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Phing tarkari
फिंग तरकारी: Sikkimese glass noodles in a light, peppery tomato and mushroom gravy
In Gangtok kitchens phing tarkari turns up beside rice on ordinary weeknights and at Losar and Dashain spreads, the slippery noodles soaking up a thin, gingery gravy studded with mushrooms and greens. Phing are mung-bean glass noodles, and Sikkimese cooks treat them more like a vegetable than pasta, so the dish is spooned over rice rather than eaten as a noodle bowl. The usual mistake is boiling the noodles first: they turn to mush, so only soak them in warm water and let them finish in the gravy for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: snip the soaked noodles into 10 cm lengths with kitchen scissors so they mix evenly and are easy to serve.
- Total time
- 28 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the tarkari
- 2 tbsp mustard or sunflower oil
- 1 onionthinly sliced
- 1 tbsp gingergrated
- 3 garlic cloveschopped
- 2 green chilliesslit
- 2 tomatoeschopped
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 5 ½ oz button or shiitake mushroomssliced
- 3 ½ oz spinach or mustard greensroughly chopped
- 1 ¾ cups hot water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 spring onions (optional)sliced
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Cover 3 ½ oz glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli) with warm (not boiling) water and soak until soft and pliable but still springy. Drain and cut into 10 cm lengths.
10 minStep 2: Heat 2 tbsp mustard or sunflower oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Fry 1 onion until soft and golden at the edges.
5 minStep 3: Add 1 tbsp ginger, 3 garlic cloves and 2 green chillies and stir for 1 minute until the raw smell goes.
1 minStep 4: Add 2 tomatoes, ½ tsp ground turmeric and 1 tsp salt. Cook, pressing the tomatoes with the spoon, until they collapse into a loose sauce.
4 minStep 5: Add 5 ½ oz button or shiitake mushrooms and cook until they release their juices and shrink a little.
3 minStep 6: Pour in 1 ¾ cups hot water and bring to a simmer. Stir in 3 ½ oz spinach or mustard greens and 3 ½ oz glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli) and cook just until the noodles turn glassy and the greens wilt; the gravy should stay thin and soupy.
3 minStep 7: Season with ½ tsp black pepper or ground timur, scatter over 2 spring onions and serve hot with steamed rice.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does phing tarkari take?
- About 28 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 18 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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