Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Soup

   Abi loves tomato soup. Its winter and our kitchen garden is flush with cherry tomatoes. So we decided to try a different version of tomato soup, a bit richer and made from cherry tomatoes. In fact this soup can be a full dinner, if served with a slice of garlic bread or buns of your choice. This one is my third and final post for this week.

   So the recipe is like this:

Ingredients:

1. 100 gms cherry tomatoes

2. 1 carrot 

3. 1 onion

4. 5 to 6 garlic pods

5.1 medium sized tomato 

6. Handful of basil leaves (tulsi)

7. Oil, salt and pepper

8. 2 to 4 cups of water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. 

2. Slit the cherry tomatoes into halves and cut carrots to the same size. Put them in a bowl, add salt and pepper and give it a good mix. Lay it out on a baking tray such that they don't overlap with each other and roast for at least half an hour.

3. Once they are roasted, cool and make a paste in the mixer grinder.

4. While the cherry tomatoes are roasting, plunge the other tomato in a pot of boiling hot, salted water for a minute. Take it out, peel and chop. 

5. In a hot kadai, add a tablespoon of oil, add the chopped garlic and onion and saute till onions are translucent.

6. Add the tomato carrot paste, chopped tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper to taste and 2 to 4 cups of water depending on the consistency you like. 

7. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick, some more water and salt pepper can be added. 

8. The soup is ready and can be served at this stage. But if pieces of tomato in the soup is not preferred then the entire soup can be blended using a hand blender or mixie.

9. Top it off with a dash of cream and the roast tomato soup is ready! 

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Coconut apple soup

Coconut apple soup is the second one in the series of soups. As the winter is approaching, I am on the lookout for soup recipes. Since children and hubby get bored quickly with regular soups, I asked my hubby to look for soup recipes. I told him about the BM theme also. He immediately said you must try something new and I will be the guinea pig. He was more than happy to look for the new recipes. So the search began.

 This one is one of my old recipes ( learnt it when I joined a cooking class in the '80s). I was not making this often as the availability of good coconut was a problem then and slowly forgot about it. So I experimented on him first. After his and kids approval, I am sharing this with you all.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.Apple: 1 no

2. Carrots: 2 nos

3. Potatoes: 1 no

4: Coconut milk (thin): 200ml

5. Curry powder: 1 teaspoon

6. Oil: 1 tablespoon

7. Salt &pepper: To taste

8. Lime juice: To taste

9. Fresh cream:  As needed (Optional)

10: Water: 2 cups

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add peeled and chopped carrots, apple and the potatoes. Saute them for 3minutes without browning them.

2. Add in salt and curry powder. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then add water and coconut milk. Cover and cook on low flame till the vegetables are done stirring occasionally.

3. Cool and blend it in a blender till smooth and creamy and strain the soup.

4. Before serving, heat the soup, adjust seasonings and lime juice. Top it with fresh cream and serve.

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Drumstick leaves soup

   Drumstick is one of the most favourite vegetables of my husband. He never gets tired of it. I can comfortably feed him one dish made of drumstick every day. He not only likes to eat but also loves propagating it to others to include this in their diet given its high iron content. Wherever we move, he plants this tree there successfully.

 Of late there is so much talk about the goodness of this vegetable including its leaves. Not many people know about drumstick. We South Indians eat the vegetables and the leaves. But my Punjabi friends use flowers. But in Rajasthan, most people are not aware of this vegetable barring Sindhis. So when I made soup with the leaves, my staff was surprised and asked me what kind of dish I was making. I try to teach them how to use drumstick and its leaves and its benefits.

This soup can be made in a jiffy. Not many ingredients are required but it makes for a very healthy soup. This is my third and last post for this week. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Drumstick leaves: 1 small cup

2. Onion: 1 small

3. Garlic: 3nos

4.Ginger: 1-inch piece

5. Tomato: 1 medium

6. Cornflour: 1 teaspoon

7. Ghee/ clarified butter: 1teaspoon

8. Jeera powder: 1/2 teaspoon

9. Salt & pepper: To taste

10 Water: 3 cups (250 to 300 ml approx)

METHOD:

1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add crushed garlic and ginger and fry till the garlic turns golden brown. Then add the chopped onions and fry till it is translucent. Now add the grated tomato and cook till tomato is done.

