Sevai, in Tamil,  means rice noodles. I love my sevai. But since I adopted a WFPB lifestyle, I have been denied the pleasures of sevai since most commercially available ones use refined rice (white rice). And I was too lazy to make fresh noodles at home. I was delighted, therefore, to find brown rice noodles (imported from Thailand).
In South India, sevai is made in several forms – tamarind, lemon, coconut, sesame and so on. I understand that in North India, it is normally made as a sweet dish. A few years ago, I had a friend spending the night. When I served a tamarind sevai for breakfast the next day, she was surprised. She told me that it was the first time that she had eaten a savoury rice noodle (Indian preparation). She loved it so much that she now makes this dish regularly.

Ingredients
3 cups brown rice vermicelli
Tamarind paste (a lemon sized ball of tamarind soaked in water and juice extracted)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi, manjal podi)
1/2 tsp date paste (optional)
2 tbsp roasted peanuts (optional)
Salt to taste
For The Seasoning
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp split black gram (urad dal, ulutham parupu)
I tbsp Bengal gram (chana dal, kadalai parupu)
2 dried red chillies, broken into 2 pieces each
1 sprig curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida
Method
Boil a bowl of water
When water comes to a boil, add the noodles and salt
Cook for a minute
Turn off flame and let the noodles remain in the hot water for another 4 minutes
Drain and set aside
(If using homemade fresh noodles, the above process is not necessary)
Heat a wok and add mustard seeds
When they start spluttering, add split black gram, Bengal gram and asafoetida
Roast till the grams turn golden brown
Add curry leaves and dried red chillies
Immediately add tamarind paste and turmeric powder
Cook on low flame till raw smell of tamarind evaporates
Add salt, roasted peanuts (if using) and date paste (if using)
Mix well
Add the rice noodles and toss well
Cook for a minute and remove from flame
Serve warm with your favourite chutney
Enjoy!