Curried Carrot Soup

Hi All,

I am back again with a new post after a long gap of almost 4 months and believe me it was not easy for me to stay away from my blog..but I had to because of many personal reasons. And I am sure all my blogger friends out there know how hard it gets to come out of this non-blogging habbit(specially after such a long gap). I am trying so hard to get back on the track and to post regularly like before. So, here I am with my new post or should I say my first post of this year.

Here is how I make my carrot soup.. being someone who loves spicy food, I love to have curried carrot soup instead of the bland(yet easy peasy) version , where you just boil the carrots with the stock and puree it and top it with some seasoning . So here goes the recipe for the soup...lets enjoy this hot soup one last time, before we say goodbye to cold winters and warm clothes.

CURRIED CARROT SOUP

Ingredients:
500 grams Carrots- chopped,
1 Onion-chopped,
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic -chopped,
3-4 cups Chicken stock/ vegetable stock,
1-2 tbsp butter / vegetable oil,
1 tsp red chilli powder,
1/4 tsp coriander powder,
1/2 tsp pepper powder,
a pinch of garam masala,
1/2 cup sour cream(optional)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and
salt to taste.

Method:
Heat the butter/ oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and saute for 15 -30 seconds over medium heat. Add the onions and the carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add all the spices- chilli powder, pepper powder, corinader powder, garam masala and mix well and add salt to taste. Now add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook till the carrots become tender.
Puree this in a blender, in small batches until smooth . Bring back to a boil on simmer and add salt if needed. Add the lemon juice and serve hot with sour cream or Crème fraiche or freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Note:
If using store bought stock, make sure you add very liitle salt, because the stock already contain salt in it. Or check and add the salt after you puree the carrots.

I am sending this to Ramana's event - Treat to eyes:Series-2.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Here comes another recipe from Kevin's Closet Cooking. A perfect soup for cold winters, I came across on his blog here. I tried to stick to his recipe and and it turned out awesome and very tasty.I served this Yummy soup with toasted bread and Tabbouleh- a perfect and healthy dinner :) I am sending this to Tried and Tested hosted by Hema of Salt to Taste. Tried and Tested is featuring Kevin's Closet Cooking this month.

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes- cut into half,
1 red bell pepper,
1 chopped onion,
2 cloves of garlic-unpeeled,
2 cups of chicken stock or vegetable broth,
1 tsp of chopped Thyme,
1 tbsp of olive oil and
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:
Cut the red bell pepper in two halves , place them on a baking sheet outside up and keep the in a pre heated oven on broil mode and broil for few mintes oruntil the outer skin has become black. Let cool and peel the skin from the peppers and keep aside.
In a baking pan, place the Tomatoes- with the cut side up, garlic and the Onions. Drizzle the olive oil on this and sprinkle the Thyme, salt and pepper powder over the tomatoes. Roast in pre heated oven on 350 F/ 175 C for 0-45 minutes. Now place everything in a saucepan and simmer for 30 more minutes. Puree with a hand blender. Garnish with some crumbled feta cheese and serve hot.

Aash / rice and lentil soup

Aaash is made very commonly during Ramadan in Bangalore. We used to always wait for our mom to make this yummy soup for iftar everyday.It is a very healthy and filling soup, especially after a long day of fasting.But, I always wondered why Bangloreans called it ''AASH'' until recently I came to know that 'AASH' is a Persian word for soup. So, its a soup made with rice, lentils and with /without minced meat. So, here goes the recipe for Aash.

AASH/RICE AND LENTIL SOUP

Ingredients:
500 grams of minced meat(optional),
160 grams of rice,
2 finely chopped onions,
1 finely chopped large tomato,
2-3 green chillies,
1 cup moong dal/ split yellow lentil,
1/2 cup of finely chopped mint leaves,
1 tsp ginger paste,
1 tsp garlic paste,
1/4 tsp turmeric powder,
1/4 tsp garam masala powder,
3-4 glasses of water,
3-4 tbsp of oil and
salt to taste.

Method:
Put the raw rice in a mixer and grind to make a coarse powder(like semolina/ sooji) and keep aside.Heat the oil in big vessel and add finely chopped onions and slit green chillies and add to the onions and fry them till the onions turn light brown in colour. Now add the ginger paste and garlic paste and saute till the spell of the ginger-garlic paste goes away. Add the turmeric powder and mix well and add chopped tomatoes mint leaves and cook till the tomatoes become soft. Now add the washed moong/ lentil and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the washed minced meat, garam masala powder, some salt and mix everything well and cook for 5-10 minutes.
Now add 3-4 glasses of water to the vessel and bring it to a boil. Add more salt if needed. when it starts boiling lower the flame and add the powdered rice slowly, stirring it with the other hand to avoid getting lumps. Increase the flame to medium high and cook the soup by stirring it continuously till the rice is cooked. Add more water if it becomes very thick after adding the rice, to make it to the consistency of a soup. Serve hot garnish with some fried onions.

Note:
Semolina/ sooji can also be used instead of the coarsely powdered rice. But rice gives a better taste to this soup.

I am sending this to Aash to Think spice-Think Turmeric guest hosted by Sudeshna, event by Sunita.

Sweet corn chicken soup

SWEET CORN CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients:
200 gms of boneless chicken, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tin sweet corn- cream style, 2 tbsp cornflour, 2 tsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp of chopped garlic, 3 cups of chicken stock, 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp of pepper powder, 2 spring onions- cut diagonally to garnish and salt to taste.

Method:
In a saucepan boil water and add chicken pieces with a pinch of salt. Cook until tender. Now remove the chicken pieces and reserve the stock. Cut the cooked chicken into small strips.
Heat another saucepan and melt the butter and add chopped garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes and add the sweetcorn and cook for 3-4 minutes. Now add the chicken stock to this and bring to a boil.
Blend the cornflour with a little water, add to soup and bring back to the boil. Keep stirring for 2-3 mins and add pepper powder, soya sauce, lemon juice and salt to taste. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.