2. Add the cleaned drumstick leaves and saute for 2 or 3 minutes, taking care not to burn till the leaves start shrinking. Add salt and water. Cover and cook until the leaves are done on simmer.

3. Strain the soup. Mix the cornflour with half a cup of water add to the soup. Let it boil for a while. Add roasted jeera powder and pepper and serve.

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Ladyfinger curry

   Whenever I say Bhindi curry, my North Indian friends used to stare at me in disbelief. They would ask me about the recipe too. Back then they could not even visualise the dish. But now it is not so anymore. Thanks to the internet, anybody can make any dish if they want.

   Back home almost in every house, this dish is made. Even on special occasions like local festivals and marriages 'vendakai puli kolambu' (that is what it is called in our part of the south) is made. Marriage means like it was in the olden days, not the present days where everyone is competing with everyone to show who can spend more. In our house, I and my daughter love this dish with plain rice. Abi likes a different version of vendakai kulambu.

     Now let me take you to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Ladyfinger: 250 gms

2. Shallots: 1/2 cup (cut into two pieces)

    or the normal onion: 1 medium (cut into big pieces)

3. Green chillies: 3 nos

4. Tomato: 1 no

5. Tamarind: size of an amla

6. Jaggery/ sugar: 1 teaspoon

7. Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

8. Salt: To taste

9. Oil: 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon

10. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon

11. Curry leaves: 1 sprig

TO POWDER:

1. Channa dal: 1 tablespoon

2. Urad dal: 1 teaspoon

3. Coriander seeds: 1 1/2 tablespoon

4. Jeera: 1 teaspoon

5. Methi seeds: 1/2 teaspoon

6. Dry red chilli: 2nos (as per taste)

7. Coconut: 3 tablespoons

METHOD:

1. Wash, dry and cut the ladyfingers. Peel the shallots and keep aside. It can be used as a whole also. If using onion, then cut them into big pieces.  Chop the tomatoes. Soak the tamarind in water and take out the juice.

2. Roast all the ingredients mentioned in 'to powder', except coconut. Let it cool and grind them into powder (like garam masala). Keep aside.

3. The coconut can be added to the roasted ingredients just before grinding OR it can be added at the end of cooking. If grinding the coconut, then water can be added and grind to a fine paste.  

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the ladyfingers till it changes its colour. Add salt and saute for a minute. Now pour in the tamarind juice mixed with a cup of water. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

5. In another pan or kadhai, heat a teaspoon of oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, onions and green chillies. Saute them on medium heat till the onions are translucent and then add chopped tomatoes. Cook till the tomato is mushy. Add ladyfingers, turmeric, ground masala (with or without coconut), salt and jaggery. Adjust the consistency by adding water if needed. Cover and cook till the vegetables are cooked.

6. If using coconut in the end, then this is the time to add it. I have followed this method. Add grated coconut and mix well.

7. Remove from heat, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with plain rice.

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Dahi Bhindi Punjabi Dhaba Style

    Ladyfinger is one of the vegetables which can be cooked in many ways. Most people like it, including children. My grandson who is a picky eater likes it very much. So we end up making bhindi frequently.

   Here I am going to share Dahi Bhindi for my second-day post of this week. I was told this one is called Punjabi Dhaba style bhindi. But I learnt this dish from a Rajasthani. It's spicy, tangy, easy and quick to make. It goes very well with chapati.

   The ingredients for this recipe are:

1. Bhindi:250 gms

2. Onion: 2(medium size)

3. Tomatoes: 2 nos (grated)

4. Coriander powder: 2 teaspoon

5. Jeera powder: 1teaspoon

6. Turmeric: As required

7. Dry mango powder: !/2 teaspoon

8. Red chilli powder: 1 teaspoon

9. Ginger + garlic paste: 1 teaspoon each

10. Curd: 1 teacup, beaten

11. Oil: 2 tablespoons

12. Ajwain: 1/2 teaspoon

13. Hing: A pinch

14. Salt: To taste

15. Garam masala & kasuri methi for garnishing

Method:

1. Wash and dry the ladyfingers. Trim and cut into 1 1/2 inch piece or as per choice.

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the ladyfinger till it changes the colour add salt and fry for a minute more. Remove and keep aside.

