Soup

Air potato onion soup:

November 14, 2021

I am fortunate enough to experiment with this rare tuber for Roots and Tubers 2020 calendar project—by Sahaja Samrudha noble cause of supporting farmers and introducing all the nutritious and most ignored products to the community at large.

Who doesn’t love soup? That too in winter months. This Air Potato onion soup recipe is earthy, delicious, healthy and soothing to our souls.

It uses simple everyday ingredients. In place of Air potato, one can use our regular potato. It doesn’t use fresh cream, so it is excellent for people with a sensitive gut. It is easily adaptable to make vegetarian or vegan.

If you are new to the usage of Air potato, please go through my detailed description regarding the aerial tuber, how to cook etc., in “Understanding the roots and tubers.” And go down until Tubers, and you would find the Air potato under Number 8, and it is HERE.

Ingredient:

Air potato – 2

Spring onion – 3 to 4 springs

Sweet corn – 2 tablespoons

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Garlic – 3 cloves

Seasoning – oregano or any preferred choice of yours.

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Method:

-Peel potato, dice. Chop spring onion.

-Heat butter, sauté Spring onion and garlic, add potato, sweet corn and fry for a while.

-Add salt, preferred herbs as a seasoning, pepper and mix everything. Add sufficient water and cook.

-Churn the content, adjust the consistency by adding water. Boil, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Simple Bele saaru /Rasam:

May 3, 2018

This Rasam is a very good option, if one has to cook no onion and no garlic meal. Usually it is an option for us during any festivity or “No mood to cook” meal. Olden days usage of onion or garlic was a taboo in our community and our grand moms used to prepare this kind of Rasam, which we call as saaru in local language. My hubby has fond memories attached to this Rasam, which he used to relish as a small child in his grand mom’s place and he usually asks for it and calls this Rasam as Doddajji saaru (grandma’s saaru) to signify. It is a plain Rasam, with ginger and hing flavour. In our region, we see this Rasam in some of the temple meals as well. If it is ginger flavoured one, no Rasam powder will be used and Rasam will be yellow in colour, due to the addition of turmeric and dhal.

Ingredients:

Toor dal – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 3 to 4

Green chillies – 4 to 6

Hing – peanut sized

Ginger – ½ inch (slivered)

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Salt

Jaggery – ½ to 1 tea spoon

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

Tamarind – 1 tea spoon

Coriander leaves – little (optional)

Seasoning:

Coconut oil or ghee – 1 table spoon

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Wash and cook toor dal in a pressure cooker, mash a little and keep aside.

-Soak tamarind, chop tomatoes, green chillies and ginger.

-Take one Rasam pot (I normally use clay pot) and take 3 to 4 cups of water, tomato, green chillies, ginger, hing, curry leaves, turmeric, salt and jaggery.

-Cook this until everything cooks properly.

-Now add toor dal and mashed soaked tamarind.

-Boil this and adjust the consistency and check for salt, ginger and green chilli. If needed adjust by adding extra.

-When it is boiled, add chopped coriander leaves.

-Season with oil or ghee by spluttering mustard, red chilli and curry leaves.

-Serve with hot rice .

Steamed rice with Hot and sour vegetables:

January 18, 2018

Hot and sour veggies with some steamed rice works perfect for a winter night dinner. It is light, filling at the same time, very nutritious and tasty as well. It doesn’t need any major preparation and I love making it on winter nights when we need a tongue tickling hearty dinner.

It is very simple, usually I use some chunks of veggies which is tossed with chunks of onion and simmered with one packet of hot and sour soup powder with sufficient water. Yes!! It is such a simple affair. While serving I usually take a couple of spoons of cooked rice as well.

This quantity suffices for a 4-member family.

How I make –

Ingredients:

Onion – 1 big

Green chilli – 1

Veggies – 1 bowl (veggie pieces in byte sizes)

Garlic salt or chopped fresh garlic – little

Oil – 1 table spoon

Hot and Sour Veg soup – 1 pack (Knorr Or Maggi brand)

Basil or Lemon grass – for an additional flavour (optional)

Method:

-Chop vegetables and onions into chunk size. Slit green chilli. If you are using garlic, chop that as well.

-I usually prefer French beans, carrot, broccoli or cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage or lettuce.

-Take one big wok, pour oil, when it is hot, if you are using garlic, add garlic, green chilli, onion and fry for a minute.

-If you want to use basil or lemon grass, add now.

-Add vegetable chunks and toss. If you are using garlic salt, add it now, otherwise you can also add plain salt.

-When veggies wilts, add one pack of soup powder and mix.

-Add 4 cups or more of water to adjust the consistency.

-Boil until gravy cooks up and becomes shiny.

-Serve with plain steamed or cooked rice.

