Khausa - Burmese Food (Originally called "Nan Gyi Thoke")

During Ramadan we had an iftar party one of my mom’s very close friend’s (Auntie’s) house. Auntie is very talented when it comes to the cooking, in other matters as well, but I have only dealt with her on this part so I can guarantee this. I have learned a lot from her. She has two kids; the oldest is almost the same age as my younger brother (JK). She always made a lot of American and Mexican varieties every time we were invited over. I would always get a recipe from her and try it at home. This time round when we were invited, she made Khausa – made out of Fettuccini, chicken and coconut milk. I said, “Wow Auntie, you are now onto Italian dishes as well”… she goes, “this is not Italian, it’s Indian and made in our own city Surat (Gujarat, India). There was a place near my house that used to sell this and it was very famous…” I was really surprised, as I had never heard of it from any other Gujjus that I know and even I, myself, was trying this for the first time. I wasn’t really satisfied with her answer and did some research. I found out that Khausa is a Burmese dish and known in some parts of India since the migrated Burmese bring over their foods as well. So I am pretty sure now that there must be a Burmese individual or a family that made this Khausa in Surat and sold it to the locals there.

Since I couldn’t really find a lot of details online, if there is anyone out there who knows anything about this dish and its originality please share with us… I would love to learn more about this…

Ingredients:

1. 4 tblsp cooking oil;

2. 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced;

3. 1 lbs boneless chicken, cut in small cubic pieces;
4. 1 tblsp red chili powder, 1 tblsp dhaniya powder, salt to taste, ½ tblsp ginger-garlic paste, and a pinch of turmeric powder;
5. 1 medium tomato puree;
6. 1 can of coconut milk (available in all leading supermarkets);
7. 1 box of Fettuccini – cooked.

Process:

1. Heat oil in a wok.
2. Add in sliced cloves and let them turn golden brown.
3. Add in boneless chicken and cook till it turns white.
4. Add in all the spices listed in #4 above and mix it with tomato puree.
5. Let the oil separate itself from the mixture, stir every once in a while.

6. Add in the coconut milk and let it cook for approximately 7-8 minutes.

7. Add in cooked Fettuccini and mix well.

8. Let it cook for 5-6 minutes.

9. Serve hot.

Few things to note:

Cooking Fettuccini – Boil 6 big glasses of water for a box of Fettuccini, once the water starts to boil, add in salt and 3 drops of oil, then add in Fettuccini. Keep stirring every once in a while and make sure that they don’t stick to each other. Keep checking and once cooked remove all the water and wash Fettuccini with cold running water.

Decorating the dish – Auntie had further decorated the dish with grated boiled eggs and fried spring roll sheets. This is optional; we all liked the dish without these two items.