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!

Claypot Bread

Just 3 more days of summer break and I will be back to work. Although I miss my students and fellow teachers, I do enjoy my time at home, relaxed and laid back. Next few days I am trying to cook dishes that I had planned for since long. I do want to upload those and share it with you all soon. My to-do list is really long and I know I won't be able to accomplish all, but will be happy to do whatever I can. Friday is another long and busy day. We will have Ikea deliver and install wardrobes in our new house. We got that done in our old home and we just love it, so now it is time to get it done in our new place :) Yes... that's right, we have another home where will be moving soon and will rent out the old one. So Shital's kitchen will soon be moving :)

Our current home is technically a brand new townhouse with a huge living space and a big kitchen :) Everyone knows I need lot of 'My Space' and that is in 'My Kitchen'. Our new house is a remodeled old home which has a smaller living space and a small kitchen but a huge backyard...yes it is huge for where we live :) And I just love my new backyard. There are already few beautiful trees there and we did plant some more. I am planning to get a green house done to protect my tropical plants from California winter. So we will be enjoying the big backyard space till we plan to extend and remodel it. You will eventually see lot of my backyard pictures with my food :)

I was never a baker. Yeast was never my friend. I hated the process of waiting while the food would be in the oven. Basically I had no patience. I love making appetizers and snacks. If you look at the list of 'Recipes By Category', you will notice that I have majority of appetizers listed there. I enjoy making them. Since that is the first course of any meal, I spend most of my time and effort making it delicious and appetizing. I can start and end my meal with the appetizers...yes, I so love them! But, lately I am enjoying every bit of baking. With the success and popularity of my Mumbai Pav Bread recipe, I have understood that baking is all about understanding your ingredients. It is about understanding your climatic conditions, and most important understanding the little microorganism, Yeast. I might have baked more that 50 batches of pav bread and every atempt brings the same smile on my face like the first one.

Today's recipe is a variation on my Pav Bread. My husband once went for a dinner meeting to an Italian restaurant where they served warm bread in a clay pot. This was the most interesting part of his meeting and the only thing he remembers from that evening :) So on my husband's demand I created this rustic bread baked in clay pots. Served with crisp fried garlic bits and olive oil, this was the star of the dinner!!

Most clay/terracotta pots can easily be used in an oven. I have traditional Indian clay pots or Kulhads that I love to use in baking. I soak the pots in water for 2-3 hours to get rid of loose dirt and dust. Once that is done, I let the pots dry and then use for baking.

Ingredients to make Rustic Claypot Bread
1+1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. sugar
1 packet (2+1/4 tsp.) yeast
1+1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour or maida
1/4 cup flour for kneading the dough
Oil spray to grease clay pot
Finely chopped or fried garlic bits (optional)
Mixed herbs (optional)

• Microwave water for 30 seconds to warm it.
• In a large bowl or a mixer add sugar, yeast, and water. Mix well and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. Below is the video of yeast mixture that turns frothy in just a few minutes. The frothiness ensures that yeast is alive and will help make your bread dough rise. Also it is very important to add sugar. Yeast feeds on sugar to produce carbondioxide gas that make the bread soft and porous. Warm temperature is favorable for yeast. Yeast would not be active under cold temperature and would die at very high temperature. So please give some TLC to this little organism!
• Add flour, salt, and butter to the wet ingredients. Mix well and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes by hand using some dry flour for dusting. If using an electric mixer, 3-4 minutes of kneading the dough is enough. Do not over knead the dough. Below is the video of making the dough.
• Cover and let the dough rest for an hour.
• After an hour add any flavorings or spices to the dough and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes in a mixer. Below is the video of kneading the risen dough. 
• Divide the dough into equal parts depending on the size and the number of clay pots you have. Remember claypot should be half filled with the dough so that it has space for the dough to rise.
• Grease the pots well with butter or PAM spray.
• Make small balls of the dough and place it in each of the clay pots. Garnish with chopped garlic or jalapeno or cheddar cheese or herbs of your choice. Cover all the pots with a large cooking utensil to not let the utensil touch the brim of the clay pot. Let it rest for an hour or hour and a half.
• Preheat the oven to 420F temperature. 
• Place each pot on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or till done. Baking time depends on the size of the pot. 
• Remove from the oven and apply some butter for taste and flavor.
• Serve warm with fried garlic bits, dried herbs, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.
• This is a very rustic bread. Just use your hand to tear it and enjoy!!

Here is step-by-step recipe to make Rustic Claypot Bread.

Microwave water for 30 seconds to warm it.

In a large bowl or a mixer add sugar, yeast, and water. Mix well and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. Below is the video of yeast mixture that turns frothy in just a few minutes. the frothiness ensures that yeast is alive and will help make your bread dough rise. Also it is very important to add sugar. Yeast feeds on sugar to produce carbondioxide gas that make the bread soft and porous. Warm temperature is favorable for yeast. Yeast would not be active under cold temperature and would die at very high temperature. So please give some TLC to this little organism!

Add flour, salt, and butter to the wet ingredients. Mix well and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes by hand using some dry flour for dusting. If using an electric mixer, 3-4 minutes of kneading the dough is enough. Do not over knead the dough. Below is the video of making the dough.

After an hour add flavorings of your choice or spices to the dough and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes in a mixer. Below is the video of kneading the risen dough.

Divide the dough into equal parts depending on the size and the number of clay pots you have. Remember claypot should be half filled with the dough so that it has space for the dough to rise. 

Make small balls of the dough and place it in each of the clay pots. Garnish with chopped garlic or jalapeno or herbs of your choice. Cover all the pots with a large cooking utensil to not let the utensil touch the brim of the clay pot. Let it rest of an hour or hour and a half.

Grease the pots well with butter or PAM spray.

Preheat the oven to 420F temperature. 

Place each pot on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or till done. Baking time depends on the size of the pot.

Enjoy this Rustic Claypot Bread!