Lemon Rasam:

October 21, 2017

After all these festivities and indulgence, our digestive system surely needs some soothing, healing and a simple lunch. This lemon Rasam surely fits the bill and we can enjoy this Rasam with some hot rice, vegetable Subzi and little pickle. This time I had some huge lemons from my native. which we call as Dudle huli /Citrus medica. This Rasam is very good for treating sour throat as well. You can enjoy this as a soup and heal the throat pain.

Ingredients-

Toor dal – 1 cup (cooked)

Green chillies – 4

Ginger – ½ inch

Hing – Toor dal size

Salt

Jaggery – 1 table spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Lemon juice – ½ of big lemon or 1 small lemon

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Cumin – ½ tea spoon

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Chop green chillies, cut ginger julienne and keep.

-Take Four to five cups of water in a pot, put ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, salt, jaggery, hing and cook for a while.

-When ginger and green chillies are cooked, add cooked dal and adjust the consistency, check for salt and jaggery.

– Boil for 3 to 5 minutes and switch off. Now add lemon juice by removing the seeds if any.

-Do the seasoning by heating oil, add mustard and splutter. Next add cumin, broken red chilli and curry leaves and mix all these and add this over ready boiled Rasam.

Close the lid and rest this for 10 minutes to absorb all the flavours and then serve.

Homemade Vegetable stock /Broth:

August 2, 2017

Vegetable stock is always handy while preparing clear soups or any other soups, as a base and is one of the main key ingredients for any Chinese gravy and one pot meal etc. I especially like my vegetable stock in soups and Chinese gravy. It gives a depth and enhances the flavour of the dish in any sorts of cooking. Making this at a home is very easy job and not at all time consuming. It can be stored in the fridge for up to one week.

Here comes my recipe – Take a cooker, add roughly chopped veggies and herbs like Lemon grass, leek outer leaves and leaf tops (you can use fresh ones in a leek soup), carrot, tomato, beans, cabbage, cauliflower stalk or couple of heads, Coriander stalk (stalk gives very nice aroma) celery stalk -2, pepper corns -5 and garlic cloves -4.

Add water (till veggies immerse in water) pressure cook for two whistles, when pressure releases, strain it and collect the stock, keep it in handy for soup making or cooking.

Note:

-You can add or delete any of the ingredients. I personally like lemon grass flavour and try to incorporate it every time.

Plantain stem and Moringa Rasam:

July 16, 2017

Where to start about the benefits of these two super foods? From my childhood, we used to relish banana stem and its flower in various dishes. Every part of banana plant is useful, be it its leaves, flower, stem, its outer fibre or fruit. No wastage of any part. Usually after the harvest of Banana fruit bunch, we should remove that plant and should allow its baby plant to grow and fruit. Usually after the harvest, banana plant is chopped off, outer fibre is peeled off and it is dried under the sun and used as a thread in tying Jasmine flowers. Inner core or pith is divided into 3 parts. Top most part, which is very slender and less fibrous will be used in raw salads. Middle portion is little more fibrous and used in cooking and making Dosa’s. Bottom part, which is more fibrous, mature and hard to chew will be used in juices, soups or Rasam’s.

Plantain stem is one of the best, natural high fibre vegetable. It also maintains fluid balance in our body and acts as a coolant, especially in Summer season.

Moringa or Drumstick leaves are considered as a “Power food” for its nutritionally rich nature.

Here I have combined these two ingredients and made Rasam and trust me it is very tasty and can be used as an appetizer shot as well.

Ingredients:

Plantain stem – 6- 8 inches long

Drumstick leaves – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 2

Tamarind – ½ tsp

Garlic – 8 cloves

Cumin – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2 to 3

Salt

Jaggery – 1tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 table sp.

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Hing – one pinch

Red chilli-1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

– Slice plantain stem into discs, remove thread like fibre while slicing.

– Chop the roundels into thin slices.

– Wash drumstick leaves, here you can use as it is, with its sticks intact. No need to remove intact stalks of these tiny leaves.

– Cook plantain stem pieces, drumstick leaves, chopped tomatoes, green chilli, tamarind in a pressure cooker for one whistle. Cool this mixture, grind and sieve. Discard the fibrous part.

– Dry grind garlic and cumin. Add this to collected solution, add salt, jaggery and boil for a while.

– Garnish with coriander leaves and do the seasoning.

– Heat coconut oil, add mustard, when it starts to splutter, add broken red chilli, cumin and curry leaves.

– Serve this as an appetizer shot before food or as a Rasam with hot rice.

Buddha’s delight:

January 5, 2017

It is a vegetarian dish well known in Chinese and Buddhist Cuisine.We love Buddha’s delight at our favourite restaurant Chung wah. Their version has lemon grass flavour in the gravy, and we especially like this flavour. I wanted to try their version of veggie Buddha’s delight at home from so long. Finally I did try it this week for our dinner.

