Turnip and Almond Soup

I had been in a mid blogger's crisis past week, just blank about the recipe I should blog next. Sometimes the same block hits me differently. The pictures would be hosted, the recipe drafted and all scheduled, but the introductory part for the post remain unwritten! Weird, but true! :)

Considering my regular readers' choice put up in my FB page, this was handed down by one of my friends, Mythily. I accepted to blog readily, since I have no many soup recipes up in my space.
Well, coming to this recipe, it's a heartwarming soup with an exciting combination of a root vegetable, nut and a grass to flavour, rounded off with some dairy; a perfect one bowl meal for the weather shift; fall to winter!

Turnip and Almond Soup
Serves 3
Prep time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes
Total time needed -  less than 30 minutes

You Need: 

Turnip - skin peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces - one 250 ml cup heaped OR 200gms
Almonds- 10 ( blanched, peeled and ground to a fine paste )
Butter - 2 tbsps
Garlic cloves- 3 medium sized
Green chilly - A one inch pieces or 1/2 a chilly
Water (for the soup) - 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup
Lemon grass- 2-3 one inch blades, stripped
Low fat milk- 250 ml

Method:



Have the ingredients all at one place. Infuse lemon grass in a tbsp of warm water and rest for 10 minutes. Grind the blanched and peeled almonds to a fine paste. Keep aside.




Heat a pressure cooker body, melt butter, sauté garlic and green chilly bits followed by the turnip chunks. Take care to do the whole thing in low-medium heat. We don't want the butter to turn really into ghee in high heat! Add 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil and close with the lid.




Cook until 4-5 whistles, according to your pressure cooker timing. We want the vegetables well cooked. Cool and grind the whole thing to a smooth paste.
Transfer the above ground vegetables, almond paste, remaining 1/2 cup water and milk and bring the soup to a gentle boil adding salt. Switch off. Add the lemon grass infused water (discard the leaves) and stir to combine.
Season with pepper.

      I seasoned the warm earthy soup, with  Mrs. Dash, to add some zing.

Notes:

You can be versatile with the recipe. Try adding bits of ginger along while sautéing garlic.
Addition of chopped onions (bulbs of spring onions) can bring about an interesting twist.
Whole bay leaves instead of lemon grass can impart a different flavour. You may need to discard the leaves after pressure cooking.

This is a very healthy and nourishing soup, with the goodness of turnips and almonds!

Thanks for the recipe and the suggestions, Mythily. This post is dedicated to you!

Read More »

Tweet

Simple Lentil and Vegetable Soup

The Hot Summer days are back with the fierce merciless sun spitting out 'Fire!'

I dare to stay a longer time in the kitchen with elaborate meals and it's definitely not a good time to whip up soups.

Invariably my family prefers a comforting bowl of any vegetarian soup for dinner after a heavy Sunday lunch, irrespective of the season.

And now with my Blog which has just turned 3, I surprisingly realize I’d never posted a single ‘Soup recipe’ till date!!
So, here’s a 'Simple', 'Nourishing Bowl' of Soup with 'no butter', 'white sauce' or any 'thickening agent'.
This 'low calorie comfort soup' recipe serves 4 large bowls.

To Start -

Get ready with 1/3 cup of red or green lentils, rinse and soak in luke warm water for an hour or so and pressure cook till soft with water at least twice the depth of the lentils.

You need 2 cups of Vegetables in all.

So,

Mince Finely, a few leaves of Spinach, a small piece of Cabbage, Carrot, 1 or 2 Beans, 1/4th of a Capsicum,a Cauli flowerette(Sorry! if there isn’t such a term in the English Dictionary :)) a button mushroom, half tomato(I avoided this), a few fresh coriander leaves, a small onion,a large clove of garlic and half a green chilly(optional).

Feel free to throw in a tbsp of fresh peas and corn kernels each….and yeah!..if you are lucky enough to find a cube of paneer smiling at you in the freezer, cut it into tiny bits(after immersing in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes) and let her join the above ;)

Transfer the above chopped veggies to the cooked gram. The water level should at least be an inch above them. Add enough salt and pressure cook till one whistle. Remove from fire and let the steam vent out by itself.
Open, check salt and serve hot with freshly crushed black pepper.

This is one of the most comforting and easiest soups which you can never stop with just one-soup-bowl-serving :).



Let the soup be watery. If you prefer Broth, simply strain, and Slurp on with pieces of bread or bun, dunked in.

Read More »

Tweet