Curry Noodle Salad (‘Kerrie Noedelslaai’)
One of the most popular salads made when we ‘braai’ is curry noodle salad. The combination of the el dente pasta, crispy veggies, and flavourful dressing makes this a healthy and wholesome salad – one that even our vegetarian friends will enjoy.
In Afrikaans this is called ‘Kerrie Noedelslaai’ – ‘Kerrie’ means curry and ‘Noedelslaai’ translates as noodle salad.
If you want to enjoy this salad with chicken or meat (or even on its own), make it a day before you want to dish it up. The flavours have to mingle well and the longer it sits in the fridge, the tastier it gets.
Put it on the table:
You can use your favourite pasta shape – some people prefer shells, but we like screws. Just make sure it’s a pasta that will ‘hold’ the dressing well.
Ingredients for Curry Noodle Salad (don’t forget the Tabasco Sauce)
For the salad:
500g Pasta
1 white onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can (410g) peach slices in syrup, diced
For the dressing:
1 cup (250ml) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
½ cup (125ml) vinegar
½ cup (125ml) sunflower oil
200ml sugar
salt & pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Chop the white onion and green pepper (customise this salad with your favourite veggies – red onion and red pepper are also great alternatives). Dice the peach slices and keep at one side.
Chopped veggies and diced peach slices
In a separate bowl, prepare the dressing by mixing tomato sauce, curry powder, vinegar, sunflower oil, sugar, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Stir well until the sugar dissolves completely, creating a smooth and flavourful dressing.
Mix all the dressing ingredients together
Pour the dressing over the chopped veggie mixture and mix well.
Mix dressing with chopped onion and pepper
Cook the noodles (pasta) according to the package instructions until they are al dente. Drain and rinse the cooked noodles with cold water to stop further cooking.
Cook pasta until el dente
Add the pasta and diced peaches to the veggies and dressing and gently toss everything together to ensure the dressing coats all the ingredients evenly.
Add pasta and diced peaches to the veggies and dressing mixture
Place the salad overnight (or for at least 5 hours) in the refrigerator, allowing the flavours to meld together.
Look at the colour difference in the salad after it’s been overnight (right) in the refrigerator
Before serving, give the salad a final toss to redistribute the dressing and flavours.
Curry Noodle Salad
Curry noodle salad is such a quick and easy salad to prepare, which will explode with amazing flavours in your mouth.
A salad guaranteed to please
Wet and Dusty Roads 
That looks so good. I like the addition of peaches for a bit of sweetness. Those are the noodles i would pick too. How’s the cookery book coming?:)
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Yes, the peaches definitely give the salad a sweeter taste. We mostly make our pasta dishes with screws (Fusilli is probably the correct term, but screws are so much more descriptive, aren’t they)? The cooking book … oh, at this point, it’s still just a dream – but hopefully not an impossible dream!
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I would probably leave out the peaches, but that’s just me!
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As someone else here mentioned, the peaches lend a sweeter flavour to the salad. But we’ve made the salad without the peaches before (because we didn’t have them), and it’s still just as delicious.
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I’ve never thought of adding curry to pasta noodles; great idea, Corna. Looks delicious!
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I’m not so sure if curry is a common ingredient to add to a pasta salad – but it definitely works in this salad!
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Looks and sounds delicious and flavourful!
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It’s a very flavourful salad and as I mentioned in the post, it only gets better the longer it sits (the flavours blend wonderfully with each other)!
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Tasty! Though as it’s not technically noodles, we call it a spicy pasta salad here in the UK 🙂 One of my faves!
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You’re 100% correct Hannah! Dedicated chefs are likely to shake their heads in outrage at us calling this pasta “noodles” … but that’s how it’s known in South Africa. And apparently everyone knows what you’re talking about when you talk about a curry noodle salad, when in fact it’s actually fusilli!
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Your recipe sounds nice with the addition of the peaches. Do you know , I’ve never heard Fusillipasts referred to as ‘screw’ pasta before but I get what you mean! Hope you have a great weekend.
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I mentioned in previous comments that the peaches lend a slightly sweet taste to the salad (we’ve made it without peaches on previous occasions and it’s just as tasty, but I prefer the peaches in it). Oh yes, for those of us who aren’t dedicated chefs, one sometimes forgets that the different types of pasta actually have “noble” names … but shells and screws just sound so much more descriptive!
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Yum! I’m going to have to give this a try when peaches come back into season.
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The salad may sound weird with the peaches in it, but I can guarantee you it adds a delicious taste. I hope you enjoy the salad when you make it – it’s especially good in the summer!
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I would eat that in a minute, with the peaches. Yummy!!!
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It’s a delicious summer salad (yes, with peaches) – remember this recipe when you have your hot summer days. And it can really be a meal on its own (that’s why we always use a whole pack of pasta).
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