Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup  is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. It is the National Soup of Italy ; assorted vegetable broth served with macaroni. It is very simple to make and gets ready in few minutes. Read on for the recipe..

Tomato 1 medium                                                        Carrot, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1/2 medium      
French beans, 1 cm pieces 3-4 

Cabbage shredded 1/2 cup
Zucchini, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1 medium (optional)
Potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1 medium
Green peas 1/8 cup                                                         
Fresh basil leaves 2-3 (optional) 

Dry basil (option for fresh leaves) a pinch

Oregano (Dry) a pinch

Tomato Puree 2 tbsp.
Oil  1/2 tbsp.

Garlic, chopped 4-6 cloves
Onion , chopped 1 medium

Vegetable stock / Water 1 1/2 cups
Macaroni 2 tbsp.

Salt to taste
White pepper powder 1/2 tsp.

Parmesan cheese, grated for garnish  

1. Wash and cut half of basil leaves into strips and keep in cold water (if you are using fresh leaves).

2. Blanch tomato and once it cools down remove its seeds and skin and chop roughly.

3. Now in a Pan boil Vegetable stock/ water and add the macaroni, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, french beans, green peas and let it boil for about 5-7 mins.

4. Add the blanched chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and let it boil for another minute. Make sure the potatoes are cooked but at the same time not mashed up and likewise other vegetables.

5. In another pan; heat oil (preferably olive oil) and add chopped garlic, saute it for a minute. Then add chopped onions and saute for another minute; now add the dry oregano and pour this over the vegetable broth mixture.

6. Season with salt and white pepper powder. Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil strips and grated Parmesan cheese.   

Sending this for my The Soup Event and also Let me remind you all the the event gets over within 2 days..so hurry up with your entries.

Tomato Soup with Toasted Croutons

Such a red delicious tomato soup this is. This recipe is so easy, even a complete beginner cook could prepare this! It’s such a delicious soup that you will never want to buy canned soup again…Lets just get on to the recipe without any further delay

Tomatoes 10-12 medium quartered

Garlic 4 cloves finely chopped

Carrot 1/2 medium cut in roundels

Celery 2 inch stalk (optional)

Onion 1 medium sliced

Sugar 1 tsp

Oil 1/2 tsp

Butter 1 tbsp

Bay leaf 1

Peppercorns 4-6

Salt to taste

Peppercorns, crushed 1/2 tsp

Bread Slices 3-4 for croutons

1. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add bay leaf, peppercorn, sliced onions and sauté until translucent. 
2. Add the chopped garlic and stir-fry briefly. Add carrot roundels and tomatoes, stir-fry for a minute and add three cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Cook for ten to fifteen minutes covered with a lid. 
3. Remove it from gas; remove bay leaf and all the other whole garam masala and let it cool down completely and then blend it into a fine puree. 
4. Strain the blended mixture through a strainer. Reserve the liquid. 
5. Add the reserved liquid to the pureed tomatoes and adjust the consistency. 
6. Put it back on gas. Add salt, freshly crushed peppercorns and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Just before serving, add the croutons and serve hot.

For Croutons:- Toast bread pieces into the oven till the time they get golden brown from both sides. No need to apply butter or oil; just toast them and they turn out as crispy as the fried ones.....
Well.....if you want you can always deep-fry them.

Sending this to my own event The Soup Event. 

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

I love Sweet Corn Soup period and used to have it many times whenever we used to go to the restaurant. Its such a Creamy, tasty vegetable soup. Why i said I used to have this soup because here in Germany you don't get this soup :-(. Some time back I wanted to have this soup badly, so I started searching for the Cream Style corn tin in a Chinese shop, but guess what; the so called Chinese shop also didn't have the Cream style corn tin.

One fine day my friend here in Germany told me that you can actually make cream style corn at home and use it to make the soup which I thought was not possible at all. But then she made it and showed it to me and that is when I realized that you can actually make it and don't have rely on the so called Chinese shops. Thank you my Friend and now I would like to share the recipe specifically the Cream style corn recipe with you all so that you all can have a Restaurant style Sweet corn Soup at home.

Sweet Corn , cream style150 grams (recipe given below)

Sweet corn kernels, boiled 1/2 cup

Vegetable stock/Water 4-5 cups

Cabbage, finely chopped 1/4 small

Carrot, finely chopped 1/4 medium
Green Peas 1/2 cup 
Garlic - 3-4 cloves finely chopped

Cornflour 2 tbsp

Sugar 1/2tbsp.

Salt to taste

White pepper powder 1/4 tsp.

Spring onion greens, chopped 1  

For Making Cream Style Corn:-

Whole corn- 2-3 

Sugar - 21/2 tbsp.

