Change up your chili oil noodles with this fragrant Mustard Chili Oil Tadka Spaghetti Bowl! It’s bursting with flavor with Indian inspired chili oil, mustard seed and curry leaf tempering! Nut-free version included.
Move over chili oil noodles, try these Indian spiced chili oil noodles for dinner! A blast of flavor and textures! Whole mustard seeds are toasted in hot oil, then curry leaves and chilies are fried to infuse that oil, which is poured over noodles and sliced up fresh veggies.
A dash of lime and some roasted peanuts (or cashews or sunflower seeds) and kaboom! That burst of flavor! Add some baked tofu or cooked chickpeas to turn this into a hearty meal. This mustard seed chili oil dog batter salad is going to blow your mind!
More vegan pasta salad recipes:
Easy Summer Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables
Tuscan Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Southwestern Pasta Salad with Black Bean Dressing
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Mustard Seed Chili Oil Tadka Noodles
Ingredients
For the salad bowl:
- 4 ounces (115 g) of spaghetti or other thin pasta or noodles cooked according to package instructions
- ½ bell pepper, thinly sliced, you can use a mix of red or green bell pepper
- ½ cup or more julienned or ribboned carrots
- 2-3 tablespoons of chopped green onion
- 3 tablespoons fresh or thawed green peas
- ½ cup chopped cilantro (use leaves and stems)
- 3 tablespoons roasted unsalted peanuts
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
For Tadka/ tempering :
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 green chili such as serrano finely chopped
- 10-12 curry leaves fresh or frozen or dried
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes or less for less heat
- sesame seeds or hemp seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Cook your spaghetti or noodles that you’re planning to use, according to the instructions on the package in salted water. Cook until al dente or until the texture is to your preference, then drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.
- Chop up your veggies if you haven’t already. Add the cooked noodles to a bowl, add all the veggies. Then add cilantro, peanuts, salt, and lime juice, and toss well. You can fold in some Cooked beans or baked tofu to make it a meal. Then prep your tadka .
- Make the tadka tempering: Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat, once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let them start to pop or at least change the color.
- Then reduce the heat to medium and add the curry leaves, and green chilies, chili flakes, and mix well. If you're using an electric stove, switch it off at this point, for other stoves reduce heat to low and cook for a minute until the green chilies are cooked through, then drop this tempering / tadka all over the noodles and toss well again.
- Add more salt and lime juice if needed , garnish with seeds of choice and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- pasta: spaghetti or any other thin pasta or noodles work here
- veggies: bell pepper, carrots green onion and green peas
- fresh cilantro adds a touch of color and
- roasted unsalted peanuts provide some crunch
- lime juice is all we need in terms of added acidity for the dressing
- For the Tadka/ tempering we fry mustard seeds, chili and curry leaves in oil
Tips:
- To reduce oil, you can use ½ teaspoon of oil for the tempering and then add 2 tablespoons of water after to increase the volume so it’s easier to drizzle over the noodles.
- To make this nut free, just omit the peanuts and add seeds such as sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, etc.
- Protein: Add cooked chickpeas or beans or baked tofu or edamame to make into a hearty meal
- Cook pasta according to packaging instructions. While I usually err on the side of cooking them for a shorter time than indicated on the package, here we want to make sure to cook them until perfect for eating as we will not add them to hot pasta sauce.
How to make Indian Chili Oil Tadka Noodles:
Cook your spaghetti or noodles according to the instructions on the package in salted water.
Cook until al dente or until the texture is to your preference then drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Chop up your veggies if you haven’t already. Add noodles to a bowl, add all the veggies. Then add cilantro, peanuts, salt, and lime juice, and toss well. 
Then prep your tadka(mustard seed chili oil tempering)
Heat oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat, once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and let them start to pop or at least change the color.
Then reduce the heat to medium and add the curry leaves, and green chilies, chili flakes, and mix well.
If you’re using an electric stove, switch it off at this point, for other stoves reduce heat to low and cook for a minute until the green chilies are cooked through, then drop this tempering / tadka all over the noodles and toss well again.
Add salt and lime juice if needed and serve immediately.
Storage:
Store the noodles and veggies mixed (the step before you add the tempering) and refrigerate for upto 3 days. Make the tempering just before serving. Mix in and serve
Amelia
will it be ok if I skip the curry leaves? it is impossible to find them where I live. will kaffir leaves work?
Richa
Yes use 2-3 lime leaves
Amelia
It was amazing! Thank you Richa ♥️
Vegan Richa Support
🙂
Tiffany
This is a new summer salad ya’ll!
Vegan Richa Support
🙂 yay!
Tiffany
Phenomenal.
Vegan Richa Support
thank you so much!