3. In the same oil, add hing, ajwain, jeera and 2 whole red chillies. Saute them for a minute.

4. Add the chopped onions. Fry till it turns light brown. Add in ginger, garlic paste and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Now add the tomatoes and cook till they are done. Pour in the beaten curd. Cook till oil separates.

6. Add coriander powder, jeera powder, turmeric, salt, dry mango powder and chilli powder. Mix them well and add little  water (1/4 cup)  cook for 2 minutes.

7. Add the fried ladyfinger and 1/4 cup water mix them properly. Cover and cook for another 2 minutes.

8. Remove from the heat and garnish with garam masala powder and kasuri methi. Remember to rub kasuri methi between the palms before adding it.

9. Serve hot with plain rotis.

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One vegetables-- Three different states

   I'm happy to be back with BM girls after a long hideout! For this BM, my choice for the first week is one vegetable three different states. The theme for the second week is one vegetable and three states. This theme is an interesting one as it gives us a lot of scope to experiment with. Since we had the opportunity to travel around India during my hubby's service, I've learnt to cook some vegetables in different ways (as a necessity).

 There are so many vegetables which can be turned into yummy dishes. I have selected ladyfinger as luckily we have a small vegetable garden and I am getting a good yield even now. So this made my selection of vegetable easy. The first dish for the first is from Rajasthan as we presently staying here. This one called besanwali bhindi. 

INGREDIENTS:

1.  Ladyfinger: 250gms

2. Oil: 3 tablespoons

3. Gram flour: 2 to 3 tablespoons

4. Red chilli powder: 1 teaspoon

5. Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

6. Coriander powder: 3 teaspoons

7. Cumin powder 1 teaspoon

8. Dry ginger powder: 1/2 teaspoon

9. Dry mango powder: 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Wash and dry the ladyfingers. Trim the edges and slit it in the center without cutting into two pieces.

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the vegetable in high flame till the vegetable changes the colour, stirring continuously.

3. Reduce the flame add all the other ingredients and keep tossing till the gram flour is cooked and nice aroma comes. Take care not to break the ladyfinger.

4. Transfer into a bowl and serve with chapati.

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Reliving mera bachpan

     The rainy season, the most awaited season of the year. Everyone enjoys rain, from kids to adults and the elderly. Children and the elders enjoy it the most as both have time on their hand to revel in these pleasures of nature.When it rains it brings not only the rain but also a lot of memories (good and bad). The paper boats which we used to play with, the ragi vadas (kind of pakoras) we used eat, the rain coat we used make with gunny bags, the idlis we used make with sand, especially after the rain water recedes and not to forget the rain dance! Children of this generation may not know many things that we did in our times but playing in the rain is every child's dream even today.

     My little angels too love to play in the rain. They dance, play and make paper boats. After the rain they go out to play in the mud. They love to build their own mud house and garage for their cars. They have a small patch of garden where they can dig the mud to their hearts content. A few days ago, they made their house, a simple one : double storey house with roof top garden, mud table chairs and the toy cars parked neatly in the portico. I missed clicking some of their creations (particularly the one with garage and cars).

     The rainy season, the most awaited season of the year. Everyone enjoys rain, from kids to adults and the elderly. Children and the elders enjoy it the most as both have time on their hand to revel in these pleasures of nature.When it rains it brings not only the rain but also a lot of memories (good and bad). The paper boats which we used to play with, the ragi vadas (kind of pakoras) we used eat, the rain coat we used make with gunny bags, the idlis we used make with sand, especially after the rain water recedes and not to forget the rain dance! Children of this generation may not know many things that we did in our times but playing in the rain is every child's dream even today.

     My little angels too love to play in the rain. They dance, play and make paper boats. After the rain they go out to play in the mud. They love to build their own mud house and garage for their cars. They have a small patch of garden where they can dig the mud to their hearts content. A few days ago, they made their house, a simple one : double storey house with roof top garden, mud table chairs and the toy cars parked neatly in the portico. I missed clicking some of their creations (particularly the one with garage and cars).

     Children are at their best when left alone without any teaching. Left to themselves they are masters in whatever they do. Each one is a MF Hussain, Michelangelo, Laurie Baker.....