Quick Soup For The Cold

We had this soup when Hcousins made it. It is much colder here than I can remember this time of the year and I thought to fight it with the warm soup. Measurements are not absolute. All depends on the taste that you want in your soup.

In The Mix

water - 6-7 cups

chicken bouillon cubes - 4 to 5
OR
Better Than Bouillon paste - 3-4 heaped tsp. (I used this)

fish fillet - 1/2 to 1 lbs washed and cubed (any white fish will do. Tilapia is a good choice)fresh ground pepper - 2-3 tsp or to taste (this must be ground/crushed fresh)
lemon juice - from 1 lemon
fresh grated ginger - from a 2" piece or more

cilantro - 2-3 sprigs chopped lightly

How To Do

Boil the water in a pot and add the bouillon cubes or paste. Stir together till well combined. Add fish pieces and boil 2-3 minutes. Check salt and add more bouillons/paste as needed for flavor. The salt comes from the bouillon so using reduced sodium version helps control the salt. Add the pepper and lemon juice. Boil once and add grated ginger. Add more ginger if you like as it can only help.  Boil some more till you can smell the ginger and pepper in the air. Add more water or other ingredients as taste demands. Add cilantro leaves, boil once and remove from heat. Serve hot, sit down, relax and enjoy as the warmth fills the cold, tired body and brings it back to life. As you drink more of the soup you should feel the gingery and peppery comfort lingering.

Cauliflower Soup by Chef Tyler Florence from House Beautiful

 My kids were having their regular dentist checkups and I was whiling time away by browsing the magazines. This recipe and accompanying pictures in House Beautiful caused me to pause and take a closer look. Being veggie heavy in ingredients seemed like a plus and I decided give Chef Tyler Florence's recipe a try. So took some snaps of the recipe and came home where I had some of the ingredients. Recipe and method follows with the little that I changed.

In The Mix

Olive Oil                 3 tbsp

brussel sprouts       6, separated into petals.

unsalted butter        3 tbsp

cauliflower              1 head, separated into florets and cut to medium sized pieces

yellow onion            1/2 sliced

fresh thyme             5 sprigs (recipe asks for lemon thyme and since i didn't have it used regular thyme hoping to offset by using lemon juice)

bay leaves              2 (recipe asks for fresh, had to use dry as i didn't have fresh)

whole milk              3 cups

lemon juice             2 tbsp (recipe asks for 1, added 1 more tbsp in place of lemon thyme)

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

salmon roe (2oz) is requested by the recipe which I didn't have.

extra virgin olive oil and finely sliced chives to garnish (had oil but no chives)

How To Do

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the brussel sprouts petals and saute for 2-3 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel. 

Add butter to the same sauce pan and lightly saute the cauliflower pieces and onion. Cook over medium heat until tender. (2 to 3 minutes) Season with salt and pepper.

Make a cheesecloth sachet with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves and add it to the saucepan. I loved this step. Felt I was doing some serious 'chef'ing'  Now add the milk and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10-12 min until cauliflower is soft.

Remove the sachet and transfer mixture to a blender. Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice to the blender. Puree until smooth. Add more lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. Remember, salt is not your friend:-))

Serve the soup in tea cups like I did if you don't have espresso cups suggested in the recipe. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil and a brussel leaf or two.Salmon roe and chives can be added if you have them.I am sure it will bring the taste to the next level as intended by Chef Florence.

The soup as it was, looked good and tasted good. As with all soups, remember to have it hot. Kids did not take to it much.I liked it enough to want to try it again with another vegetable and all required ingredients. How it looked was priceless!!

Sambhar _ Vegetable Lentil Stew

Along with Dosa, sambhar also didn't make it into our house when I was growing up. Now that I am all grown up (I think:-)) I have to say this is a pretty easy way to get all that veggie goodness into one's body. Of course the resident veggie exponent who loves sambhar had a good part in this realization. Together we have arrived at a pretty good sambhar recipe that pleases us.

In The Mix

toor dal - 1 cup (this lentil is available in all indian grocery stores)
water 4 - cups

potato - 1 large, cut into medium sized pieces
carrots - 2 peeled and quartered into 3/4 " pieces
tindora - 1 cup worth of fresh or frozen sliced (use any other veggie of your choice)
beans - 1 cup diced 3/4" pieces
pearl onion - 15-18 fresh or frozen ( can substitute with any onion of your choice. we just love the little white balls bubbling up and down in the finished sambhar)
green chilies - 3 sliced slanted lengthwise and once across. (this is a good way to slice chilies for any preparation as it looks good and will bring out more of the chili into the recipe.)
okra - 1 cup diced fresh or frozen
tomato - 1 diced
water - 8 cups

tamarind paste - 1 1/2 to 2 tsp
sambhar powder - 5 tsp (brands may have some effect. not sure. have heard the homemade ones are unbeatable, but then i have no access to this particular abundance)

to season

mustard - 1 tsp
thinly sliced shallots - 1 pinch or 2 (optional, i love it)
curry leaves - as many sprigs as you want. 1 or 2 should do
long dry red chilies - 4 or 5 torn into reasonable pieces
sambhar powder - 1/2 tsp ( HMom's tip)
oil - 2 tsp
salt to taste