So I thought of making lemongrass infused water for preparing it and proceeded. I used the available veggies in my pantry. You can use them according to your choice. You can add couple of tofu pieces as well.

How I prepared:

Vegetables – 1 bowl (took Zucchini, lettuce, onion, carrot, mushroom, capsicum,snap peas)

Chilli vinegar – 1 tsp

Red chilli flakes – ½ tsp

Garlic – 5 cloves

Ginger – ½ “

Green chilli -1

Salt

Spring onion – 2 tbl sp

Corn flour – 1 to 2 tbl sp

Lemon grass – 4 sticks

Water – 2 cups

Method:

-Boil water with lemon grass bits until water becomes little yellowish and lemongrass is cooked.

-Sieve this water and discard lemon grass. This is our lemon grass water which is used for gravy. Keep it aside.

– Chop spring onion, ginger and garlic. Slit green chilli.

– Chop mushroom, carrot.

-Chop capsicum, onion, zucchini into I inch chunks.

– Tear lettuce by using hand and keep aside.

-Take one tawa, put either butter /olive oil .When it is hot, add ginger, garlic and green chilli and fry for a while.

– Add onion, fry for 2 minutes. Next you can add capsicum, carrot zucchini and mushroom. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes and sprinkle little salt and red chilli flakes.

– Next you can add corn flour and fry in this mixture for 1 minute and add lemon grass water.

-when it starts boiling add vinegar. When it becomes little thick and shiny add torn lettuce and garnish with chopped spring onion.

-Enjoy this either with fried rice, noodles or simple steamed rice. It is very filling, nutritionally very rich and taste wise – Pure bliss!!!!

Chana Saarupkari /Chickpea Rasam:

December 29, 2016

In last post we did chana and ivy gourd dry curry and I promised you to post the Rasam which utilizes the drained water of cooked chana or chick pea. This is very nutritious and tasty too.

What we need-

Ingredient:

Drained water of cooked chickpea – whatever you get.

Cooked tor dal – 1/4 cup

Green chillies -2

Salt

Jaggery – 1/2 tsp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 1 tbl sp

Mustard – 1tsp

Red chilli – 1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Crushed garlic – 6

Method:

-Drain water from the cooked chana or chick pea while making any curries.

-Boil this drained water by adding 1 cup of water, cooked toor dal, salt (if needed) ,jaggery, hing, green chillies.

-Cook until green chillies are cooked and flavour is released to water.

-Add seasoning by heating coconut oil. When it is hot, add mustard. When it splutters add red chilli, curry leaves, crushed garlic.

-Fry till garlics are brown and add this seasoning to Rasam.

Enjoy this Rasam with hot rice and any side dishes, like chickpea dry curry and papad.

Bonda Soup:

November 30, 2016

I am a hard-core fan of “Bonda Soup”. It is very soothing to have in winter evenings. Usually this is an after lunch snack at most of the Darshini’s in Bangalore.

Bonda soup is nothing but Fried Black gram dal fritters or uddina vada which is soaked in Ginger and pepper flavoured dal.

bonda

For this, we have to make Bonda at first:

Ingredients:

Urad dal – 1 cup

Salt

Green chilli -1

Coconut pieces – 1 table spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-Soak Urad dal for 1 to 2 hours. Grind this smoothly by adding little by little water at interval. Add salt.

-Batter should be smooth and fine. Usage of grinder will yield perfect batter. If you are using mixer grinder, you can use chilled water for grinding, so that batter will not become hot while grinding.

pic-1

– Add chopped curry leaves, green chilli and coconut bits.

-Keep oil in a kadai, for deep frying.

pic-2

-When oil becomes hot, make small round bonda’s, fry this in a medium heat and keep it ready.

Next we are making the Soup.

Ingredients:

Toor dal – ½ cup

Green gram/Moong dal – ½ cup

Green chillies -2

Ginger – 1” piece

Salt

Hing – ½ tea spoon

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Cumin – 1 teaspoon

Black pepper – 1 teaspoon

Seasoning: Ghee – 1 teaspoon, mustard – 1 teaspoon, Cumin – ½ teaspoon, Red chilli -1, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

Take both the dals ,Wash and cook this in a cooker

pic-3

-Cool completely and churn this cooked dal by using hand blender or mixer jar.

-Now Take one vessel ,pour this dal, add salt ,turmeric ,one spring curry leaves ,hing ,chopped green chillies ,ginger juveniles.

pic-4

-Take one pestle and mortar, crush pepper and cumin and add this powder too.

pic-5

-Boil it nicely, until green chillies are cooked.

-Add seasoning by putting ghee, mustard, cumin, red chilli and curry leaves.

bonda-soup

-Now Soup is ready.-To serve, you should take one serving bowl; Keep couple of Bonda’s and pour one or two ladle full of Soup, garnish with coriander leaves, and serve.

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