Lemon Ginger Rasam

There are days when you  have a heavy evening snack and don't really feel like cooking or eating anything heavy for the night. On such days, we do not just settle for good old thayir sadam ( rice and curds), but also have this light and refreshing lemon ginger rasam alongside. The fresh flavors from both the lemon and ginger make it really appetizing even during times when you are feeling under the weather. Instead of garnishing the rasam with coriander leaves, I add the coriander stalks from the "hybrid dhania" that we get here.

The stalks are not tender enough to use in curries or gravies. But it can be used in this rasam since it will be crushed in the mortar. The lemon ginger rasam is really light on the stomach and the juices of lemon, coriander and ginger will help you digest your food much better. What's more, it is so easy to rustle up that it figures on my menu at least once in a week!

To make the rasam, I do not use too much of toor dal. Instead, I use more of the toor dal water. So what I do is that I pressure cook a cup of toor dal with a pinch of turmeric. Then pour 1 and half cups of water into the dal container and give it a swish. Then remove the water separately, along with two tsp of the cooked toor dal. I reserve the rest of the toor dal to make dal the same day. Or it keeps well in the fridge for a week, you can use it on any day you are making a dal or sambar. Once you have this dal water mixture, it takes just five minutes to put together this rasam. Lets see how. 

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients of Lemon Ginger Rasam 

1 and 1/2 cups toor dal water 

2 tsp of cooked toor dal 

1 green chilli, slit lengthwise

1 inch ginger grated or chopped

juice from 1/2 lemon 

2 tsp of chopped coriander stalk

salt and sugar to taste

oil for tempering

4-5 curry leaves

1/2 tsp mustard 

1/2 tsp cumin seeds or jeera

a pinch of asafetida

Method to prepare Lemon Ginger Rasam

Cook about a cup of toor dal and add a cup and half of water to it. Now gently swish the water with a ladle and separate it out from the dal. Take two tsp of the cooked dal and mash it well. Add it to the dal water and set it aside.

In a mortar, crush the ginger and coriander stalk together coarsely.

Now bring one cup of water to a boil on medium flame. Slit a green chilli and add it to the water, along with the coriander-ginger paste.

Once it comes to a rolling boil, add the toor dal and water mixture. Add to it salt and sugar to taste. This is a sweet-sour rasam, hence the need for the sugar. Also, sugar enhances the flavor of ginger.

Prepare the tempering by heating oil, add to it the asafetida and mustard. Once the mustard starts crackling, add the curry leaves and jeera. If you like your rasam spicy, you can add some coarsely powdered pepper to the tempering. 

Now pour the tempering on the rasam. Turn off the heat. Adjust the salt and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon into it. 

That is about it! Enjoy it with steaming hot rice or drink as is as a soup. It is refreshing and light on the stomach. 

Pumpkin Palak Soup | Pumpkin and Spinach Soup

There has been an overdose of fall pictures and gorgeous looking pumpkin recipes on the internet in the past few days. After ogling at them on pinterest for some time, yours truly ordered pumpkin from bigbasket in the week's grocery, with an intention of making some muffins with them. They got stowed into the back of the fridge and lay forgotten there for a while.
One fine evening, when it was pouring as usual and i felt the need for a warm soup and rummaged through my vegetable box, i found the pumpkin and some spinach side by side. The spinach had to be used up and i was tired of making greens stir fry or dal for three days in a row. And so it was decided that the greens would go into a soup and it would be pumpkin and spinach soup for the night.
There is a mild sweetness that comes from the pumpkin in this soup which is balanced by adding some chilli flakes or red chilli powder. To enhance the flavors, i have used some jeera powder.
I have used a pressure cooker to speed up the process- saute the ingredients in it, pressure cook and dunk the hand blender into the same cooker and puree- it is as simple as it can get!

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 2 Level: Easy

Ingredients:

1 onion sliced
1" ginger sliced
1 cup of chopped pumkin
1 cup of chopped spinach
salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp of mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary and oregano)
a dollop of butter or some cream for topping

Method: 

Wash and chop the vegetables that are going into the soup.

 In a pressure cooker, add some butter and saute the onion and ginger in it.

