Vegetable Clear Soup

Hi Friends,
               I know that I am very irregular in posting the recipes but believe me my laptop is giving me a trouble now and then. Secondly now-a-days I am making more of soups and salads for dinner and lunch ..... Just to reduce little weight. ( don't know how far I can follow this diet :p)

Sharing vegetable clear soup recipe with you all, hope you will like it :)                                      

                   
 Ingredients:
1 small onion (finely chopped)
4-5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 sliced red bell pepper (optional)
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup sliced carrot
3-4 beans (1" chopped)
1 bok choy (roughly torn)
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
3 cup vegetable stock or water
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Salt acc.to taste
1 tbsp butter ( I used amul lite)
1/4 cup boiled rice vermicelli (boil as per the instructions given on the pack)
 
                                       

                           
Method:   

• Heat butter in a heavy bottomed pan.
• Add chopped garlic and onion. Saute till onion becomes translucent.

                                           

• Add red bell pepper. Fry for 1-2 mins.
• Now add all the veggies and toss for another 2 mins.

                                           

• Add vegetable stock or water. Bring it to boil.

• Now cook vegetables on low flame for 5 mins.
• Add salt, pepper, bok choy and rice vermicelli.
• Cook for 2 mins.
• Serve hot with chilly vinegar.

                                          

  

 

Pepper Rasam/ Kali mirch Rasam

Hello All,
     Winters are welcome and  welcome the cold and sore throat problems too... I face this problem quiet often so decided to have Pepper Rasam on regular basis to get rid of both the problems. 

Ingredients:

2 Tomatoes 
1 tbsp black peppercorns (roughly mashed)
1 tsp cumin seeds (roughly mashed)
3-4 cloves of garlic (roughly mashed)
1 tbsp rasam powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
A pinch of haldi powder
Few Curry leaves
Salt acc. to taste
1 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves
1 juice of lemon (instead of tamarind)

To Temper:

1 tbsp Ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
A pinch of Hing
2 Red chillies (roughly broken)
         
Method:

• Add chopped tomatoes, rasam powder, turmeric powder, crushed peppercorns, cumin seeds, garlic and salt in a heavy bottomed pan. Cook tomatoes till they become mashy and pulpy.
• Add 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling simmer on low flame.
• In the meanwhile heat ghee in a tadka pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add red chilly powder, hing ,curry leaves mix well. Pour it over the rasam.
• Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and sprinkle lemon juice on the top. 
• Serve it hot with boiled rice.....Enjoy.

Chicken Thukpa ( With home-made flat noodles)

Hi Friends,
    Thukpa is famous recipe from Tibet ....... It is highly nutritive soup as it contains lots of veggies and chicken. 
Recently I tasted it at one of my neighbour's house and started searching for a good Thukpa recipe....
Finally I made my own version which came out very nice and loved by all at home. Sharing the recipe with you all :)

Ingredients:
300 gm boneless chicken (cut into cubes)
Finely chopped vegetables (beans, carrot, onion, corn kernels, mushrooms )
5-4 spring onions (finely chopped)
1/2 thinly sliced red bell pepper
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt 
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp Chilly Sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
A pinch of ajinomoto
Olive oil
4 cups of Chicken Stock

For Home-made flat noodles:
1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
Water to knead dough

Method:

• First to make flat noodles, put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and make a soft dough of it.

• Divide the dough into equal portion, make small balls.
• Roll them with the help of a rolling pin. Make thin chapatis out of it.
• Now take a knife and cut the chapati into long thin strips like flat noodles.

• Keep them aside.
• Now take a non stick pan, add olive oil. Add chicken cubes and fry till they are cooked and turn light pink in colour. Remove on an absorbent paper.Keep it aside.

• In the same oil add chopped onions and saute till light pink in colour. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.

• Now add carrot, beans and red bell pepper. Mix nicely and cook on high flame till all the veggies are half cooked.

• Now add corn kernels, mushrooms and spring onion. Cook on high flame for 1-2 mins.

• Now add soya sauce, chilly sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and ajinomoto. Mix nicely. 

• Now add chicken pieces along with the chicken stock. Stir nicely and bring it to boil.
• Once its start boiling add home-made flat noodles in the soup. Keep it on low flame and cook for another 7-8 minutes or till the noodles are cooked. carefully stir it in between.

• You will see that the noodles will itself start floating on the surface. Now the soup is ready to serve.
• Sprinkle lemon juice on the top and serve it hot with garlic bread or soup sticks
• Enjoy.................

