Carrot & Pumpkin Soup - a Beta Carotene rich Soup

The carrot and pumpkin soup is a nourishing and comforting soup to have in the winters. Both these vegetables are currently in season making it easy to get and it's healthy at the same time. Carrots and pumpkins are rich in beta carotene, which gives them their orange color. Once consumed, beta carotene is turned into Vitamin A which is good for good vision, strong immunity and healthy skin and mucous membranes.

Ingredients

Carrot - 1/2 cup
Pumpkin - 1/2 cup
Black eyed peans - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1, medium
Celery - 1 stalk
Garlic - 4 cloves
Tomato - 1, medium
Red chilli flakes - a couple of pinches
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter - for garnishing
Black pepper crushed - 5 to 6
Thyme - a dash

Soak the black eyed beans for 30 minutes. Chop the onion, garlic, tomato and celery and keep aside. Slice the carrot in rounds and dice the pumpkin.

 

Pressure cook the black eye peas with 1/2 cup water for 1 whistle. When the pressure is released mash half the black eye peas.

 

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add  the chopped onion, saute for a couple of minutes and add the garlic, celery and red chilli flakes. Saute till the onion turns golden and add the carrot, tomato and pumpkin and cover and cook till just done. Add the cooked black eyed beans and mix well. Add the crushed black pepper and thyme and take it off the heat. Keep covered till ready to serve.  

 

Serve hot in individual bowls with a spot of butter on top for garnishing and bread rolls on the side. I was happy to toast some pau with butter that I brought back from Mumbai and have it with my Carrot and Pumpkin Soup.

 

Mung Bean Vegetable Soup

With the temperature outside dropping, there's nothing better than eating or drinking something hot to warm the body. Come evening, it is nice to have a bowl of hot and steaming soup and the addition of vegetables in it just makes it healthy. This soup has mung beans for protein and vegetables for vitamins and fibre. It is a very healthy soup and makes an excellent dinner and can be had on its own.

Ingredients
Mung bean - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2
Tomato - 2
Cucumber - 1/2
Capsicum - 1/2
Garlic - 4 to 5 cloves
Coriander sprigs
Salt as per taste
Butter - 1 tbsp

Wash mung bean well and soak for 1 hour. Then pressure cook the mung with 1 cup water for 1 whistle and take it out once the pressure is released. Roughly blend it with a hand blender and keep aside.

Dice the onion, tomato, cucumber and capsicum. Wash the garlic well and crush it with a pestle. Take about 2 cups water and put it on medium heat. Add the onion, tomato, garlic, cucumber and capsicum pieces to it and cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. The onion and garlic should lose its raw taste but the vegetable should still retain its crunch. Add cooked mung beans and salt into the vegetables and give it one boil. Add the coriander leaves with stalks into the soup and cover and take off heat.

 

When serving, spoon the soup into a bowl and top with a spot of butter.

 

Pepper & Cumin / Kurumullaku Jerakam Rasam

Now that the temperatures are dropping, eating and drinking hot things are the most enjoyable. With the body burning fat just trying to keep warm in this weather, gives an excuse to eat up. Like they say, you don't have stomach problems in the winter because the body typically doesn't fall sick in the cold. I can't wait for the temperatures to fall a little more, to get out & eat all that street food. For now rasam and soups are on the menu at home, and today this is a recipe for another rasam - a pepper and cumin rasam or a kurumullaku jeerakam rasam like it is called in Malayalam. This rasam is typically made the minute someone at home has a cold. The pepper in this rasam is good to open all the blocked sinus and nose and cumin is known to help our digestive system.

Ingredients

Tuwar dal - 1/4 cup

Tomato - 3

Tamarind - 1 small ball

Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp

Red chilli pwd - 2 tbsp

Coriander sprigs

Salt as per taste

Sugar - 1/4 tsp

for the powder

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Peppercorn - 15 to 18

for the seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 5 to 6

Oil - 1 tbsp

Wash the dal and add a cup of water and pressure cook till it turns mush. Soak the tamarind in a little water for some time. Then with your fingers make it mush and extract the pulp and keep aside.  

 

Wash the tomatoes and chop into big pieces. Heat a saucepan and pour in 2 cups of water, add the tomatoes, a little salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Let this come to a boil and add the cooked dal in. Lower the heat and cover the saucepan. Add in the tamarind pulp with some more water and coriander sprigs and cook till the tomatoes are done.

 

Dry roast the cumin seeds and the peppercorns on low heat and once they emit their aroma, take off heat. Powder this finely and add into the rasam. Add the sugar to the rasam and check the taste and add salt or more tamarind pulp if necessary. Take off the heat.

 

Put a small pan on heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and when it splutters add the curry leaves. Take off the heat and pour into the rasam and cover the rasam immediately. Mix when ready to serve.

 

Notes: The quantity of pepper is high in this rasam to help soothe a sore throat or cold, it can be lowered to about 10 peppercorns for daily use.
Don't discard the coriander stalks, save them to be used in rasam. Add as much of coriander as you like, it only tastes better.

The rasam has to be very watery like a clear soup.

Garlicky Rasam

There is a definite nip in the air and with it comes the season of cold and sniffles. What better than wrapping hands around a cup / glass of some super hot and spicy soups and drinks. For the past couple of days I am sniffling through the day and the fumes from the firecrackers definitely did not help. So, for now I am drinking hot water through the day and from today Rasam is also added on the menu. I made a super peppery garlicky tomato rasam today to clear my blocked nasal passages. The use of onion and garlic is an age old method to combat infections either ingested or left around to sniff. In fact sick rooms would have strategically placed onions and garlic and it was believed these bulbs would rot after sucking out the infection in the room. In India, many believe in eating an onion salad in summer to cool the body and to help fight infections if any.

 

In South India, Rasam is considered a must have when suffering from a cold. It can either be mixed with rice to make a soupy meal or gulp down some as a starter or at the end of a meal. This Rasam can be made as a soup as well just tone down the pepper.

Ingredients

Tomato - 2, large

Tuwar Dal - 1/4 cup

Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball

Garlic - 10 to 12

Pepper - 10 to 15

Green chilli - 2

Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp

Red Chilli pwd - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Curry leaves - 4 to 5

Coriander leaves - a few sprigs

for tempering

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Garlic - 2, crushed

Onion - 1/2, chopped

Chop the tomatoes, slit the green chillies. Wash the garlic and crush with skin, crush the pepper and keep aside. Soak the tamarind in a 1/2 cup water.

Soak the dal for 30 to 60 minutes then wash and drain it. Add some fresh water and pressure cook it till soft.

Heat a saucepan and add 2 cups of water, tomatoes, garlic, salt, turmeric and red chilli water. Cover the pan and let the tomatoes cook. When tomatoes are half cooked add dal and pepper and cover and cook. Extract the pulp from the tamarind and add it to the rasam. Once cooked add the coriander leaves, curry leaves and the green chillies and take off the heat.

 

For the tempering, heat a small pan and add the oil. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, once it splutters add the chopped onion and crushed garlic. Take off the heat with the onion and garlic turns golden. Pour it onto the Rasam and keep covered till ready to serve.

 

Pour some hot Rasam into a soup cup, wrap your fingers around the cup and sip away noisily.