Homemade Maggi Noodles

While we were growing up Mummy always made delicious hot homemade food. Homemade snacks and fresh food as we would come back from school. Then came the era of fast food... noodles, pasta, pizza, burger. And then came Instant food, our very popular and favorite 2 minute Maggi Noodles (which actually never cooked in 2 minutes :) ) These were nothing but Ramen Noodles with tastemaker spice mix made for Indian palate. Spicy Masala was so delicious. Just boil noodles and add taste maker pack and delicious noodles ready to eat. Some of you might remember Bisca cup noodles. Those were dehydrated noodle with veggies in a cup. Just by adding hot water into the cup, they would be ready to slurp. Of course, parents were never happy with instant noodles. All purpose flour noodles and taste maker with ingredients that could not be pronounced. According to my mom these noodles made of all purpose flour were totally unhealthy and would stick in our stomach. That was her way of explaining us the concept of constipation.  The tastemaker according to my mom was another filthy powder made with chemicals. "Fast to cook, Good to eat" was not close to true. But it pleased lot of children. The ad was very interesting and colorful with kids playing in a big yard. As the kids came home hungry their mom would open a cabinet full of packets of Maggi and make these quick 2 minute noodles with veggies :) I don't think Indian moms in those days would stack so much instant food. But, they are indeed super delicious and addictive!! 

Click here for more maggi ads to enjoy.

With recent of controversy regarding Maggi Noodles having higher content of harmful chemicals, Maggi Noodle supply and sale have been banned globally. It has been an eye opener for everyone. But, the taste is so delicious, there was a need for me to come up with the recipe to make homemade Maggi Noodles and the tastemaker Masala using ingredients without harmful chemicals, preservatives or additives. 

Lot of thought and effort went into coming up with the recipe. I checked the ingredient list at the back of the pack. Used my knowledge of ingredients and proportion, created this recipe which is solely mine. Lot of wastage of ingredients, messy kitchen, and the amount of time and effort are all worth this homemade recipe. A humble request to everyone and food bloggers: if you make these at home, (using the same ingredients or by tweaking them), please give proper credit by adding my post link.

Since these are homemade, there would definitely be slight difference in the type of noodles and spicy masala. But we are assured that what we give our family is delicious and safe. Also the type of ingredients you use at home can give a different taste. You might have to adjust your ingredients according to your taste.

Here is the original Maggi Noodles & Spicy Masala

Ingredients 

To make Maggi Noodles

1 cup all purpose flour or maida

1 tbsp. vital wheat gluten (optional)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. oil

Water 

To make spicy masala taste maker

2 tbsp. dry onion powder or dry minced onions

1 tbsp. dry garlic powder or dry minced garlic

1/2 tbsp. red chilli powder (or according to your taste)

1/2 tbsp garam masala powder

1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

1/2 tsp. citric acid granules

1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oil

To make Noodles:

• Mix flour, wheat gluten (optional), salt, baking soda, oil in a bowl. Use vital wheat gluten that is available in an grocery store. Wheat gluten helps in making the noodles elastic and long without breaking them. If using whole wheat flour, adding wheat gluten is very important. Add little water at a time a make a stiff dough. Dough should be stiff. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes to develop gluten and make the dough elastic. Cover and let the dough aside for 20 minutes.
• Use a pasta maker with thin noodle attachment to extrude thin noodles. Use dry flour to avoid noodles from sticking to each other. If you dough is not stiff and hard, the noodles will tend to stick and clump up to one another. I use my Kitchen-aid pasta maker attachment with the mixer to make long noodles. It is very simple. You would use the noodles immediately or let them dry.
• If you do not have a pasta maker, use traditional Indian Sev press. Sev press has a disc with tiny hole to spin long noodles. Since this is manual, it takes lot of efforts to press the dough into noodles. It would be ideal if someone could help you hold the press while you could press the dough. Use dry flour to avoid noodles from clumping up and sticking to each other. You would use the noodles immediately or let them dry.

To make spicy masala mix:

• Mix all the ingredients except oil in a bowl. Heat oil in a pan. Add all dry ingredients and mix well for a minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Grind to form a fine powder. TIP: If you do not want to use citric acid granules, you could use 1 tbsp. lime juice after the noodles have been cooked in water.  

To make Maggi:

• Use 3 cups of water to boil all noodles made from this recipe. 
• Boil water. Cook veggies of your choice.
• Add noodles to boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes. 
• Add tastemaker spicy masala.
• Cook till water evaporates and maggi thickens as per your consistency. Do not overcook noodles. they may get lumpy. Remember cooking process continues even after you turn off the heat. 
• Serve in a bowl and enjoy not "2 Minute Noodles".

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Mix flour, wheat gluten (optional), salt, baking soda, oil in a bowl. Use vital wheat gluten that is available in an grocery store. Wheat gluten helps in making the noodles elastic and long without breaking them. If using whole wheat flour, adding wheat gluten is very important. Add little water at a time a make a stiff dough. Dough should be stiff. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes to develop gluten and make the dough elastic. Cover and let the dough aside for 20 minutes.

If you do not have a pasta maker, use traditional Indian Sev press. Sev press has a disc with tiny hole to spin long noodles. Since this is manual, it takes lot of efforts to press the dough into noodles. Use dry flour to avoid noodles from clumping up and sticking to each other. It would be ideal if someone could help you hold the press while you could press the dough.

Use a pasta maker with thin noodle attachment to extrude thin noodles. Use dry flour to avoid noodles from sticking to each other. If you dough is not stiff and hard, the noodles will tend to stick and clump up to one another. I use my Kitchen-aid pasta maker attachment with the mixer to make long noodles. It is very simple. You would use the noodles immediately or let they dry.

To make spicy masala:

Mix all the ingredients except oil in a bowl. Heat oil in a pan. Add all dry ingredients and mix well for a minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Grind to form a fine powder. TIP: If you do not want to use citric acid granules, you could use 1 tbsp. lime juice after the noodles have been cooked in water.  

Onion and garlic powder can be found at a grocery store in spice aisle. I bought these from Sprouts market. They are dehydrated and have wonderful concentrated flavor.

To make Maggi:

Use 3 cups of water to boil all noodles made from this recipe. 

Boil water. Cook veggies of your choice.

Add noodles to boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes. 

Add tastemaker spicy masala.

Cook till water evaporates and maggi thickens as per your consistency. Do not overcook noodles. they may get lumpy. Remember cooking process continue even after you turn off the heat. 

Serve in a bowl and enjoy not "2 Minute Noodles"

 Enjoy Maggi Noodles!