I have always been a fan of ‘Indian’ Chinese food. This is bastardization of the authentic Chinese food, plentifully available in India. In fact, the spiced up version of Chinese food has evolved to suit Indian tastes and has become a cuisine in it’s own right. Several decades ago, I was visiting Canada (Toronto) and had occasion to visit Gerard Street. I was delighted to find this version of Chinese food available. I was reminded of this again when, years later, some dear friends (of Indian origin) were visiting me from Toronto. And mentioned to me that they often visited Gerard Street just to make a meal of the ‘Indian’ Chinese food.
I therefore tried to re-create some of these tastes at home – with complete success. This soup is one such experiment. Inspired by a recipe by Tarla Dalal.

Ingredients
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
2 tbsp finely chopped cabbage
2 tbsp finely chopped cauliflower
2 tbsp finely chopped green capsicum
2 tbsp finely chopped carrots
2 tbsp finely chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
1/2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1/2 a cup of water
Salt to taste
1 tbsp soy sauce (I used dark soy sauce)
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
For The Topping
A little air-fried noodles
Method
Heat a wok on high flame and roast garlic, ginger and green chillies for a few seconds
Add cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and capsicum and saute for a couple of minutes
Add tomatoes, mint and coriander leaves
Mix well
Saute for about a minute
Add 4 cups of water (more if you want a thinner soup), mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add salt and soy sauce and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring occasionally
Add the cornflour mixture and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously
Add pepper powder and mix well
Remove from flame and serve immediately, topped with air-fried noodles
Enjoy!
Note: The recipe calls for cooking in vegetable stock instead of water. But I used water as my recipes are whole food and stock calls for discarding the vegetables used in preparing it. It tasted just as good.