Vegetarian Thentuk with Tofu
In Manali you not only have the opportunity to try out all sorts of Indian and Western specialties, but also the opportunity to enjoy real Tibetan dishes. Due to the proximity to Spiti and Lahaul, many dishes from Tibet were taken over. Momos, steamed and stuffed dough bags are very popular among Indians, but also the noodle soups are delicious.
In the middle of the neighbouring village Vaschisht, there is the restaurant “Tibet Kitchen”. Here a great woman cooks all dishes in the open, so that you can either watch her cook while waiting, or watch the drift in the small village of Vaschisht.
Whenever I come to Vaschisht for a dip in the hot temple springs, I’m already looking forward to my Thentuk with tofu. This noodle soup consists of flat home-made noodle, cooked in a vegetable broth with an extra tofu inlay.
The recipe:
Ingredients for one person
- 250 g coarsely sliced vegetables of choice: cauliflower, carrot, zucchini, paprika, tomato …
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons diced or crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon crushed ginger
- Salt to taste
- Water
- 150 g flour
- 1 cup water
- Salt
- 3-4 Spinach leaves
- Cut into coarse cubes: 1 small onion, 1 tomato, 100 tofu, the green of a spring onion, 1/2 green pepper, 4 mushroom
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- some vinegar, to taste
Preparation:
Step No 1: Make pasta dough yourself
The thentuk requires flat, floury noodles.
To do this, mix the flour with water and salt in such a way that a nice, non-sticky dough is created. Please use only as much water as necessary. If you don’t have such a nice pasta machine like Puja, you can also roll out the dough thinly with a rolling pin and then cut it into even ribbon noodles. Sprinkle flour on the fresh noodles.
Step 2: The base of the soup
Fry the 250 g coarsely sliced vegetables in 2 tablespoons of oil with one tablespoon each ginger and garlic and salt for 3-4 min.
Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a saucepan. Then put the fried vegetables in the simmering water to boil them.
After 5 min, add the flour-sprinkled noodles to the soup. The flour creates a slightly creamy consistency. If necessary, add a little salt and add the spinach leaves to the soup.
Just before serving add vinegar according to taste (I like it a bit sour) and a tablespoon of soya sauce.
Step No. 3 The Topping
While the noodle soup simmers and the noodles are cooked, the topping for the dish is prepared.
To do this, fry the remaining vegetables with the tofu in the remaining oil with a teaspoon of garlic and salt. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Step No. 4 Serving
Put the noodle soup in a bowl and spread the topping on top.
Enjoy
