Carrot Soup | Cream of Carrot Soup

As I've already mentioned in my posts I am not a soupy person. But I love tomato soup , sweet corn soup the best of all soups creamy and yummy now this carrot soup has topped the list too. I tried this soup for my daughter and she liked it very much, she is a fussy eater when it comes to vegetables like her mother ;) so have to sneak in carrots in the form of soups or kheer.

Cream of Carrot Soup Recipe:
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Carrots - 2 medium sized roughly chopped
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Onion - 1/2 medium sized finely chopped
• Garlic - 4 pearls
• Tomato - 1/2
• Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - a pinch (optional)
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Butter - 1/2 tsp
• Cream - 2 tsp (for garnishing)
• Salt- as required

Method:

1. Heat a pan with oil, add onions, garlic and tomato saute till slightly browned and raw smell leaves.
2. Now add the carrots and add 1/2 cup water, cook until carrots turns soft. Cool down the mixture and grind it to a smooth paste.
3. Now heat the pan again with butter, transfer the mixture. After 2-3mins add milk, pepper powder, garam masala powder, required salt and bring it to a short boil. Switch off and garnish with cream
4. Serve hot or warm with garlic bread or soup sticks.

My Notes:

• You can also add half and half of cream with milk to get a richer soup
• You can also pressure cook the carrots and grind it with sauted onion, garlic tomato misture
• The carrot soup is slightly sweet with milk and the sweetness in the carrot, so add pepper powder accordingly
• Choose tender fresh carrots for the soup. The color of the soup totally depends on the carrots.

Not being a soupy person I love this soup for its slight sweetness from the carrots with a hint of hotness from the pepper yumm soup perfect for this chilly weather now in CBE.

Sweet Corn Soup and Cup Corn Chat

As I always say, I am not a soup person but when it comes to tomato soup and sweet corn soup, I just can break the rule. The sudden change of chill climate makes me crave for something hot and this soup perfectly fits the bill. Its easy and tasty, do try and see.

Sweet Corn Soup Recipe:

Serves 2

Ingredients :

Serves 2

• American Sweet Corn Cob - 1
• Butter - 1/2 tsp
• Water - 1.5 cups
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Corn Flour - 1 tbsp (mix it with 5 tbsp's of water)
• Vegetable Stock - 1/4 cup (optional)
• Soy Sauce - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook the corn for 4-5 whistles or until soft with a cup of water. After the pressure releases, take the corn cobs and shred the kernels completely.
2. Grind the corns kernels with little water say 1/2 cup to a thick paste. Reserve few for garnishing.
3. Add the corn flour with water , mix well without any lumps and keep aside
4. Heat a pan with butter, add the corn paste, allow it to boil for 3mins. Add 1 cup water, vegetable stock(boiled vegetable water), cornflour water paste and mix well. Add required salt.
5. Add soya sauce,pepper and mix well. Allow it to boil for 5-7 mins until the soup is thick. Switch off. Garnish with remaining corn kernels and serve hot with soup sticks or bread.

My Notes:

• Adding soyasauce gives a nice flavour to the soup. If you dont have vegetable stalk just ignore and proceed with the remaining ingredients.
• Adjust water according to the thick consistency of the soup.
• Spring onions can also be added for garnishing
• After adding corn flour the soup thickens faster so adjust water accordingly at this stage.

Cup Corn Chat Recipe:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Corn cob - 1
• Butter - 1 tsp
• Garam masala / chat masala powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper - a pinch
• Lime juice - 1 tsp
• Salt - for taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook corn cob in water with salt for 5mins or until soft.
2. Once the pressure releases, remove the cobs from water. Shred the corn kernels with a knife in a serving bowl.
3. Add butter, garam masala powder, pepper powder and lime juice to it. Mix well and enjoy.

Tomato Soup / Cream of tomato soup - Restaurant style

As you all know I am not a soup person....the only few soups I taste as a starter is tomato soup and sweet corn soup. I like my soup to be thick and creamy and this recipe fits the bill aptly. I have tried this recipe few times now and it has become my family favorite too.

Cream of tomato soup Recipe

Recipe Reference : Tasty Palattes

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes - 3
• Beetroot - a small piece
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Ginger - 1/2 inch size
• Bayleaf - a small piece
• Cinnamon stick - 1/4 inch in size
• Cloves - 1
• Salt - as required
• Water - 2 .5cups

• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Corn Flour - 1 tsp
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Butter - 1/2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Bread - 2 slices

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker add tomatoes, beetroot, ginger, garlic, bayleaf, cinnamom, cloves, salt with water and pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles.
2. Once the pressure releases, find out cinnamom and cloves, dicard them and grind rest of pressure cooked ingredients until smooth.
3. Strain using a medium sized hole strainer and keep aside. Cut bread slices into small squares and toast/deep fry them until crispy and make it ready and keep aside.
4. In a pan melt butter in low flame then add cornflour and saute until the flour turns slightly brown.Now add milk stirring continuosly to avoid forming lumps. Mix well until bubbles ooze out and milk gets slightly thickened. Now add the grinded tomato pulp and mix thoroughly.
5. Add water if necessary(if the soup is very thick) and keep stirring in low flame. Check salt at this stage adjust accordingly. Allow it for a single boil and then switch off.
6. Serve hot with pepper powder and garnish with cream/milk. Add the bread squares and enjoy ur soup.

My Notes:

• Dont use a fine hole strainer as we need the pulp of the tomatoes. I didnt sieve it this time and it was good as we are grinding it well.
• You can use freshly cracked pepper powder which gives a unique flavour to the soup
• You can toast bread slices or deep fry them until crispy.The rich red color is from the beetroot and you can not sense any taste of the veggie.
• This soup is very thick even without adding cornflour so adjust cornflour and water accordingly.
• You can add 1 carrot too as in the orginal recipe, I skipped it as slightly modifies the taste.

This soup tastes like the ones they serve in restaurants so am happy to have learnt the trick of the restaurant style tomato soup...rich, creamy and tasty :)

You can add cream for garnishing which gives a even more richer taste.Dont skip the bread squares as tomato soup with crispy bread squares is the best combination.

Golden Lentil Soup

As I've already mentioned I am not a soup person so didnt bother to try soups all these days. But when I saw this protein rich soup in Tarladala cookbook I wanted to give a try. The orginal recipe called for masoor dhal since I didnt have it, I went ahead with moong dhal. Its a easy, quick and a filling soup.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 bowls

• Moong Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Carrot - 1 small
• Tomato - 1
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

To temper:

• Cloves -1
• Cinnamom - 1/4 inch piece
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Onion - 1/2

Method:

1. Soak moong dhal for 15mins, drain water and keep aside.


2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamom, cloves let it fry for a min then add garlic and onions allow it to saute until onions turn golden brow.


3. Then add carrot, tomatoes, saute until tomatoes turn slightly mushy. Now add soaked moong dhal, turmeric powder, chilli powder, required salt. Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.


4. When pressure releases, open and let it cool. Discard cinnamom and cloves alone, and grind the remaining ingredients in a mixie until smooth. Add pepper powder and mix well.


5. Add water if the soup is thick, adjust according to your likeness.Garnish with lemon juice and serve hot with bread/soup stick.

My Notes:

• For the above mentioned quantity it gives 2 generous bowls of soup. It is very thick so add water according to ur liking.


• Adding carrot is purely optional, you can very well skip it or add any other veggie of your choice.


• I didnt want the flavour of cloves and cinnamom to dominate so I discarded it before grinding. You can grind with it too.