Soups offer a tasty meal, packed with nutrition and flavour. There’s a soup for every occasion and every taste. But a warm bowl of rich and healthy soup on a cold day is most satisfying.
Though readymade soups and canned versions abound, it’s always healthy to make your own. And, you can get adventurous in the kitchen. The best ingredients for winter soups are seasonal fall vegetables with combinations of other or leftover ingredients.
Add a beautiful presentation to each bowl by garnishing the soup with thinly sliced fruits, vegetables, pepper, toasted pumpkin seeds.
Cauliflower Meat Soup
Ingredients
One medium cauliflower (florets)
Two small onions (minced)
Three cups meat stock
One cup milk
Two tbsp butter
One spring parsley (minced)
Two egg yolks well-beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Heat butter and sauté onion. Add cauliflower, meat stock, salt, pepper and cook until cauliflower turns tender. Mash and pass through a sieve. To this, add milk and egg yolks. Cook for three minutes. You can also add water instead of meat stock if you are a vegetarian and one teaspoon cornflour mixed with melted butter in place of egg yolks. Serve garnished with parsley.
Peas Cream Soup
Ingredients
Half kg shelled green peas
Four cups water
Half cup milk
Half cup cream
Small pieces of crisp toast (fried)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Boil green peas in four cups of water until they turn tender. Mash and pass through sieve. Add milk, season and boil for three minutes. Serve garnished with cream and small pieces of crisp toast.
Mixed Vegetable Soup With Cheese Balls
Ingredients
Two onions
Two turnips
Four carrots
Two beetroot
250 gm of tomatoes
One cup milk
One cup fresh cream
Two tbsp butter
Cheese balls
One spring of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
For Preparing Cheese Balls
Ingredients
Two tbsp cooked rice
Two tbsp grated cheese
Two tbsp chopped parsley
Two tbsp plain flour
One tsp chilli powder
Ghee for frying
Salt to taste
Method
Mix all ingredients. Shape into small rounds balls. Deep fry in ghee. Serve hot with the soup.
Method (for soup)
Cut vegetables into big pieces, add eight cups of water and put to cook in a pressure cooker. Blend the mixture in a liquidiser and strain the soup. Add butter and boil for 10 minutes. Warm the milk. When you want to serve, add warm milk, cream, salt and pepper. Add cheese balls and decorate with chopped parsley. Serve hot.
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Four cups chicken stock
One lemon
One egg
Three tbsp water
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Bring the stock to boil and add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Beat together egg and water and slowly pour into the boiling stock stirring rapidly. Serve immediately.
Spicy Tamarind Soup
Ingredients
Half cup mix dal (toor, moong, masoor)
Half cup tamarind water
Two tomatoes (blanched and diced)
Half cup finely chopped coriander leaves
Ten to 12 curry leaves
Five cups water
Salt to taste
For masala
Roast and grind to paste half-piece ginger, half-piece turmeric, two red chillies, four pepper corns, one tsp cumin seeds, one tsp coriander seeds and one bay leaf.
Method
Boil dal in little water, mash, pass through sieve and set aside. Take tamarind water, add salt, ground masala paste, curry leaves, tomatoes, water and boil for 10 minutes.
Add dal, coriander leaves and boil for another five to 10 minutes. Serve very hot garnished with coriander leaves.
Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients
Six red carrots (thinly sliced)
One onion (minced)
One stalk celery (minced)
Half ginger (minced)
Four tbsp butter
One tbsp flour
One cup water
Two cups milk
One tbsp parsley (minced)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Cook onion, ginger, carrot, celery in butter over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in flour slowly add water and salt, and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Uncover and add milk.
Cook until milk is heated through. Garnish with parsley and pepper.