Salt 1/2 tsp.

Butter- 11/2 tbsp

Corn Flour dissolved in water- 4 tbsp.

1.Scrap the whole corns with the help of Knife along with its juices (Use it along with its juices).

2. Melt butter on a medium heat and and all the other ingredients at one go and keep stirring continuously on a medium heat.

3. It takes about 20 mins. and the mixture becomes thick. Make sure it does not get burned or even should not get brownish colour. Once the mixture become thick remove from Gas and let it cool down completely. The consistency should be same as shown in the picture below.

Cream Style corn is ready to make this delicious soup. You can also store this in the deep Freezer; Once the mixture cools down store it in air tight container and keep the deep Freezer ( not for a long time actually; I kept it for 20 days). So when next time want to make this soup just take the bowl of cream style corn out half n hour before you actually start making the soup.

1.  Heat pan, and saute chopped garlic and saute it till gets the burnt flavour. ( You can avoid this step, I like my soups with garlic flavour)
2. Add cream style sweetcorn, vegetable stock/water and stir. 

3. Add cabbage, carrot, boiled corn, green peas and stir to mix well. Cook for two to three minutes. 
4. Blend cornflour in a little vegetable stock or water and set aside. 
5. Add sugar and salt to the soup and continue to cook. Add white pepper powder and mix. Add the blended cornflour and cook till the soup thickens. 

6. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve piping hot. 

Sending this to my own event The Soup Event. Let me remind you all once again the deadline for this event has been increased upto 11th November 2011. Do rush in your entries.

Also sending this to Aipi's Bookmarked Recipes.

Palak Shorba

I bought a bunch of spinach a couple of days back, and I made this yummy low calorie soup (Oh! yes, many soups end up being fattening instead of just appetizing - consider the butter, cream and the cornflour that gets added to flavour and gives the soup a smooth texture!)

Spinach has always been amongst my favourite greens, and this simple soup turned out the perfect antidote for sore throat and cold. I made it for the evening (not dinner) as I really needed something hot to stop the itch in my throat! I have added a lot of pepper as it is comforting on a sore throat in my soup. So Read on for the recipe:-

500 g Spinach (palak), washed, finely chopped

2 tbsp Butter
1 big Onion roughly chopped
1/2 inch Ginger chopped
5-6 cloves Garlic chopped
Whole Garam Masala (Bayleaf, Cinnamon stick, Peppercorn, Clove, Cumin seeds, Black cardamom)Salt & Sugar to taste
a pinch Black pepper powder (freshly crushed)
6 cups Vegetable stock/Water

1. Melt 1 1/2 tbsp. butter in a pot; add whole garam masala and saute it for a minute.
2. Next Add ginger, garlic, and onion and again saute till onion becomes translucent.
3. Now add chopped spinach; saute for a few minutes. Add salt, and sugar. Let the whole thing get cooked for a min. or two.
4. Remove it from the gas and let this mixture cool down completely. Once its done; remove the bay leaf and blend this mixture to a fine puree.
5. Strain it and what you will get is a thick puree.
6. Now melt the remaining 1/2 tbsp. butter and add little bit cumin seed (just for extra flavour) and let them splutter.
7. Next add the strained spinach puree and also add the vegetable stock/ water to make it thin. (Always remember Shorba is never thick like other soups)
8. Adjust salt and add freshly crushed black pepper. Bring it to boil once and remove. Serve hot.

 

This is my 1st entry for my Event "The Soup Event".

Also I am re-posting 2 links for the lovely event "Festive food' hosted at Khaugiri originally announced by Pari.

http://i-m-not-a-chef.blogspot.com/2010/08/narali-bhat-coconut-rice-and-awards.html

http://i-m-not-a-chef.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-post.html

Makai Dhaniya Shorba

Hi friends, I am re-posting this as,this Soup goes to the lovely event Vegetable/Fruit A Month - Corn hosted by Akheela of Torviewtoronto and started by Priya.

Hi to all my dear Bloggo-buddies. The recipe I am sharing with you today is one of my favourite winter recipes. Its easy to make and a meal on its own or is great with a couple of pieces of warm crusty toast . It warms the heart and is a healthy and great comfort food.

For this you need:-                                       

1 cup Sweet Corn 

1/4 Carrot roughly chopped

1 onion roughly chopped

2 cloves Garlic chopped

Coriander Leaves Finely chopped

¼ tsp Cumin

1 tbsp Coriander Seeds, crushed

¼ tsp Turmeric Powder

3-4 Peppercorns

1 Cinnamon Stick(Dalchini)

2-3 Clove (Laung)

1 Bay Leaf

1 cup Milk

2 tsp Oil / Butter

1 cup Water

Salt to taste

For Garnishing:-

Few Corn Kernels, roasted

Few Coriander Leaves, chopped

1. In a non stick pan, heat oil. Add bay leaf, peppercorn, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves to the heated oil. Sauté the mixture for a while.

