Sweet Corn Mushroom Soup

One more heart warming soup from my kitchen!

I have combined 4 colors of vegetables and protein packed, low calorie mushrooms in my soup. Don't ask me why I added yellow pumpkin to this soup. Yeah, there is a Thai special yellow pumpkin soup but this method is totally different. I was on a look out for vegetables to add to my healthy soup and that is when I saw the yellow pumpkin sitting in the comforts of my fridge, (yeah! It's damn hot outside and I don't have an ac for myself) staring at me. So added a piece of it too.

Generally, it is good to include as many colors in your diet err.. I mean different colored vegetables and not a pack of gems. I have already spoken enough about goodness of vegetables and my fervor for them. This time around, I reduced the amount of butter and milk making the soup totally healthy. I should admit, this is the best of all soups I have made till date.

Ingredients:

Mix of vegetables - I used carrot, beans, cabbage, celery, sweet corn,yellow pumpkin, Used 4 diff colored vegetables)- 1 cup
Green Chillies - 2
Mushroom - half a cup
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon
Milk - half a cup
Butter - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Salt & pepper to taste



Method:
1. Pressure cook the vegetables and green chillies with water.
2. Cook the mushrooms separately (just sprinkle a little water and cook in a open pan till all water from mushroom oozes out). Add the ghee and fry the mushrooms crisp. Set aside.
3. Extract the veg stock from the cooked vegetables and extract the pulp using a soup extractor. Since I do not have one, I just put them in a blender and made a paste.
4. Heat butter in a pan, fry the corn flour till golden yellow. Add milk and cook till it forms a paste. (You can skip this if you do not want to have butter and milk)
5. Add the veg stock and pulp. Add more water depending on the consistency. Add salt and bring it to a boil.
6. Add the fried mushrooms to the soup and serve hot with salt & pepper.

Cream of Veg Soup

Till a week back, sun was scorching and the temp soared to 100 odd F. To make it worse, there was no AC at home. Read my rambling about the hot weather here. I started longing for colder climate and opted to have juices/shakes which is quite unlikely for a coffee lover like me. And now, out of the blue, the blue & bright sky has turned dark & gloomy. As of now, I am not cribbing about the weather since I remember the bad times. But soon I might. When summer comes, we say this year is the hottest and come winter, we say it's the worst. Talk about human nature! Actually, the weather is nice and pleasant and colder days are yet to come.

This afternoon, I was craving for something hot and I made this soup. I had this for lunch cutting off my usual bowl of rice. It was a nice change. Planning to try different soup varieties in the days to come.

Usually, soups are made using stocks. The vegetables are chopped fine and boiled for a long time. Since I wanted to make it quick and short, I just blended the vegetables into a paste. Moreover, I don't like the idea of leaving behind a portion of veg by extracting just the juice. You might go for the eloborate method if you wish to.

Ingredients:

Mix of veg of your choice (I used French beans, carrots, corn and green peas) - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 2
Corn flour,Butter & milk for the white sauce ( Check the measurement and method here)
Garlic - a small piece
Salt to taste
Onions - a quarter or half finely chopped (optional)
Butter - 1 tsp and ghee half a tsp

Method:
1) Microwave the veggies along with the green chillies or pressure cook them.
2) Prepare the white sauce and keep aside.

3) Blend the boiled veggies along with garlic in a mixer into a smooth paste.

4) Heat the butter and ghee in a pan. Add the onions and fry till pink.
5) Add the veggie paste and a little water. Add salt to taste and bring it to a boil.
6) Now, add the prepared white sauce and enough water to bring it to soup consistency. Add more salt if required and boil together.
Serve hot with pepper. I had it with fryums.

Variation: You can add fried mushrooms to make cream of mushroom soup or sweet corn to make sweet corn veg soup.

