Like most Indian kids, I too grew up with an unnatural love of Maggi Instant Noodles. The yummy 2-minute concoction has been damned to hell by my nutrition conscious mother over a billion times already but has that stopped me from earning a PhD in ways to make the noodles better? Not in the 23 years of my existence so far! Anywho, over the years I have developed many new recipes that use the noodles and I thought it might be fun to share it with my fellow Maggi lovers. Here goes:
1. The simple boil-n-eat Maggi with a soupy twist
Ok so the cooking instructions on the pack suggest that you boil the water, put in the noodles and THEN add the tastemaker. But this leaves lumpy bits of undissolved Masala in the noodles which really kill the whole thing. I prefer to mix the Masala in the boiling water before adding the noodles. And for that special EXTRA I add a couple of teaspoons of instant soup powder to the mix and trust me, it does make al the different to your boring old Maggi!
2. The nutritious version of the simple boil-n-eat with a soupy twist
To make my mother really approved of me having Maggi for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I just add some fresh veggies (chopped capsicums, onions, French beans, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms and basically anything that can be cooked in boiling water in under 2 minutes) to the soupy twist Maggi. The trick is to get the proportion of the water right because just 1-1/2 cups of water will not cook everything perfectly so you pretty much have to go with your gut on this.
3. Basic ‘teekhi’ Maggi
Of course you won’t always be blessed with a fridge full of fresh veggies when hunger strikes. So to make your regular boiled Maggi taste a little funky without much tantrum all you gotta do is to simply chop a small onion and a couple of green chilies and throw in with the boiling Maggi noodles. It adds a subtle chilliness to the noodles without overriding the flavor of the Masala itself.
4. Teekhi Maggi pro-style
This is something I ate at a highway-side ‘hotel’ on the outskirts of Simla. What you basically do is fry some onions and chopped chilies together (tomatoes optional) and add the tastemaker. A quick roasting (with salt, pepper and red chili powder according to taste) brings out the flavor of the Masala much better. The noodles are added after the Masala is fried. You can either boil the noodles separately and then add it to the roasted Masala or you can break the uncooked noodles into smaller portions and roast it a little before adding water and bringing the whole thing to a boil.
5. Teekhi Maggi pro-style leftover special
As one can guess by its name, this recipe basically follows the instructions of recipe no. 4 (above). The only difference here is that you get to throw in leftover veggies in it after roasting the Masala. Mix veg, fried aloo sabzis, aloo-matar, fried French beans, paneer sabzis and basically any veggies that tickle your taste buds work well with this recipe. Though I must warn you against using okra (lady finger), karela, saag and egg plant in the mix. However, if you do fancy these veggies, then you can always add them to the mix after the noodles are on the plate!
6. Teekhi Maggi pro-style with eggs
The base of this dish too follows the basic Teekhi Maggi pro-style recipe. But to make it an eggatarian treat, you can add some scrambled eggs to the mix just before the noodles are ready to be taken off the heat. How you make the eggs is upto you.
7. Maggi noodles veggie/ egg/ chicken/ cheese salad
Another one of those nutritious treats, the Maggi noodle salad is very easy to make and super delicious to hog on without excessive calories. All you gotta do is chop your fav salad veggies and toss them with a hint of salt, white pepper and a dash of olive oil if you please. Boil the noodles without the Masala with a little salt, pepper, (or a tbsp of soup power) and a little olive oil. Drain the water when fully cooked and run the noodles under cold water. You can drizzle the cooked noodles with the Masala powder too if you want to retain the nostalgia of the brand.
Layer the salad (veggies-noodles-veggies-noodles) and garnish with your fav sauces and ketchups.
You can add poached/ half-boiled eggs or bits of roasted/leftover chicken and diced fresh (or roasted) paneer or even bits of your fav cheeses and cheese slices if you fancy.
I once even threw in a few croutons to a Maggi egg salad and it wasn’t half-bad.
8. Oven-fresh Maggi noodles veggie/ egg/ chicken/ cheese salad
To make this mouthwatering dish you just have to make sure the top layer in your noodle salad is mostly veggies. Then you can grate some pizza cheese over it and stick in the oven/microwave till the cheese melts and veggies go crisp!
9. Maggi noodles veggie/ egg/ chicken/ cheese salad on bread
Cook the noodles according to recipe no. 8 and get the salad basics ready. Now you’ll need your fav garlic bread or even simple white/brown bread slices toasted slightly and smothered with butter or your fav sauce. Layer it with veggies and noodles and its good to eat.
10. The gravy-luscious Maggi
Now this is by far my most ambitious recipe that uses Maggi noodles. Though I have never mixed Maggi with dals, I have tried it with leftover rajma, kabuli chane, matar paneer, matar mushroom and even sarson ka saag, mutton curry and keema matar. The trick is to cook the noodles plain with salt and pepper/ red chilies, drain the water, run it under cold water and cool it in the fridge for sometime before pouring the hot gravy on it!
So that’s it for time being. And I do trust Maggi lovers to share their own fav 2-minute concoctions with us and develop their own versions of my fav instant noodle recipes.
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