Instant noodles in tomato sauce

This dish is what I can proudly call my first invention. I came up with this dish way back in my 6th grade when the only thing I could make (unsupervised) was dear ol' Maggi. I was quite bored of the taste of plain Masala Maggi and decided to change it up a bit.

This dish of mine is a weird fusion of Italian and Chinese cooking, although, I came up with it much before I knew what Italian food was. I make it when I want something nostalgic, comforting and easy to make. I usually find myself having it when I'm home alone, after a long day at work and Sanju is away on a trip. Probably, because, it takes me back to when I first started making it when I was home alone, just back from school and ravenous.

Over the decades, this dish has seen many iterations; starting from plating the noodles and sauce separately to mixing them together. The kind of noodles has also changed, from using Maggi to smoodles to finally the noodles of the whole wheat variety.

Recipe (Serves 2)

Ingredients

For the noodles
2 packets instant noodles
1 tsp salt
Water as per cooking instructions given on packet

For the Sauce
2 cloves of garlic - grated
4 - 5 medium sized tomatoes - quartered
2 tbsp chili sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp black pepper powder - freshly ground
Salt as per taste

Method

Noodles
Add the noodles to boiling water containing 1 tsp of salt. Once the noodles are cooked and water has evaporated, tip the noodles into a colander and rinse under cold running water (for 1 min) to get rid of all the starch.
Sauce
Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add  2 grated cloves of garlic and saute till light brown.
Add the quartered tomatoes along with 1 tsp freshly ground pepper and salt
When the tomatoes have softened, add the soy sauce, chili sauce and vinegar and reduce the heat for the sauce to simmer, till tomatoes soften completely .
Add the noodles and stir together.

Notes:
1. The type of instant noodles you use do not matter as the taste maker given alongside will not be used, although, I have found that using spaghetti or noodles does not work very well with the sauce.
2. Add salt to the sauce cautiously as the soy sauce will be salty and the noodles will also be salted.
3. If the tomatoes do not release much water, add 2- 3 tablespoons of water to ensure tomatoes soften properly and the sauce does not burn.

A lot of folks are quite disturbed when I tell them of this this dish. I have no idea why! But don't diss it till you try it. It is yumm yumm yumm!