Spinach Soup (Palak Shorba)

Hi All, 
Its raining in Bangalore from last 1 week. Rain and soup, what a combo ?? 
I am big fan of soups and keep trying different varieties of soup at home.
My today's post is Spinach soup (palak shorba), Hope you will like it :)

Ingredients:
1 bunch of spinach
1 tomato
1" ginger 
2 tsp ghee
2-3 cloves of garlic
1" cinnamon
2-3 cloves
Salt acc.to taste
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup beaten cream/malai

Method:

• Remove stem of spinach and wash it under running water.
• Put tomato, ginger and spinach in a pressure cooker with 1 glass of water. Close the lid and give 2 whistles.
• Once the pressure drops down, let the mixture gets cool.
• Grind it in a mixer and keep it aside.
• Heat ghee in heavy bottomed pan, add roughly crushed cinnamon, garlic and cloves.

• Add spinach puree and bring it to boil.

• Now add salt and pepper powder, mix well.
• Add cream, mix.
• Remove from fire and serve hot with bread croutons.

Vegetable Man-chow Soup

Hi Friends, 
      Last week was the busiest week for me, my son and hubby both fell sick :( 
I always preferred giving light diet which includes kichdi and soups to my hubby and son for the whole week...
As the hubby was not well so he demanded for different types of soups, as the medicines spoiled his taste buds.

Ingredients:
1 Carrot (finely chopped)
3-4 beans (finely chopped)
1/4 cup Cabbage (finely chopped)
1/2 red bell pepper or green capsicum (finely chopped)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2-3 spring onion (finely chopped)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 Green chilly sauce
3 cup vegetable stock or water
1/4 tsp black pepper
Salt acc.to taste
1/4 tsp MSG (Ajinomoto) 
2 tbsp cornflour dissolve in 1/4 cup of water
1/2 cup noodles deep fried*

Method:

• Heat oil in non-stick pan,  add spring onion whites and  ginger-garlic paste and  saute for few seconds.

• Add all the finely chopped vegetables, stir fry 2 minutes or till the veggies are half cooked.

• Add stock/water, soy sauce, chili sauce and vinegar. Bring it to boil. 
• Add salt, black pepper powder and ajinomoto in the mixture, simmer on low flame.

• Now add the cornflour mixture, stir continuously till it becomes thick. Remove from heat.

• Garnish with spring onion and crispy noodles. Serve hot.
 

Note: 

Boil water in a heavy bottomed pan, add hakka noodles, a tsp of salt and oil in it. Cook on slow flame till its half cooked. Drain it completely on the strainer. Spread them on a tray and let them dry for half an hour.

Heat oil in a kadhai, deep fry the noodles till they become golden brown in colour. Remove on an absorbent paper. Garnish on soups. 

You can store these crispy noodles in an air tight container for future use .

  

Chicken Shorba

Hi Friends,
    Rain, Rain and Rain in Bangalore...... Feel like sipping something hot :)
Made Chicken Shorba last night, such a simple and easy recipe like making Maggi in 2 mins.....
So here is the recipe for you all .....Do try it !!

Ingredients:

• 500 gm boneless chicken
• 7-8  cloves (Finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp  Butter 
• 1/2 tsp  Cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp All purpose flour (Maida)
• 1/4 tsp White pepper powder
• Salt acc.to taste

 Method:

• Clean and wash the chicken pieces. Put them in a pressure cooker, add 4 cups of water.
• Close the lid and and give 2 whistles. Open the lid and cook on low flame till the water is reduced to two cups. Strain and keep it aside. 
• Heat the butter in a pan and stir fry chicken pieces till tender. 

• Heat the butter in a deep pan, add cumin seeds and chopped garlic. 

• When they begin to change colour, add all purpose flour and cook for a minute stirring continuously to avoid lump formation. 
• Add chicken stock, chicken pieces, white pepper powder and salt. Bring it to boil.

• Simmer for 3-4 minutes on low flame, remove from fire.
• Serve hot.

Note: In case you don't like the chopped garlic in shorba, add garlic in pressure cooker while cooking the chicken and discard it later.

Chicken Sweet Corn Soup (With Tinned Corn)

Hi Friends,
   Easiest way of making Sweet corn soup in hurry bury is to use tinned corn......Makes yummy soup in minutes.

Ingredients:
1 tin sweet corn (cream style)
3 cups of chicken stock  (Recipe)
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
Salt acc.to taste
1/2 cup of cooked chicken (from chicken stock)
1 egg (beaten)
A pinch of ajinomoto
A pinch of sugar

Method:

• Open corn tin, mix corn and chicken stock in a heavy bottomed pan. Bring it to boil.

• Add chicken pieces, black pepper, salt, sugar and ajinomotto. Mix well.

• Check the soup thickness, According to me thickness was perfectly good. So I didn't add cornflour mix but if you want soup to be more thick then add 2 tsp of cornflour in 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 8-10 mins.
• Add beaten egg, stir in circles constantly. Keep stirring until the egg is cooked through and become silky strands in the soup.Boil for 3-4 mins.
• Remove from fire. 
• Serve hot with green chilies in vinegar.