How To Do

Boil 4 cups of water, cover and cook the dal till soft. Mash really well. No need to add salt. Check and stir occasionally to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom. My daughter used to love eating cooked dal with a little salt but is slacking these days. Hopefully she will pick it up again some day.

While the dal is cooking away, start boiling the 8 cups of water in a large pan. Add onions and all aforementioned veggies except okra and tomato to the boiling water. Wait for the water to boil again after adding the veggies. Now turn the heat down medium to low, cover and cook.

After 5 minutes, add tomato and okra. (These two can be added earlier too but might really dissolve away with too much cooking. Depends on how you like the end result to be.) Add salt to taste, boil once, cover and cook for another 10 minutes on medium to low heat.

Add the mashed dal, sambhar powder and tamarind paste and stir well slowly and gently. For those who only like a subtle taste of tamarind like me and my husband (who will do away with tamarind altogether if he could), it is a good idea to add the tamarind in steps. Add the first 1 tsp without hesitation. After that add every 1/2 tsp based on your personal preference. We have discovered 1 1/2 tsp of the paste aligns our tastebuds well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or less on low for the flavors to blend.

Seasoning: Break mustards in oil, saute onions & curry leaves. Add the torn chilies and sambhar powder. Saute some more till fried sambhar aroma fills the air. Add this to the prepared sambhar. Stir together or let stay on top till serving with Dosa or Rice.

Rule of thumb from HMom : If sourness is at the top when tasting, add salt. Conversely, if you put too much salt by mistake and the recipe calls for tamarind, then you are saved! Just add more tamarind as these two balance each other out. I have discovered this to be quite true. You do know the other way to balance salt esp for a non-tamarind recipe is to add potatoes provided the recipe can sustain it. Right? If none of these apply and you still added more salt, I am sorry, but there is nothing more to do other than dumping it out and starting again! Of course I am sure there might be ways but I have just no clue at the moment:-)

Rasam – Light Soup

Ideal when cold/coughs come visiting.

At least that is what my husband's parents vouched when we started making Rasam. Something both my husband and I are not very fond of. But a traditional recipe has its own charm esp when you live away from tradition. So it is that I ended up helping my MIL (henceforth to be referred as HMom for husband's mom) with a wish for some Rasam. Her recipes always have savory flavors. I am not sure how it got its name. If anyone knows, please don't hesitate to tell it here. I know it literally means 'fun' but memory defies this meaning when I try to remember the few times I tried to taste at friends' homes. There must be some other reason why it got its rather endearing name.

In The Mix

to grind:

freshly ground pepper - 1/2 tsp

garlic pods – 2 or 3 pods

ginger – ¾” piece

asafoetida (kaayam) - ¼ tsp

methi (uluva) - ½ tsp

cumin powder - ½ tsp

small onion – 1 can be substituted with ¼ to ½ of a shallot

coriander powder – 1tsp

chili powder – 1 tsp

turmeric - ¼ to ½ tsp

for the rest:

salt to taste

water – 4 cups

tomato – 1 chopped

tamarind paste – 1 ½ tsp

dry red chili – 2 or 3 torn into 2 or 3 pieces

methi - ¼ tsp

mustard - ¼ tsp

oil - ½ tbsp

coriander leaves (malli ila) - chopped

How To Do

Grind all the ingredients of 'to grind' mixed in ample water. Salt may be added at this time or later.

Break mustards in heated oil in a cooking pan and saute methi & dry red chilies. Now add the ground mix to this and saute mildly. Add 4 cups of water and let it boil. Add tamarind and tomatoes and boil. Tomato doesn't have to be fully cooked. Check for salt, boil for 3-4 minutes and remove from heat. Use hot with rice and papad. Add a sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves on top.

Can add one more tomato if tamarind is in short supply.

Good for a troubled tummy as well as during cough/cold. This is said to have a purifying effect on the respiratory tract as well as some taste to the tongue. Can also be had as a an energy drink:-) One can't ask more from such a quick and simple preparation I'd say!!

Note: Found this while searching for the meaning of Rasam in yahoo.