Soups -Hot N Spicy

Soups are served at the beginning of the meal. They introduce the food that follows during the coarse of the meal. They are splendid starters, appetizers, nourishing and good for health. They help in filling us in between meals, or good for young, old and convalescing. They can also help the dieting people. In fact sometimes soups themselves can a meal in themselves.

Hot spicy steaming soups in chilly winters can be invigorating and cold and sweet soups during hot summer months are always welcome.

Soups can be served in family dinners or on special occasions like parties. So any time is soup time.

There are many varieties of soups like thin clear soups or creamy thick, hot, cold. etc. Usually thin soups are to be served with heavy meals and thick soups with light meals.

Garnishing soups just before serving not only enhances its aesthetic appeal but it will also add to the taste.

Here I am sharing some of the recipes I have...

Some Tips: Before starting on the recipes, here are some tips in general.

• You can cook the vegetables in a pressure cooker, to save time, fuel and nutrients.
• Generally vegetable stock or stock is used instead of water. It will be more tasty and nutritious.
• The water in which rice, dals/legumes or chana (chick pea) etc, has been cooked can be used instead of throwing it away.
• Similarly, the peels of the vegetables which are usually discarded can be boiled in sufficient water, strained and used as stock.
• All this can be stored in refrigerator and used when needed. But the fresher the better.
• To thicken the soup, refined flour made into white sauce can be added. Corn flour is also usually added. For Chinese soups only corn flour is added if the soup has to be thick.
• For soups cooked in Indian style, daals or legumes cooked and mashed can be added. This will be more filling nutritious and healthy.
• Rice flour can be added. One advantage with rice four is that it blends well with soups made in any style, as it has no taste at all. Also rice flour is much healthier, as it is not as fine as refined flour or corn flour. So I prefer rice flour.
• Curds (hung) can be added to give taste and thickness depending upon the ingredients and style of cooking of the soups.
• If you want your soup to be fibrous, add grated carrot or radish(mooli) or finely sliced/chopped onions, cabbage etc.
• Soups can be garnished, with a dollop of fresh cream, butter,grated cheese or bread croutons. Fried Bhendi rings can also be added instead of bread croutons.
• Bread sticks, Fried vadias or papads can also be served along.
• Finely chopped, parsley, mint or cilantro (dhania), curry leaves, spring onion greens can be used for garnishing depending upon the soup..
• You can use peanuts, cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc sliced and fried in butter or ghee (clarified butter) for garnishing.
• For those who like it sweet, raisins, dried figs (anjeer) etc can be chopped and added. Pomegranate seeds can also be added.
• You can add , roasted or fried pumpkin seeds, Chironji, melon seeds etc too.
• Pepper powder is usually added to give the soups a spicy taste. But you can add finely grounded powders of coriander, cumin, fennel, carom seeds etc either raw or roasted. Experiment with each spice or a combination of spices. Similarly, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, dried ginger etc can also be used.

Tomato Soup I

Ingredients:

Tomatoes 6
Carrot 1 (big)
Onion 1 (big)
Garlic 5-6 pods
Mint fistful or 1/2 cup
Refined flour (Maida)  2 Tbsps
Cinnamon 2 one inch pieces
Cloves-4-5
Milk 1 cup
Sugar 1-2 tsps
Salt to taste
Pepper powder to taste
Oil  or butter 1-2Tbsp

Method:

• Chop tomatoes, onions and garlic finely but separately. Chop finely or grate the carrot.
• Heat 2 tbsps oil in a deep pan. Add cinnamon and cloves. Fry for a minute or two in colour.
• Now add tomatoes and carrot along with mint leaves. Add salt, sugar, pepper powder and half cup of water. Cover and cook till the vegetables are well cooked or become soft. Let it cool.
• Liquidise the vegetables. Strain it and keep aside.
• In a separate pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil, keep it on a low flame.Actually if you can use butter it gives a good taste. But when using butter just melt it. Don't heat it for long.
• Add refined flour (maida) and keep stirring it to avoid burning. This takes at least five minutes or so.
• Fry till it gives of a nice smell. Add milk slowly, a small quantity at a time and keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed. Keep on stirring. Cook this until it thickens to your liking. This is known as White Sauce.
• Now add two/three cups of water to the strained vegetable soup, add the white sauce and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Heat it again and bring it to a boil and until it reaches the desired consistency.
• Serve hot garnished with a dollop of cream or croutons.

Tomato Soup II

Ingredients:

Tomatoes chopped finely 2-3 cups
Bottle gourd chopped finely 1 cup
Onions chopped finely 1/2 cup
Ginger grated 1 tsp
Garlic grated 1 tsp
Corn flour 2 tbsp
Cinnamon 2' piece
Black pepper to taste
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

• Take the tomatoes, gourd, onions, ginger, garlic and cinnamon in a vessel. Add 1-2 cups water.
• Cook them till they are well cooked. Cool it and mash the vegetables well.
• Now sieve/strain the cooked mixture. To this add 2-3 cups of waterand heat it on a low fire.
• Make a paste of corn flour with little water. Add this to the soup, stirring thorougly.
• Bring it to boil. Add salt, sugar and pepper powder. Boil till it reaches the required consistency.
• Serve hot with a dollop of cream.

