Chettinad Tomato soup

Chettinad refers to the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and aromatic cuisine of India. I gathered information from a couple of food blogs regarding this soup and have presented my own 'no onion no garlic' version.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, ripe- 2
green chilli - 1
toor dal- 1tablespoon
Mung dal- 1 tablespoon
curry leaves- a string
fennel seeds- 1 teaspoon
cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
black pepper, whole- 1 teaspoon
bay leaf- 2
cinnamon stick- 1
turmeric powder- a pinch
asafoetida- a pinch
salt to taste
corriander leaves- to garnish

Method:
Heat some oil in a pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black pepper, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf .

When the cumin cracks, add green chilli, chopped tomatoes, toor & mung dal, asafoetida, tumeric powder, curry leaves and saute them for a minute.

 Add salt and 2 cups of water and steam them for atleast 3 whistles.

 Turn off the heat and wait until the pressure releases.

Then pour them in a strainer and strain them to get a clear soup.

If possibble, squeeze out the tomatoes and dal by handor a potato masher.

Garnish the spicy clear soup with corriander leaves .

Add black pepper powser if required.

Serve hot.

Curried Butternut squash Basil soup

On a cold evening, our bellies were craving for some hot soup. I quickly scanned my kitchen resources and came up with an idea to make 'butternut squash soup'. Butternut squash, always remained an 'untouchable' in my refrigerator- the least preferred vegetable in my family. Hence, I picked few other veggies to make the soup palatable. I chose fresh basil leaves and curry powder to flavor the soup. I avoided oil/ butter for health reasons. I thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming this soup recipe and felt more content seeing my family relish the soup.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash, cubed- 2 cups
Carrot, sliced - 1/3 cup
Tomato - 1
Asparagus, chopped- 1/4 cup
Red bell pepper, chopped- 1/4 cup
Celery, finely chopped- 2 tablespoon
Basil leaves- 6
Vegetable broth/ water - 2 cups
Curry powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Method:

Combine all the chopped veggies in a steamer. Add basil leaves when the veggies are half cooked. Cook them until tender. Do not overcook them!

Remove from heat and cool them.

Blend the steamed veggies with 2 cups of vegetable broth or warm water, salt, black pepper and curry powder.

If you prefer it piping hot then pour it into a pot and heat them to desired temperature.

Variations:
Roast the veggies in oil or butter instead of steaming them.
Garnish with whipped cream/ sour cream

Toasted Almond Broccoli Soup

Today I am here to share a simple, tasty and healthy soup recipe- without using oil or butter. I adopted this recipe from a recipe book that came along with my new blender. As I was scanning through the recipes, the almond broccoli soup caught my attention. I quickly rushed through the details and was excited to make it immediately. The original recipe had zucchinis; I omitted it due to lack of resource. I have never tasted or tried soups with toasted nuts- trust me! this soup was awesome(with the roasted almond flavour).

Ingredients
Almonds- 1/3 cup
Broccoli florets - 4 cups
Vegetable broth- 3 cups
salt and black pepper to taste

Method

• Steam the broccoli florets and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Blend the almonds in a blender for 30 seconds and toast them in the oven for 5 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
• Leave 2 tablespoons of almond meal for garnishing; bring all the ingredients together in a blender and grind them to a smooth consistency.
• Garnish with the toasted almond meal.

* Dry roasting on a low flame would be an alternative to toasting in oven. Saute them frequently for even toasting.

Minty green peas soup

I first heard about this soup from my mom and dad- they relished this soup at a wedding party. Immediately I got inspired to make it. Here goes the recipe for the minty soup.

Ingredients:
Frozen peas- 1lb
water/ vegetable broth- 2/12 cups
chopped mint leaves- 3 tbsp
milk- 2 cups
light whipping cream- 1/2 cup
butter- 4 tbsp
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
fresh mint to garnish

Method:

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the peas, vegetable stock, and 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint. Increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back to low, cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove about 3 tablespoons of the peas, and set aside for garnish. Pour the soup into a blender or food processor along with the milk, and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Throw in a pinch of sugar if desired.

Swirl in 1 tbsp of whipping cream and fresh mint leaves before serving.

The soup can be served either hot or cold.

Parangikai Arachu Vitta Sambar / Spicy Yellow pumpkin Lentil soup

Sambar is a famous and common dish in South India especially Tamil Nadu. Sambar is a vegetable stew with broth made of tamarind and toor dal. Each state in south India adopts typical variations in preparing sambar. Sambar can be made with an instant spice mix called sambar powder or the spice mix can be fresh ground. The sambar made with fresh ground spice mix is called arachuvitta sambar in. I learnt to make this sambar from my motherin-law  Mrs.Jayalakshmi Narasimhan who specialises in authentic tamil cusines.  Sambar can be made with different vegetables like brinjal, carrot, tomato, potato, beans, drumstick, pumpkin, chayote squash, bell pepper (capsicum), okra (lady's finger) and so on. In this recipe I used the yellow pumpkins.