2. Add chopped onions and garlic and sauté till the onions become pink.

3. Now, add carrots, turmeric powder and crushed coriander seeds.

4. Add sweet corns, salt, handful of chopped coriander and water. Cook over medium flame for 15 to 20 minutes. 

5. When the corns are properly cooked, remove from the flame and keep it aside to cool.

6. Once cool, put the cooked corn mixture in a blender. Blend to make a fine puree.

7. Strain it properly. Transfer the puree back into the pan and add milk to it to adjust the consistency. Adjust salt and add pepper powder if required.  Simmer it for some time.

8. Garnish with roasted corn kernels, chopped coriander. The luscious Makai Dhaniya shorba is ready to be gorged upon!! 

Hot n Sour Soup

A Chinese soup. Well, Indo-chinese to be specific. Chinese was the first international cuisine to crop up in India with the ever famous hakka-noodles, manchurians and chow-meins. They have the same chinese names, but the flavour is suited to the typical Indian tongue – hot and spicy and this is one of them…

Carrot, chopped 1/2 medium

Cabbage, chopped 1/4 small

French beans, chopped 4-6

Green capsicum, chopped 1/2 medium

Cornflour/ corn starch 2 tablespoons

Oil 1 tbsp

Garlic, chopped 6-7 cloves ( I like lots of garlic in my soup)

Onion , chopped 1 medium

Green chillies chopped 2 nos.

Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece

Dark Soy sauce 2 tbsp.

Sugar 1/2 tsp.

Vegetable stock/Water 4-5 cups

Green chilli sauce 1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Vinegar 1 tbsp.

White pepper powder1/2 tsp

Spring onion greens, chopped 1 stalk

1. Dissolve cornflour in water.

2.Heat oil in wok. Add garlic, onion and ginger, chopped green chillies and stir-fry briefly.Add chopped French beans, carrot, cabbage and green capsicum and stir fry.

3.Add soy sauce, sugar, vegetable stock/water and mix.Add green chilli sauce and continue to cook.

4.Just stir the cornflour water mixture (as the cornflour gets set at the bottom) and add it into the soup and let the soup thicken.

5.Add salt to taste, vinegar and white pepper powder. Sprinkle finely chopped spring onion greens and take off the heat. Serve hot.

Sweet Corn and Roasted Bell Pepper soup

A big Hello to all my Bloggobuddies. Its been more than two weeks I have been away from the blog but now I am definitely back all geared up; after a great trip. Its been raining cats n dogs here in Russelsheim since last 2-3 weeks and the same story since today morning and what could be better than a fresh bowl of soup. A typical Mexican smoky flavoured bell pepper and sweet corn soup. Its a extremely simple one to make and very delicious. It gets your taste buds rolling and totally warmed up for a meal ahead.

I modified the original recipe little bit by adding chopped garlic and herbs ( Dry basil leaves and Oregano) and guess what…the end result was absolutely delicious…

Sweet corn kernels, boiled 1 cups

Bell Pepper (Red, yellow and Green) 2/3cup

Milk 1/2 cup

Oil 2 tablespoons

Garlic 2 cloves finely chopped
Onion , chopped 1 medium

Salt to taste

Fresh Green/Red chillies, diagonally sliced 2

Cornflour/ corn starch 1 tablespoon
Herbs ( Oregano and Dry Basil leaves) as required
is all that you need..

1. Roast the bell peppers one by one on direct flame ( I roasted them in the oven appling little oil...jst a tsp) till lightly charred. 

2. Dip it in a bowl of water and peel off the charred skin like we do it for Baingan.
3. Remove the seeds if any and chop roughly. 
4. Now grind the corn with milk to a coarse paste. 
5. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add onion, garlic and sauté till lightly browned. Add the ground sweet corn mixture and half a cup of water. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. 
6. Add the capsicum and stir. Add salt, fresh green/red chillies and simmer. Mix cornflour in quarter cup of water(if required as corn kernels and milk will make soup thick anyway) and add to the soup and stir. Cook till the soup thickens slightly. 
7. Add salt as required and herbs. Serve piping hot.

 Note: 1. If you do not have all 3 bell peppers; you can still make this soup with Green Capsicum.
2. Do not over cook the herbs. Always add them at the end before a quick boil.

