Simple Chicken Thukpa

Thukpa is a Tibetan dish normally in the form of a noodle soup. I've had it while I was roaming in Assam and once in Dehradun. I was besotted by the dish as it was hard to belive that something soo simple to make with such basic ingredients could be soo delicious. I knew at that time that I had to try and make this at home.

The noodle soup is quite spicy and uses fresh ingredients. It is extremely simple to make (barely takes 20-25 mins) and very heart warming and satisfying. Specially a good dish for a cold winter night. 

I have twisted the recipe a little bit to add a little zing to it as being a North India, simple and non masaladar food does not quite fit the palette :p 

Go ahead, try out some soupy noodly chicken thukpa for yourself.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 kg chicken (finely chopped or keema)
2. 1 packet of chings plain hakka noodles.
3. 4 spring onions (chopped)
4. 1 onion (sliced)
5. 1/3 cup finely sliced carrots
6. 2-3 green chillies (chopped)
7. 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
8. 1 tsp black pepper powder
9. 1/2 tsp dried thyme 
10. 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves (chopped)
11. 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
12. 1 tsp vinegar
13. salt as per taste ( 1 tsp)
14. A plate of chicken momos

Steps:

• Boil water in a deep pan and once water is boiled, add 1/2 tsp salt to it and drop in the chings noodles. Let it boil for 5 mins, strain and keep aside.
• Take a deep bottom pan and add little oil to it. Once the oil is hot drop in the chopped garlic and green chillies and saute for 1 min.
• Next drop in the onions and saute on high heat for 5 mins stirring continuously.
• I added a little chicken fat as I like the flavor that chicken fat leaves when boiled in a broth.

• Add the chicken pieces, spring onions, coriander leaves, salt, thyme, black pepper, vinegar and soy sauce.
• Mix it well while keeping the flame high. Saute this for roughly 2-3 mins. Do not cook the chicken at this stage as the chicken must cook when boiled so that the broth gets all the flavor.

• Add in 2 cups of water to the pan and mix well. Cover this and let it boil on a high flame for 10 mins.

• After 10 mins, drop in the boiled noodles and let it boil for another 2 mins.
• Serve hot immediately with steamed momos.

(Do not let the dish sit and cool after it is ready as the noodles tend to absorb all the broth and the essence of a soupy thukpa noodles will be lost)