Shrimp Pad Thai

Ingredients :

1. Oil - 4 tbsp
2. Garlic - 5 cloves crushed
3. Shrimp - 12 medium large sized cleaned,shelled ,deveined with tails left intact.
4. Thick rice noodles - 1/2 pack , approx 250 gms dry
5. Pad Thai sauce - 8 tbsp
6. Eggs - 3
7. Green Onion - 8 bulbs with leaves
8. Onion - 1 large
9. Mushroom - 8
10. Lime - 1 cut into wedges
11. Corriander leaves - 2 tbsp picked and torn roughly
12. roasted and crushed peanuts - 4 tbsp
13. bean sprouts - handful ( it wasn't available here , so I haven't added)

For the Pad Thai sauce :

1. tamarind paste/ concenterate - 2 tbsp
2. Sugar - 5 tbsp
3. Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp
4. Fish Sauce - 5 tbsp
5. Chilly sauce - 2 tbsp (recipe in the method section)
6. Water - 1 cup

For the Chilly Sauce :

1. Dry red chillies  - 10
2. Garlic - 3 cloves
3. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
4. salt - to taste
5. shallots - 4
6. sugar - 1 tsp
7. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method for making chilly sauce  :

Soak the dry red chillies in boiling water for few hours .
drain the water and add  the chillies , along with all of the other ingredients except oil into a blender and blend until mixed and crushed well. It should be a semi smooth paste .
Heat oil in a nonstick pan and add the ground paste and cook stirring in between until the sauce is thick and the oil starts showing on the sides of the pan.
Cool and store in the refrigerator . You can keep this for more than a month without getting spoilt.

For the Pad Thai Sauce :
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil .
Boil for 5 minutes and taste - Depending on the concentration of the ingredients you use , adjust the sour,salty,spicy  and sweet flavor.
The sauce should be equally sweet, sour ,spicy and salty .
Cool and store in refrigerator for 3-4 weeks and use as needed.

To make Pad Thai:
Soak the rice noodles in slightly hot water (not boiling but comfortably hot water) for 5 minutes . drain and keep aside and use for cooking immediately.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok or frying pan . Add the garlic and stir-fry until golden brown. Add the shrimp and stir , Now add 2 tbsp of the pad thai sauce keep stirring until the shrimp changes color (Approximately  3 minutes on high heat). Remove the shrimp to prevent overcooking and set aside.
Add the remaining oil to the same wok and add the onion and mushroom and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Now add the noodles. They will stick together so stir fast and try to separate them. sprinkle a bit of  water, stirring a few times. Now add the 5 tbsp Pad Thai sauce, and keep stirring until everything is thoroughly mixed. taste and add more pad thai sauce if required .The noodles should appear soft and moist. Return the cooked shrimp and garlic mixture to the wok.
Push the contents of the wok up around the sides to make room to fry the eggs. If the pan is very dry, add 1 more tablespoon of oil. Add the eggs and spread the noodles over the eggs to cover. When the eggs are cooked, stir the noodles until everything is well mixed. Add the spring Onions and stir . Turn the flame off. Garnish with crushed peanuts, corriander leaves and bean sprouts. Serve hot with a slice of lime .