Tomata Shorba

Ingredients:

Tomatoes 500gms
Mint leaves one bunch
Coriander greens one bunch
Lemon juice of 1/2 of a lemon
Black pepper 10-15 gms
Cloves 4-5
Red chillies (dried) 2 (optional)
Bay leaf one
Kasoori Methi 2 tsp
Sugar 1tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Clean the tomatoes, and the greens thoroughly.
• Chop the tomatoes finely. Chop the greens too. Crush cloves and black pepper.
• Now take the chopped tomatoes in a vessel, add three-four glasses of water, sugar and salt.
• In a muslin cloth take the crushed black pepper, mint, three fourths of coriander greens, Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves), bay leaf and red chillies. Tie it into a bundle. Place this in the vessel and cook until the tomatoes soften.
• Remove the bundle. Mash the tomato pieces with a wooden spoon. Strain it and retain the liquid.
• Boil for a few minutes.
• Serve hot garnished with finely chopped coriander greens and a dash of lemon juice (optional)

So please try these and let me know. I have loads of soup recipes. But I could not key in all at one go. I will be sharing some more next time. Since this is winter time every where, I hope you enjoy these hot and spicy soups.

Please leave your comments, so that I can improve myself .

The Palm Shoot

Sorry folks. I wanted to share with you so many things especially this festive season. But Alas! I had some problem with loading my pictures.  So I just could not post any thing. Anyway now that I have got it settled(so I think) hopefully, here I am again......

I just wanted to share something with you all. This is unique to Andhra Pradesh, my State. Any guesses? I don't think you can guess it unless known to you earlier.

These are young palm shoots.

The palm fruit is black in colour with a thick outer shell. It contains three fruits which are soft fleshy and contain water. The tender fruits are available during summer. The soft flesh and the water inside are great sources to beat the hot Indian Summers. In fact the water of the fruit is of great help in cases of sunstroke. The fruit is nutritious too. Toddy is made out of these fruits by fermenting them. Palm jaggery is another product.

But once harvested from the tree, the fruits should be consumed as early as possible, or else they become very hard and don't digest easily. But once the fruit start maturing, they are left on the trees till fully done. Just before the rains, they are harvested and planted in the fields covered by the mud. By the time the rainy season is well advanced we have these shoots emerging from the fruits. These shoots are then separated from the seed and either steamed or roasted on coals or dry palm leaves and timber. I love the ones which are roasted than the ones which are steamed. These are very tasty.

Now here you can see them bundled and teid with dried palm leaf ready for marketing. These palm trees are found in many places of Andhra, but mainly in the coastal areas.

 

You can see the brown covering they have on them.

 

 

Here I have split one length wise. This how they look. The thin stick like thing  known as Chandamama -the moon or Dongaadu -the thief , has to be removed from the shoots before eating. This is not edible. But why is this called as moon or thief I don't have any clue. Now the top portion near to roots is very tasty. This shoot is quite fibrous and a bit heavy on digestion.

 

But I just love them. Every year when the monsoon sets in after the dry summer spells, I think of these palm shoots and eagerly wait for them. As the winter sets in, these start arriving in the market. 

They make a great snack and are healthy too being natural...

So do write your comments...

Season for Radish

Radish known as Mooli in Hindi and Mullangi in Telugu is a root vegetable which is edible. They come in a variety of colours like white, red, light pink and so on and also vary in shape; round, elongated etc. Raw radishes are crispy and crunchy and taste varies from sweet to pungent pepper like taste. They are rich in Ascorbic acid, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, calcium, copper Vitmain-B6 and riboflavin etc.

Radishes can be eaten raw as in salads or cooked as curry by themselves or in combination with other vegetables. In India radishes are used in salads, curries or in some other dishes. The greens are also edible. Both the radish and the greens are supposed to be good for kidneys, constipation, skin , good blood purifiers and helps women in menstrual related disorders. So today I am going to share with you some of the recipes of radish and radish greens ...

First let us look at the radish and its greens...

Below are the stalks of the greens. As long as they are not too hard or fibrous, they can also be used in the dishes.

These are the greens below....

Chopped greens along with the stalks...


Now for the recipes...

1. Simple Curry

Ingredients:
Radish 1 (big long one)
Green chillies 1-2
Black gram 1tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Oil 1 Tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Salt To taste

Method:

1. Wash the radish thoroughly. Peel it and chop it into match stick size or finger sized pieces or slice it or grate it.
2. Separate the curry leaves from the stems.
3. Slit green chillies length wise. But if you want it to be more spicy, either chop it finely or just grind it coarsely.
4. If the radish is too pungent sprinkle a little salt, leave it aside for 10-20 minutes. Squeeze out the water and wash it with clean water, But this process is not required if you have grated it.
5. Heat oil in a pan. Add black gram fry for a minute, add mustard, cumin, fry for a minute. Add green chillies, turmeric and curry leaves.
6. Now add radish fry for five minutes or so, or until it is cooked.
7. If grated, it will take a minute or so to get cooked; so dont fry for long.
8. Add salt and add a little sugar, mix well serve hot with steamed rice.
9. You can add 1-2 Tbsp sour curds and get a different taste.
10. You can sprinkle lemon juice also to balance the pungent taste.