Vegetable Manchow Soup

For this you will need:-
Carrot, finely chopped 1/2 cup

Cabbage, finely chopped 1/2 cup
Green capsicum, seeded and chopped  1/4 Cup

Tofu, finely chopped  1/4 cup (optional)

Mushroom, finely chopped 2-3(optional)

Oil 2 tablespoon + to deep fry

Noodles, boiled 1/4 cup

Spring onions, finely chopped 2

Garlic, finely chopped 6-7 cloves

Ginger, finely chopped 1/4 inch piece

Green chillies, finely chopped 2

Vegetable stock /water 2 cups

Salt to taste

White/Black pepper powder as required

Red chilli sauce 1/2 tbsp./ as required

Dark soy sauce 2 tbsp.

Cornflour/ corn starch 1 tbsp.mixed with water ( I did not have any..so I used Rice Flour ;-))

Lemon Juice 1 tbsp.

Spring onion greens, chopped 1 stalk

1. Finely chop all the vegetables and keep aside

2. Heat sufficient oil and deep fry the boiled noodles till golden and crisp. Remove.
3. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a deep pan. Add spring onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Sauté for a minute and add carrot, cabbage, green capsicum, tofu(optional), mushrooms(optional) and vegetable stock or water. 
4. Stir and add salt and let the soup come to a boil. Add white/black pepper powder, red chilli sauce, dark soya sauce and simmer the soup for two to three minutes.

5. Add cornflour mixed with water to the soup, stirring continuously. Cook till the soup thickens. Add lemon juice and spring onion greens. 
6. Serve hot garnished with crushed fried noodles.

Vegetable Soup

A fresh bowl of soup is something for which I can skip my regular meals and just gorge myself with it, be it any time of year and day. This Soup is very healthy apart from the fact that it has white sauce made up of Refined flour which is soooo not healthy. (but you can also prepare white sauce with wheat flour)

The soup was ready in twenty minutes, and I must admit that the outcome was a delicious. 
Make a bowl for you and savour the warmth in the cold winter or on a gloomy rainy day...

you will need:-

Finely chopped Cabbage - 1 cup
Finely chopped Onion - 1 medium
Finely chopped Tomato- 1 medium
Finely chopped Carrots - 1/4 cup
Finely Chopped French Beans - 1/4 cup
Finely chopped Capsicum - 1/4 cup
Corn Kernels slightly crushed - 1/4 cup
Grens Peas slightly crushed - 1/4 cup
White sauce - 1/2 bowl ( small)
Crushed Garlic - 1 tsp.
Salt as reqd.
Pepper as reqd.

In a vessel, take about 2 cups of water and add little salt.(Salt will help the veggies cook faster) Now add all the vegetables one by one including onion, tomatoes and garlic. Let the mixture boil for about 7-8 minutes or till the vegetables are just about cooked. I actually like a little crunch to my vegetables in my soup, the crunch acts as croutons for me. 

Now add the white sauce gradually stirring the soup continuously till you get the exact consistency of the soup. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. The Vegetable soup is ready to serve.

 

Note:- To make this soup more nutritious and healthy, just add the raw Spinach paste/puree as a base along with water. 

Tamatar Dhaniya Shorba

3 F's restaurant In Galleria, Gurgaon serves the best Tamatar Dhaniye ka Shorba.  I gradually developed a taste for it. I got so addicted at one time that almost every week, we use to visit 3 F's just for the shorba. One of my friend-follower would know it best. But this was 3-4 years back, since then I have never had that type of shorba.

So, this was my attempt of making it , matching the taste of 3 F's. It turned out nicely except it was a bit more spicy, so watch out when you add chilli powder/green chillies. Another important thing here is, this does not have coconut as most of the tomato shorba recipes on Internet. So here it goes:-

Tomatoes 2 roughly chopped

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 4 tablespoons

oil 1 tablespoons

Bay leaf 1

Onion , roughly chopped 1 small

Garlic, roughly chopped 1/4 inch

Garlic, roughly chopped 1 cloves

Green chillies chopped 1 tsp. (optional)

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp.

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

Black peppercorns , freshly crushed 3-4

1. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add bay leaf, onion, garlic, ginger and sauté till well browned so as to give a burnt flavour and taste.

2. Add tomatoes and stir. Add a pinch of salt, crushed black peppercorns, coriander powder, red chilli powder, good amount of chopped coriander and mix. Stir in one and a half cups of water and let it cook for three to four minutes.

3. Discard the bay leaf. Cool it down and blend to make a fine puree. Strain it properly and transfer it back into the pan.

4. Adjust the consistency if required, add salt and the remaining chopped coriander. Simmer for two minutes. Pour the Shorba in a serving bowl. Garnish with a small sprig of coriander and serve piping hot.