Saturday, April 25, 2009

Burmese Khow Suey

There were a lot of Indians living in Burma and had to leave everything behind and flee during the war. Ma's older sister's husband's family was one of them. They left a lot behind, but carried back many memories and a bit of the Burmese culture and cuisine.Living in a different place always adds so much to your cuisine, if you are open to it.

This recipe for Khow Suey is from this aunt and may have got Indianised along the way, but its a nice blend of veggies and noodles with coconut milk.

khowsuey

Simple, quick and delicious with the creamy coconut milk, the tangy lemon and the crunchy vegetables.
To serve this, place the coconut curry in one bowl, the noodles in another and have all the garnishes in separate bowls. You can serve the noodles first, then pour the curry over it. Garnishes can be added as per individual tastes

khow suey in a bowl

For variation, add chicken to the curry, or keep halved boiled eggs as part of the garnish
For an all vegetarian / vegan version, make the curry using only vegetables.
Here, I used carrots and coloured peppers / capsicums in the curry. The garnishes are spring onions, coriander leaves, lemon wedges and chillies in vinegar

Burmese Khow Suey

What you need -

1-2 capsicums (coloured ones make the dish pretty)
2 carrots
1 onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1" piece ginger
3-4 green chillies
4-5 stalks of spring onions
3 eggs
a pinch of turmeric powder
1 pkt noodles (thinner the better)
coconut milk from 1 coconut / 1 can ready coconut milk / coconut cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chickpea flour / besan

What you do with it -

Grind together the onions, garlic, green chillies and ginger
Chop carrots and capsicum lengthwise into thin strips
Slice the spring onions
Hard boil the eggs. Peel and quarter
Boil water with a little salt in a large pot.
Drop in the noodles and keep for 5-6 mins, or as per the packet instructions
Drain the noodles and set aside
Fry the onion paste in a large pan till the raw smell goes away
Add in the capsicum and carrot
Add a little oil and stir on high heat till the carrots are almost done
Add in the salt, turmeric powder and coconut milk and the chickpea flour mixed in a little water
Simmer till done
Serve noodles first. Pour the coconut milk with veggies over the noodles
Place the boiled eggs over it
Garnish with spring onions, coriander leaves, lime wedges and chillies in vinegar

9 comments:

Suparna said...

Hi Arch,
Interesting burmese version Indianised :) should try this one sometime, looks healthy and filling :)
Happy weekend
TC

Nandini Vishwanath said...

Arch! SJ sent me your Jolada Rotti link and I tried it out for dinner last night. Thanks to my inefficiency, it kinda cracked :D but the recipe is a keeper. Will ask A to try with the rest of the dough!!

- I read some of your previous posts about being alone and lost in Ahmedabad and wanted to tell you to look around. You will find me there :|

- N of A&N

Anonymous said...

yum! what a great combination of cultures and flavors! and finally a recipe where I know exactly what every ingredient is! haha!

Vaishali said...

I've never cooked Burmese food, but I just love going to this Burmese restaurant in my city that serves up salads that bring tears to my eyes-- that's how delicious they are, and I'm not even a salad person!
This is a fabulous dish, and I'm glad one can make it without eggs. I have to try it!

Kana said...

Interesting recipe Arc!

Miri said...

My friend here makes a mean Kauksuey and so does a tiny restaurant here - and those are so absolutely awesome that I wonder whether I'll even try to make it on my own! Especially since both versions apparently have the cooks slaving over it to get that authentic taste!

Priti said...

Hi Archana Pachi,

Love the blog! I'm so glad you put this recipe online. I'll definitely have to try it. Ajji would be proud :)

SJ said...

Arch, you changed the blog layout? it looks very good...much easier to read! And u made pizza--bad girl gimme some!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Burmese Indian dish! Wow - interesting indeed!

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