Sunday 18 December 2011

Curried carrot and lentil soup


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Its absolute soup weather here, and since this year winter came in a lil late (thank god for that) we haven't really had much of a soup thing going on. The other day Ro got back from home craving for a bowl of hot tom yum soup and even insisted we head out to a Thai restaurant to have some. I shrugged it off saying I slogged in the kitchen for one whole hour (yes too much time) to come up with dinner and also left overs in the fridge make me uneasy. I love an empty fridge as opposed to others who love an over filled fridge :)

Although I love a good bowl of soup on and off, I am not really an expert at making them. In fact I honestly suck at it. So its all soup sachets and canned soup jazzed up with veggies and all sorts of stuff. If it wasn't for some carrots I needed to get rid of from the fridge, I wouldn't have made this soup either. Carrots are not really a favourite of mine, and other than eating them raw, I really cant handle them. This soup however was a welcome change. The sweetness actually was a good thing, since it matched perfectly well with the lentils and Indian flavours.
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On a completely different note (although those of you on FB will already know), we are off to India, tomorrow, for 3 weeks (rather unexpectedly) and I am super thrilled that I get to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends. This time, unlike last year, I shall just be resting and relaxing and watching loads of mallu movies and harassing my brother and sis-in-law. Although I have promised mom a lot of baking and this and that, I am pretty sure I WILL NOT be doing any of those. Good thing my mom doesn't read the blog :)

I wanted to fix up a couple of guest posts by a few of my favourite bloggers in my absence, but then a one week notice to all of them is rather unfair and so I have just decided to go ahead and schedule a couple of posts while I'm away. So if I don't visit y'all for a month, please do pardon me, its only because I'm either sitting in front of the TV, or prop shopping (plan to do loads of it) or sleeping, or eating, in Kerala. But do drop in, as I have a couple of interesting recipes making its appearances here.
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Onion- 1 large, roughly chopped
Garlic- 4 pods, peeled and roughly chopped
Carrots- 200 gms, peeled and chopped into cubes or rounds
Red lentils- 1/4 cup
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Red chilli powder- to taste
Pepper powder- to taste
Soup cube- 1 small (vegetable or chicken)
Water 500 ml
Salt- to taste
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Milk- 1/4 cup
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Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and throw in the onions and garlic. Sauté for about five minutes on medium heat till wilted.
Throw in the cumin, coriander and chilli powders and cook till the raw smell of the masala's disappear, about a minute or so.
Add the lentils and carrot and stir around, making sure all the masala catches on to them.
Add the soup cube, water and bring to a boil.
Place the lid on the cooker along with the weight and cook for about 15 minutes or 3 to 4 whistles.
Once the pressure dies, open the lid, add the milk, season with enough salt and pepper and bring to a gentle boil.
Take it off the fire and wait for the soup to cool a bit before using an immersion blender to make a smooth mix, or if you prefer to leave it chunky, go ahead and serve it with some herbed garlic bread (I adapted Shabs recipe, just that I used chopped parsley instead of basil)
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Notes: Freeze the soup in an air tight container and use it later on a rainy day
Replace the masala powders with about 2 tsps of curry powder
The soup cube makes all the difference, so don't omit that

Sending these over to the Christmas Carrot Competition over at Love the Garden.

25 comments:

Satrupa said...

The soup looks absolutely delish .......perfect to sip cuddled up in a blanket. Gorgeous clicks

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Enjoy to the fullest dear. What else is your agenda beside watching Mallu movies? :-)
Warm, inviting soup..

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Sushma said...

The soup looks absolute comforting for the weather :) loved the combo :)

Shruti said...

this soup is delish ! perfect for winter

Aarthi said...

awesome soup

Prathima Rao said...

A warming & delish soup ;) Have a lovely vacation & wish u merry xmas & a happy new year..And do let me know if you will be visiting mlore ;)
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Suja Manoj said...

Comforting..super delicious soup

Heidi said...

Mmm, that looks fantastic. I love red lentils in soup and we certainly have the weather for it here. It looks very comforting :)

Poornima Nair said...

Soup looks awesome and I love the flavors, but I love those cheesy toasts more. Delish!! Happy Holidays!!

Shema George said...

a hearty and yummy soup
LifeScoops

Lifewithspices said...

warm soup for this cold climate..

Deeps @ Naughty Curry said...

looks beautiful, hearty and the perfect thing to warm u up on a cold day :) happy journey by the way!

Unknown said...

Carrot and lentils is a nice combination...comforting soup and nice clicks

Sarah said...

i love carrot soup! though i havent tried carrot and lentil soup.. it looks heavenly... And how nice that its soup weather in Bangalore too :) plus this is perfect because of the veggie fast we take for the 24 days before Christmas... I'm ditching my initial plan of making kanji and payar for dinner and and making this instead ;) thanks!

Sarah said...

Merry Christmas and happy new year!!! It's a little early but then I'm off to Kerala this week too and might not get access to internet there...

Priya Suresh said...

Definitely a delicious soup to keep us warm during this chilled weather.

Pari Vasisht said...

Enjoy your time and lovely clicks for that attractive soup.


FOODELICIOUS

EVENT FOR DECEMBER & GIVEAWAY, ‘ONLY’- COOKIES & CAKES

Monet said...

This looks so good...I wish I had a bowl to take to work today! Thank you for whetting my appetite. Now I don't want to go to work at all, I just want to get in the kitchen and make this soup! I hope you have a blessed week, my friend!

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

delicious! perfect to warm ourselves up in winter evenings.

Pointblank said...

hey babe...

Thats an innovative soup and ur soup bowl looks cute :)

Reading ur blog is nice... makes me feel less guilty about my laziness.. but although I must say, ur far less lazier than u claim to be... ur definitely whipping out smthg every day :)

chinmayie said...

Love the mood in these photos! wintery ;) and cold and bright...
It's totally soup weather here in Bangalore too, so thanks for sharing this great recipe.
www.lovefoodeat.com

Sushma Mallya said...

nice and different combo for a soup,lovely pics with presentation...

Anh said...

beautiful soup. I love how nice it looks in the mug!

the Junkie book said...

so you've already left!! happy hols and happy Christmas and New Year.
boy am i not glad am in Goa ;p

will be checking out your posts...and i've always felt it's good to give your blog a nice good rest in between though i been giving it loads of it!

Kelley said...

Do you have any suggestions for adapting this recipe for use without a pressure cooker?