Tomato Rasam

I jus luv this anytime. For those of you who do not know what rasam is, its a kind of south Indian soup with spice and lentil. But it is normally not served as a starter and you generally have it towards the end of your main course before curd rice. Rasam is something traditional which aids in digestion after a heavy meal and we south indians make it almost everyday. A south Indian thali is not complete without rasam. We can actually make several kinds of it and the recipe varies with each household. I bet no two persons make it in a similar way. Even if you follow the same method, the final product might actually taste a bit different. I would say it takes lot of expertise to make a perfect rasam. What else could comfort you more than a perfect rasam on a cold night or when you are down with fever or a bad cold? One can have a wonderful feast out in a restaurant or a star hotel but I feel this particular thing is best made at home. As a kid, I was fussy about food and my mom always had a tough time making me eat. But even then, I used to feast on a plate of rasam rice with a papad to go with, as if it were the ultimate food on earth. I give here the recipe for one type of rasam I regularly make at home. Will post more in the days to come.

Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
Cooked thoor dhall - 1 cup
Tamarind - half lime size
Rasam powder(see the method below) - 4 tsp
Jaggery powder (optional)- 1/2 tsp
Fresh spice powder - 3 tsp (powder 1 tsp pepper corn and 2 tsp cumin without roasting)
Salt to taste
Asafoetida - 1/2tsp
Coriander to garnish
ghee,curry leaves and mustard to season

Rasam powder:
Dhaniya seeds - 1 cup
Thoor dhall - 1/4 cup
Pepper - 1/4 cup
Cumin - 1/4 cup
Fry the ingredients on a dry tawa and powder with 5 red chillies.I do not prefer storing this for a long time. Generally I make this every week.

Method:
1.Add the tomatoes to half cup water and boil for 5 min till it becomes soft.
2.Add asafoetida,rasam powder,tamarind pulp,jaggery,salt and boil till the raw smell goes.
3.Add 2 cups of water to the cooker dhall, mash well and add to the rasam.Heat for a short time till it becomes frothy. Do not boil it.
4.Switch off the flame, add the fresh spice powder(do not store, make it fresh everytime) and chopped coriander.
5.Season with mustard and curry leaves fried in ghee.

Tips:
1. Always make the rasam in a narrow, tall and thick bottomed vessel over slow fire.
2. Do not boil the rasam; just heat it till frothy.
3. Do not store the rasam powder for more than 15 days. The aroma and flavour gets lost.
4. The composition I have mentioned is to suit my taste. Adjust the ingredients and customise if required. Avoid jaggery if you do not like the mild sweetness.

Nutty n Creamy Veg Soup

This richly flavored soup has the goodness of milk n nuts and the nourishment of vegetables which makes it a wholesome diet. It is absolutely healthy and a quick recipe. When I was thinking what to cook on a lazy afternoon, (Well, all my afternoons are synonymous with laziness) this recipe struck me. I added whatever I could lay my hands on and finally it did turnout lip-smacking. I always cook any dish as if I were an expert at that and so far the confidence has lent me a helping hand. I guess my passion for good food and the joy of making it all by myself are the driving forces for me to experiment with various recipes. Hope I will master it someday. So far so good. Let's get back to business now.
First comes the preparation of white sauce which is the base for any creamy soup.
Ingredients:
Milk - 1 to 1 1/2 cups.
Corn flour - 6tsp
Butter - 1 tablespoon

Method:
1. Melt the butter on a pan and fry the corn flour till the aroma comes out.
2. Add the milk little by little and boil till it thickens. Take care that no lumps form.

Now, for the soup.

Ingredients:

Grated Carrots - 1
Fresh green peas - half a cup
Spinach - a handful finely chopped
Almonds - 10
Cashews - 5
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the veggies, make it into a paste and keep aside.
2. Soak the almonds and cashews in water. Remove the skin of almonds and grind the nuts with a little milk. Now boil the paste with a little milk or microwave for a minute or two.
3. Mix the white sauce, nuts paste, veggie paste, salt and add enough water to bring it to a soup consistency. Bring it to boil. Add pepper.
Your heart warming soup is ready to serve. Though not a chinese preparation, I chose to garnish it with spring onions and it tasted good.

A nutty soup for the naughty kids out there and I am sending this kid-friendly soup to the monthly mingle.

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2009/03/monthly-mingle-31-kids-lunches.html http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-monthly-mingle.html