46g
Dark Soy Sauce – 1teaspoon
Dried Bay Leaves – 1 medium sized
Thyme – 1/8 teaspoon
Garlic (whole pods without skin) – 7g
Buckwheat noodles (Soba) [before cooking] – 60g
Tofu block – 100g
Refined Sunflower Oil – 1Tablespoon
Water – 140ml
Fine salt – 1/4 t + 1/8 t
Kashmiri Chilli Powder – ½ teaspoon
Besan (Chana dal flour/Bengal gram flour) + water solution = 72ml
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
1. Wash the vegetables and finely chop onion, cabbage, carrots and garlic. Scramble tofu and assemble everything.
2. In a wok, add the refined sunflower oil, wait for it to get hot then add onion and garlic. Sauté until onion becomes translucent.
3. Add cabbage and carrots, sauté on medium heat until raw smell of cabbage goes away.
4. Add tofu, dark soy sauce, salt, thyme, bay leaves, tomato puree, Kashmiri chilli powder and sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Make a solution of Bengal gram flour and water that measures to 72ml.
6. Add water and Bengal gram flour solution to the wok with other ingredients in there, bring the mixture to a boiling point, reduce the heat, cover the wok with properly fitted plate or a lid in case of using metal casserole and simmer for 15 minutes or until the water is 98% evaporated.
7. Assuming you have the buckwheat noodles ready, cooked according to the packet instructions. Let’s add it to the prepared mixture in the wok and snuggle them to coat the noodles thoroughly.
8. Assemble on a plate and enjoy!
NOTES
Adjust salt according to your taste.
HOW DOES IT TASTE
It has undertone flavours of tanginess from the tomato, nuttiness from the tofu and bit spice from the kashmiri chilli.
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Bye!
