Wheat-free Tibetan noodle soup

This is a warming, moreish and flavoursome meal packed with chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach and rice noodles. It does have a little heat and you can dial this up or down depending on your heat tolerance.

This recipe was inspired by a festival I went too back in 2018. I tried this dish and was wowed (worth the 35 minute queuing), so I made a note of what I thought went into the dish and recreated it myself.

Serves: 4 people

Takes: 5 minute prep-time, about 25 cooking time

At fist glance this recipe does look complicated and many ingredients. The trick is to get all your ingredients ready first as this recipe moves quickly. Once you've added in some ingredients its then on to the next. Before you know it its all done and ready to eat.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves finally chopped (or 1 block frozen garlic, or 1 teaspoon powdered garlic)

1 inch thumb of fresh ginger root finally grated (or 1 block frozen ginger, or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger)

3 shallots, finally chopped (or on medium white onion finally chopped)

1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/8 teaspoon of chili powder

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 turmeric powder

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons of stock powder

1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

900ml boiling water

4 cubes of frozen spinach

1 tin chickpeas, drained

1 tin chopped tomatoes

200g pack of fine rice noodles (if you're using wheat or egg noodles just use three nests)

1/2 juiced lemon (bottled lemon juice is fine so about 3 tablespoons)

Method

1. Prepare ingredients, measure out the spices, drain the chickpeas and juice the lemon. Boil a kettle of water.

2. Chopped the onions and the make the stock with 2 teaspoons of stock powder stirred into 900ml of boiling water (if adding nutritional yeast then add to the stock and stir in to dissolve). Set the stock aside.

3. Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan and on a moderate heat fry the onion (if using fresh garlic and ginger add this too) for about 5 mins stirring frequently.

4. Add spices (if using powdered garlic and ginger add this as well) and stir to cook them off for about 2 minutes.

5. Add the soy sauce and stir into the mixture for a further minute before adding half of the stock liquid. Stir well to mix through.

6. Add the frozen spinach and stir until it has separated and defrosted and mixed in. Bring the mixture back to the boil.

7. Add chickpeas and tomatoes and mix through. Bring back to the boil before adding the noodles.

8. Help the noddle soak into the mixture by easing then in gentle with the cooking spoon. When the noodles are coated add the remaining stock liquid and stir. Cook at a moderate heat for around 5 minutes or until the noodles are softened (check the pack for cooking times).

9. Add lemon juice and give everything a good stir before serving.

If you've given this recipe a go, let me know how you found it and what changes you made. I would be lovely to hear how you got on. If you've any tips, share them so I could try those out on a future dish.