Pumpkin and kale sevai -instant rice noodle stirfry.

Being a mum is like being a superwoman. Working a job, devoting yourself to various chores, practice sessions for kids, matches and concerts you need to attend and the list goes on endless. The food and the grocery still need to be done and made. This is where we all need a helping hand.
There is absolutely no shame in accepting a hand to help for all superpowers do take the help of a sidekick or two. I have chores that the kids help with. My husband does cook at times and gleefully heads to the market. In addition, I do kee a couple of packs of instant rice noodles. I am fully aware that it is not a sustainable option nor it is nutritionally superior. Give it a few twists and turns and your dinner is still a warm one on the table. Time and again I do give these rice noodles a whole bunch of veggies and get some lovely warm meal quickly on the table. Today, we have pumpkin and kale that we have stir-fried with instant sevai.

Ingredients for instant sevai stirfry. 

Rice noodles or sevai – These are the perfect grabs when you head to an Indian grocery. A quick soak in hot water, these are perfect for those days when you have a lot to do, have an unexpected guest or that day when you need a lunchbox filled. Usually, these are made with rice flour with or without salt. If you don’t find rice sevai, use rice noodles from the Asian grocery. They work well too. Most of them need to be soaked as per pack instructions. 

Pumpkin – I have used  Kabocha pumpkin in this recipe as it is quick cooking. You can use Kent as well if you don’t have the Japanese pumpkin. The pumpkin I have used is one that I precut and froze. This gives me the flexibility of getting the meal ready fast.

Kale – Kale is one of the easiest available greens I have in Australia. It is a cruciferous vegetable known for Vit K and C and all the goodness of greens. It is u to you to choose Tuscan kale, Kalian ( Chinese Kale), purple kale or the regular curly Kale leaves. I love the Tuscan kale in this recipe as it is soft and sits well with the pumpkin.

Peanuts- Leave them whole or add them crushed the peanuts contribute to the nutty addition in this recipe. If you love a creamy smooth texture, add a tablespoon of peanut butter mixed in two or three tbsp of hotwater. 

Bisibelebath spice mix- A unique spice mix from Karanataka, that is used to make a one-pot meal doubles up in my pantry for a couple of other recipes like this instant sevai with pumpkin and kale.

This instant sevai stirfry with pumpkin and kale tastes amazing with spicy tomato chutney and chickpeas salad. Try the combination together and finish off the meal with a strawberry lassi. 

The details of the ingredient quantities and other spices used for the tempering is in this recipe card. Take a look.

Variation to add to this instant sevai recipe.

This sevai recipe can be adapted to any style you choose. The similar rice noodles to prepare the Pancit bihon that I learnt to make while we were living in the Philippines. Change the greens according to what you have at hand. I have made the same recipe with Choi sum ( Chinese mustard greens ), amaranth leaves, radish tops and English Spinach. The choice of green is just based on what I have meal prepped, cleaned and chopped earlier. I rarely change the pumpkin as I like its flavour with the Bisi Bele bath mix. If you have no Bisi Bele bath mix and don’t want to make any right away, use Sambhar powder. You can use any nuts and seeds in this recipe. It adds to the crunch as we munch through this instant sevai stirfry

If you like Pumpkin, try these too.

Roasted pumpkin soup – the best use for a while pumpkin is to roast it to perfection and make this vegan pumpkin soup.

Cafe style pumpkin latte – try this fall-inspired pumpkin latte for your morning cuppa.

Pumpkin chia popsicles – Save those pumpkins in summer to create a relishing vegan popsicle.

Thalagam kozhambu – A delicious South Indian gravy recipe with pumpkin and okra.

Linking up

This is the recipe I am adding to A to Z recipe challenge. In this inspiring group, we challenge ourselves as bloggers to develop recipes that utilise ingredients based on an alphabet a month. We have worked our way through a lot of these and now reached alphabet P. So I chose pumpkin and peanuts to bring forth the recipe.

Subscribe and stay with us if you like quick hacks like these for your vegetarian dinner ideas. We love to hear from you when you make this recipe. Tag us #mildlyindian or @mildlyindian to let us know how you made it or love it. Share with us what you changed in this recipe in the comments.
See you at the next post. Stay safe and bring forth the superwoman you already are and never apologise about using a shortcut menu.