2. Radish Green Gram Curry

Ingredients:
Radish 1 (big long one)
Green Gram (soaked) 2 Tbsp
Fresh Coconut grated 1/4-1/2 cup
Green chillies 1
Garlic finely chopped/ground to a paste 1-2 pods
Black gram 1tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Oil 1 Tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp

Salt To taste

Method:

1. Grate the radish or chop into match stick sized/finger sized pieces.
2. Chop or slit or grind the green chillies.
3. Soak the green gram (split and cleaned-husked) for one -two hours. It gets soft quickly unlike all other lentils. But sometimes when we don't have even that time. Just add enough water and boil it until the lentil gets soft but not too sticky or mashed up. Immediately remove the water and let it remain for a few minutes till all the remaining moisture evaporates.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Add black gram fry for a minute, add mustard, cumin, fry for a minute. Add green chillies, turmeric, garlic and curry leaves.
5. Now add radish fry for five minutes or so, or until it is cooked.
6. Add the soaked green gram.
7. Add salt and add a little sugar,grated coconut, mix well and serve hot with steamed rice.
8. You can sprinkle lemon juice .

3. Radish-Onion curry

Ingredients:
Radish 1 (big long one)Onion 1 big one
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Oil 1 Tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp

Salt To taste

Method:

1. Grate the radish or chop into match stick sized or into small pieces.
2. Chop or slit or grind the green chillies.
3. Chop the onion finely
4. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard, cumin, fry for a minute. Add green chillies, turmeric, garlic and curry leaves.
5. Now add the onion fry till they turn pink.
6. Now add radish fry for five minutes or so, or until it is cooked.
7. Add salt and add a little sugar, mix well and serve hot with steamed rice.
8. You can sprinkle lemon juice .

4. Radish Carrot Curry

Ingredients:
Radish 1 big one
Carrot 1 big one
Green chillies 1
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Cumin 1tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Oil 1 Tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Salt To taste

Method:

1. Clean radish and carrots thoroughly. Peel and grate.
2. Slit green chilly length wise
3. Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves. Fry for a minute or so.
4. Now add the vegetables. Mix well.
5. Add salt and sugar and a dash of lemon jiuce.
6. Serve hot with steamed rice.

5. Radish-Onion-Tomato Curry

Ingredients:
Radish 1 big one
Onion 1 big one
Tomato 1 big one
Green chillies 1
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Cumin 1tsp
Turmeric 1/4th tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 sprigs
Coriander greens (Cilantro) finely chopped 1 Tbsp
Garam Masala powder 1/2 tsp
Oil 1 Tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Salt To taste

Method:

1. Finely chop onions, radish and tomatoes separately
2. Slit green chilly length wise
3. Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, curry leaves. Fry for a minute or so.
4. Now add onions, fry till they turn pink add radish and tomatoes. Mix well.
5. Add salt and sugar cover and cook for 5 minutes or till done .
6. Sprinkle garam masala powder and garnish with finely chopped coriander greens
7. Serve hot with steamed rice or chapatis or rotis or any bread.

6. Radish -Radish Greens

Ingredients:
Radish 1 big one with its leaves
Onion 1 big one
Tomatoes 1 big one
Cumin 1-2 tsp
Mustard 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Aam choor (dry mango powder) 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala powder 1/2 tsp

Oil 1- 1,1/2Tbsp

Jaggery  grated  2tsp or more if you want it a bit sweet

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean the radish and greens thoroughly. Chop the radish, stalk of the greens and greens separately but finely. The part of the stalk(base) of the greens if too hard or fibrous can be discarded. But other wise retain the stalks as they are crunchy and tasty.
2. Chop onions and tomatoes separately but finely.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, cumin, turmeric fry and ginger garlic paste. Fry till it loses its raw taste. Now add onions. Fry till they turn pink.
4. Add the radish , tomatoes mix and fry. Add salt mix, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Now add the stalks(chopped). Mix and fry for two three minutes.
6. Add jaggery and aam choor powder. Adjust slat.
7. Finally add the greens. Mix well. Fry for a minute.
8. Add garam masala powder.
9. Serve hot with steamed rice or chapatis.
   

Note:

• The greens need not be cooked for long. They are crispy and tasty. This should be cooked just before eating and served immediately. But those who don't like that can cook till soft.
• Basically this is supposed to be cooked in traditional Iron kadai (wok). This helps in absorbing the iron and gets into our system on eating.
• The greens as well as radish is believed to be good for women.
• The curry can be cooked without radish; thats is with all the rest of ingredients. But add more greens.
• The greens don't keep for long. So its better to remove the greens and cook immediately.