Now add the pumpkin and fry for a few minutes after which you add in the spinach.

Season with salt and chilli powder. Fry until the vegetables are evenly coated in the spices.
Add a cup of water to the cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles on low flame.

Once the mixture cools down, blend it well. I do not strain the mixture. I like to get small bits of veggies in the soup. Now thin it down a little if you want it watery. Add the cumin powder. Adjust the salt. Bring the soup to a boil.
Top it with some butter or cream and season with mixed herbs.

Mix well. Pour into your soup bowls. Serve warm with some toasted bread or roasted papad.

Mix veg-Lemon Soup

There are some days when you keep thinking of food- all the time. Nothing you eat would seem to satiate that appetite. It comes with the territory of cooking light food. Less oil, less carbs and add to that super fast metabolism (touch wood!), end result is perpetual hunger. 

And then there are those odd days when you go out and end up eating out. All the oil and masala in the food ends up creating a really heavy tummy. For days like these, a soup and a salad are the best follow up meals. Light and filling, they help wash down all the junk. 

I was looking at making the lemon and coriander soup that is normally served in the restaurants. It is more like a dal with loads of coriander and lemon in it. While searching for a recipe, i stumbled upon this recipe on Good Food. 

I followed something similar to make a mixed vegetable and lemon (grass) soup. 

Preparation Time  15 Minutes

Serves  2

Ingredients:

Carrot         1 small

Potato         1 small

Onion          1 small

Garlic           a couple of pods

Lemongrass            about 4-5 blades

Cumin powder        half tsp

Coriander powder   half tsp

Split Moong Dal      3 tbsp

Salt               to taste

Pepper          to taste

Juice of half a lemon

Coriander      for garnishing

Butter            1 tsp

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add some butter. Add the sliced onions and garlic. Once it turns translucent, add the diced vegetables. I have added a potato and carrot here. 

Wash the moong dal and add to the cooker. Season with salt. Maybe add a chilli or two if you need it spicy. Add cumin and coriander powder to this. Add water until all the ingredients are soaked in it. Top it with the lemon grass.

 Pressure cook until 2 whistles. 

Once the pressure is off, remove and discard the lemon grass. Let it cool. Blend it in a mixer. I ground it slightly coarsely. The feeling when you get a piece of cooked, soft, slightly sweet carrot or potato in the soup is something else! 

Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with coriander and a dash of lime. Warm and hearty, this soup will never disappoint! Instead, it certainly will cheer you and your tummy up! 

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup

I love one pot meals. Khichdi, Bisi bele baath, pasta or a heartwarming soup. With the nip in the air becoming a little too hard to bear, i was craving for something warm and light for dinner. I had a quarter of a pumpkin and one sweet potato. With yellow sunshine in mind, i set out to make a soup with what i had.

Preparation Time: 15 Mins
Cooking Time :      15 Mins

Ingredients: 

Pumpkin                    1 cup, chopped into cubes
Sweet Potato             1 cup, chopped into cubes
Onion                         1 , sliced
Garlic                         3 cloves, sliced
Ginger                        1 inch, sliced
Salt                             to taste
Pepper                        to taste
Cumin Powder            1/2 tsp
Lemongrass                 a few sprigs
Milk                            half a cup
Water                         1 1/2 cups

Preparation:

Chop the ingredients as mentioned above.

In a pressure cooker, add some olive oil and some butter. Add in the ingredients shown above and saute for a few minutes.
Now add the diced pumpkin and sweet potato and toss. Add the water, salt to taste and the lemongrass.

Cover and pressure cook on low flame until two whistles. Let it cool. Once it has cooled, take off the lemon grass, add the veggies with the stock to a mixer and puree it well. It should have a smooth consistency. 

Now in a deep pan, add in the vegetable puree, some pepper powder and cumin powder.

Let the mixture boil for a minute. Lower the heat and mix in the milk. Give it a stir and turn off the heat.
Transfer the hot soup into your bowl. Top it with a basil leaf. Serve with any bread of your choice or khakhra. Enjoy your soup - a little sweet from the veggies, hot from the pepper and zingy from the ginger.