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.

Check out the "http://www.spicingyourlife.in/blogging-marathon" Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#106