Silky amaranth strands in a coconut-peanut sauce loosened with lime and tamarind, tangled with beansprouts, carrot ribbons and torn Thai basil.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Amaranth Noodles 1 pack (200 g)

Fresh

• Unsweetened peanut butter 4 tbsp
• Coconut milk 150 ml
• Tamarind paste 1 tbsp
• Limes, juiced, plus wedges to serve 2
• Red bird's eye chillies, minced 2
• Ginger, finely grated 1 tbsp
• Garlic, minced 3 cloves
• Light soy sauce 2 tbsp
• Carrot, shaved into ribbons 1 large
• Beansprouts 1 cup
• Thai basil leaves, torn 1 handful
• Groundnut oil 1 tbsp
• Roasted peanuts, crushed 3 tbsp

Method

1. Fry the aromatics

   Heat the groundnut oil and cook the garlic, ginger and chilli over medium heat for a minute, just until the raw edge lifts and the kitchen smells of them.

2. Build the sauce

   Stir in the peanut butter, then pour in the coconut milk in a slow stream, whisking so it loosens smoothly rather than seizing into lumps.

3. Sour and salt

   Add the tamarind paste and soy sauce and simmer two minutes until the sauce coats a spoon. Pull it off the heat before it splits.

4. Cook the noodles

   Boil the Sprouted Amaranth Noodles for two minutes only — the strand is fine and softens fast — then drain and rinse briefly.

5. Combine off heat

   Return the pan to low heat, add the noodles and turn them through the sauce with the carrot ribbons until glossy and evenly coated.

6. Finish raw

   Kill the heat, squeeze in the lime juice and fold through the beansprouts and Thai basil so they stay crisp and aromatic.

7. Serve loaded

   Divide between bowls, scatter crushed peanuts and set lime wedges alongside for people to sharpen their own.

Why this works

Amaranth noodles are silkier and higher in protein than the millet strands, so they carry a rich coconut sauce without going flabby. Tamarind and lime are doing different jobs — tamarind gives a deep, cooked sourness in the pan, lime a volatile brightness that only survives if added off the heat. Keeping the beansprouts raw preserves the textural contrast the sauce needs.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Amaranth Noodles → Sprouted Little Millet Noodles Lighter and cleaner; hold their bite in the sauce.
• Tamarind paste → Extra lime juice Brighter and less deep; add a pinch more salt.
• Thai basil → Regular basil with a few mint leaves Approximates the aniseed-and-cool note.