Thupka – Arunachal Pradesh

The next state we are going to concentrate for the Mega Marathon is Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is one of the seven North Eastern states of India. And the huge challenge for all the bloggers taking part in this BM is the North Eastern Indian states because, there are very few authentic recipes available and they are mostly meat or fish based dishes. Thupka is also a meat based noodles soup but I was fortunate enough to get a vegetarian recipe using tofu. This is a noodles soup inspired by China. This is famous in Tibet and it also spread to the neighbouring regions and Arunachal Pradesh is one such region. The day I made this soup I was suffering from heavy cold. But as I wanted to finish off a dish for the BM, I made it. And it turned out to be a very comforting spicy soup which was the best treatment for the cold I was suffering from. I felt really luky that day as I felt very much better after relishing this soup. Usually hubby dear has a lots of complaints when I prepare soups. Either it is very thin or very thick. But he was very much satisfied with thupka. It was a sweet surprise for me. We enjoyed it so much. And today when I saw the email thread of this BM recipes, I am amzed at the number of thupka entries. It would be eleven so far including my recipe. And now I don’t have time to change my recipe. So it is Thupka for Arunachal Pradesh but somehow I know that there will be different versions of thupkas out there. 

Noodles-200 gm

Tofy-200 gm 

Green Peas-1/2 cup

Carrot-1/2 cup

Onion-1 

Spring Onion-1/4 cup

Garlic Cloves-3-4

Ginger-1″ piece

Green Chillies-2

Bay Leaf-1

Cumin Powder-1/2 tsp

Red Chilly Powder-1/4 tsp

Coriander Powder-1 tsp

Cinamon-1

Star Anise-1

Cardamom Powder-1/4 tsp

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt and Pepper Powder to taste

Vegetable Stock/ Water-5-6 cups

Soy Sauce-1 tbs

Chilly Sauce-1/2 tbs

Butter-2 tbs

Coriander Leaves for garnish

1. Boil a large pot of water.

2. Add the noodles and cook until done.

3. Immediately strain it on a colander.

4. Place the colander below running water and allow it to flow through the cooked noodles until it is cold.

5. Place it on a large bowl to remove excess water.

6. Cover and keep it aside while preparing the soup.

7. Cut tofu into small cubes and pan fry with a tsp of oil until the sides are golden.

8. Remove and set sadie.

9. Prepare vegetable stock.

10. Now in a large pot, add butter and add all the spices and spice powders.

11. Saute for a minute.

12. Add the spring onions, finely chopped garlic, ginger, green chillies and onion.

13. Saute until onion turns golden.

14. Add soy sauce and chilly sauce.

15. Add in the vegeatbles and cook covered on low flame until done.

16. Now add the stock and bring it to boil.

17. Add the tofu pieces. Cover and cook on low flame for 10 minutes.

18. Adjust salt and pepper.

20. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

21. you can also add the noodles to the soup while it is still boiling. I found that after some time the noodles absorb so much of the stock and there will be a little fluid left out in the soup. So I prefer keeping them separate and combine at the time of serving..