Great Plates: Vindaloo Soba Noodles

A surprising side dish that spices up a dinner featuring roasted or braised meats. Photography by Dave Bryce.

Our wonderful recipe creator, chef, and food stylist Veda Sankaran channeled our “buy fresh, buy local” passion into a New Year’s Day feast of flavor. For a flavor surprise at your New Year’s feast, Veda suggests tossing soba noodles in a vindaloo sauce and garnishing with edamame puree. The flavors are truly divine. The dish starts with garlic and shallots from Soergel Orchards.

Vindaloo Soba Noodles with Edamame Puree

For vindaloo sauce:

4 long Kashmiri chilies, deseeded

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

¾ tsp black peppercorn

3 cardamom pods

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp Madras curry powder

½ tsp sweet paprika

⅓ cup chopped shallots

1 tbsp ginger, peeled and grated

1 tbsp garlic, crushed

3 tbsp tomato puree

2-3 tbsp white vinegar (based on how tangy you want your vindaloo)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp brown sugar

3 tbsp water

First, place the chilies in a bowl and rehydrate by pouring boiling water over them. Let soak for a few minutes until they soften. Be sure to deseed the chilies before blending.

Next, grind the fenugreek seeds, peppercorns, and cardamom into a powder, using a spice or coffee grinder.

Place the rehydrated chilies, ground spice powder, turmeric, garam masala, Madras curry powder, and sweet paprika into a small blender cup along with a splash of the chili water and pulse until the chilies are blended. Add more spoonfuls of water if necessary to blend. It does not have to be a fine paste as you will blend it further with the other ingredients.

Add the remaining vindaloo ingredients: shallots, ginger, garlic, tomato puree, vinegar, salt, brown sugar, and water. Blend everything together until it becomes a smooth paste.

For edamame puree:

1 cup shelled edamame

½ cup green peas

1 small lemon, juice and zest

2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste

Salt

Pepper

¼ cup olive oil

Heat a medium-sized pot of water. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare an ice bath in a mixing bowl. Once the water is boiling, add the shelled edamame and cook for 4 minutes. Immediately transfer the edamame into the ice bath.

In the same pot, once the water is boiling again, add the peas and cook for 1 minute, before transferring them to the ice bath.

Place the cooked edamame and peas in the bowl of a food processor and add the lemon juice and zest, along with the crushed garlic, salt, and pepper. Pulse a few times and then slowly stream in the olive oil while blending until you reach the creamy consistency you want for your puree.

To serve:

Add as much vindaloo sauce as you want to your cooked soba noodles and stir to evenly coat the noodles. Plate your noodles like birds’ nests and top with the edamame pea puree.

Round out your New Year’s Day feast with these innovative dishes from Veda Sankaran:

Honey and Ghee Roasted Carrots

Devils on Horseback and other great dips and starters

Meatballs in Cranberry Gochujang Sauce

Oven-Braised Pork and Sauerkraut

Recipes by Veda Sankaran / Photography by Dave Bryce / Styling by Keith Recker / Ceramics by Billy Ritter / With Support from Buy Fresh, Buy Local of Western Pennsylvania and PA Preferred