Ingredients:
Toor dal- 1/2 cup
tamarind- small lemon sized
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
asafoetida- 2 pinch
chopped tomatoes-  1
Yellow pumpkin- 1 1/2 cup (chopped, big cubes)
salt to taste

To grind
corriander seeds- 1 1/2 tsp
red chillis -10
chenna dal- 1 tbsp
cyrry leaves- a string
shredded coconut- 4 tbsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

Seasoning
oil- 2 tsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
curry leaves- a string
asafoetida (hing)- 1 generous pinch

Method:

• Wash and cook the toor dal with the yellow pumpkin, turmeric and asafoetida.
• Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes to make an extract.
• Heat a wok and dry roast the ingredients to grind, on a medium flame until the chenna dal turns golden brown. Cool it and grind them into a smooth paste with 1/4 cup of water.
• Now boil the tamarind juice in a vessel with a cup water until its raw smell disappears and add the chopped tomatoes.
• Once the tomatoes become tender and cooked add the ground paste and salt.
• Mash the dal slightly( Make sure you dont mash the pumpkins) and add them to the boiling tamarind juice. 
• Allow them to boil for 10 mins and turn down the heat. Sambar is almost ready except for the seasoning.
• Heat some oil in a small wok, add mustard. When it cracks add asafoetida and curry leaves and season it on the sambar

Note: I made this sambar for rice and hence the consistency was little thick. In case if you want to use this same sambar as a side dish for dosas or idly add 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp of crushed jaggery and boil them and garnish with cilantro leaves (coriander leaves). This would taste like the restaurant sambar.

Fenugreek Rasam/Venthiya Rasam

Rasam is very good for digestion. Greek Hay or fenugreek is a herb which is easily availble in the stores. It is prevalent as a spice to enhance the taste of various culinary dishes. The tanginess of the tomatoes dominated the bitterness of these fenugreek seeds and we love having this healthy, delicious tangy rasam with some simple potato fries, this rasam is quite healthy for diabetic. It can also be served as a soup during cold weather.


Ingredients
Tomato – 2 nos
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Asafoetida – a
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Tamarind – a small ball size ( soak in warm water for 15 mins)
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves
Water – 1 ½ cup
Masala
Oil
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Red Chillies – 2
Pepper corns – 10 nos
Coconut – 2 ½ tbs ( shredded)

Method
In a hot oil pan , fry the masala ingredients till golden brown color and then blend them by adding little water. In a wok add oil when it becomes hot add mustard seeds. When they splutter add asafoetida, chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder fry them well on medium fire until the tomatoes are well mashed. Now, add the tamarind extract, the blended masala,chopped cliantro,curry leaves, with enough salt and water. Turn off the fire after 10 mins.

Note : You can add ghee at the end for nice aroma.

Broccoli soup

Broccoli is high in vitamins as well as dietary fiber.This recipe is thick and favorable. Its simple and delicious and quick to make. My husband loves spinach,broccoli and all the green veggies. Today, I decided to surprise him with this soup. This soup, I first tasted in Govinda's restaurant Los Angeles.

Ingredients
Broccoli - 1 cup ( cut into small florets)
Butter - 2tbs
Water-1 1/2 cups
Asafoetida- 2 pinch
All purpose flour- 1/4 cup
Warm Milk - 1 cup
Parmesan cheese- 1 tbs
Pepper - 1/4 tsp ( freshly grounded taste better)
Salt to taste
Cilantro/Parsley - 1tbs ( optional)

Method

In a hot pan add the water and broccoli, bring it to boil over moderate heat. Now, reduce to simmer and cook until the broccoli is just tender.

In another sauce pan melt the butter in moderate heat. Sprinkle asafoetida and add the flour. Cook it stirring continuously until it darkens slightly. Now add the warm milk and stir it with a whisk until it thickens. Add cheese, pepper and salt. Pour the broccoli and water in the sauce.

Sprinkle in the chopped parsley or cilantro and serve hot.

Lemongrass Coriander(cilantro) soup

Lemongrass is a stalky plant with lemony scent that grows in tropical climate in south-east Asia.  Lemongrass is an important ingredient in many Thai dishes. Lemongrass is commonly used in tea, soup and curries. I had first time heard about lemongrass coriander soup from my mom who tasted this soup in a restaurant in India. I found it to be interesting and thought of giving it a try.  I have adapted this Lemon coriander soup from Tarla Dalal cookbook and made some modifications.

lemongrass

Ingredients:
Lemongrass- 1 stalk
carrot- 1
cabbage- 1/4 cup
green peas- a fist full
green beans- 4
ginger- 2 inch
soy sauce - 1/2 tsp
maggi seasoning- 2 drops (optional)
ajnamoto- a pinch (optional)
black pepper- to taste
salt  to taste
butter- 1 tsp
lemon juice- 1 tsp
cilanto (coriander leaves)- 2-3 tbsp
water- 4 cups

Preparation:

Grate the carrot and ginger. Chop the green beans and cabbage finely. Remove the outer covering of the lemongrass and chop the bulb. Heat the butter in a pan. Toss in all the vegetables and saute them for 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, maggi seasoning, ajnamoto. Add 4 cups of water and allow it to boil. Add salt and pepper. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off  the heat and add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.

Health facts: Lemongrass has medicinal properties and is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine. It helps in relieving cough and nasal congestion. In 2006 a research team from Ben Gurion university from Israel found that lemongrass has anti-cancer properties.