American Chopsuey-A truly desi dish with a firangi(foreign) name

American chopsuey is probably one of the most ordered Indo-chinese dishes in India, after manchurians, hakka noodles and fried rice. Its crunchy texture mixed with the sweet-tangy sauce must make this dish an absolute favorite among the masses. There was a phase when everytime I stepped out for Chinese with friends/family in India , I would order this dish or convince another member in the group to order it and grab a few spoonfuls!

Surprisingly this dish isn’t available in America….how weird is that! I for one think the name could have been something like Cantonese Chopsuey or Indian chopsuey. There are an almost similar dish served in some restaurants across the U.S with a crisy noodle base with sauce on top but nothing compares to the American chopsuey thats served back home.

My mom once made this dish at home and it turned out great. I have been wanting to try this dish by myself  for a while now. And that’s what I did.

For the noodles:

Chang’s Veg noodles-2 packs

Cooking spray/Oil

Heat oven to 350 degree F. Line a baking tray(cookie sheet) with aluminium foil. Break up the noodles and spread it on the cookie sheet. Drizzle/spray oil on the noodles and toss well to cover all the noodles with oil. Bake the noodles for 5 minutes, remove from oven and toss the noodles again to bring the ones at the bottom to the top and bake for 5 more minutes or till slightly golden/browned. Keep aside.

For the vegetables:

Carrots, julienned-2 nos

Green Beans, an inch long pieces-1/2 cup

capsicum/bell pepper, medium, cut lengthwise-1 no

mushrooms, sliced-6-7 nos

cabbage,medium ,cut lengthwise-1/s no.

Garlic, chopped-2 nos

spring onion/scallions-5-6 nos

oil-1/2 tsp

salt-as per taste

pepper-2 tsps

Heat oil in a pan. Saute garlic and the white ends of the scallions. Add the carrots, beans, mushroom and capsicum. Saute for a few mins till they are cooked but still crunchy. Add the cabbage, salt and pepper. Stir and keep covered for a minute. Turn off the heat and keep aside. Reserve the green ends to garnish the chopsuey after assembly.

For the sauce:

Tomato ketchup-1/4 cup

soy sauce-2 tbsps

garlic chilli sauce-1 tbsp

garam masala powder-2 tsps

cornstarch/cornflour-2 tbsps

water-2 cups

In a pan, combine all the sauces, garam masala and water. Bring it to a boil. Dissolve the cornstarch in little water and add it to the mixture just as it starts to boil.

To serve, place the noodles in bowl, top with the vegetables and sauce. Garnish with the green end of the scallions.