On a cold monsoon day, the best comfort food is a bowl of soup. In India, soups may not be a traditional item. But that’s changing. Old appetizers like South Indian rasam, spiced buttermilk, coconut milk sol kadhi and flavoured rice congee with accompaniments are now being promoted as soup courses.
But there’s nothing like a chicken soup for body and, if you like, soul. It’s granny’s remedy for invalids in several cultures from West to East.
A good cook loves her soups for the many ways you can make them. As a noted psychologist once remarked, “A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.” So try these:
Chicken Egg Noodle Soup
Ready in 25 minutes
You'll love this flavourful, mild soup on a misty monsoon evening or whenever you've had a long day and need something comforting. Feel free to add crushed
chillies to spice it up.
Method: 1. Cook noodles. Drain and divide into two serving bowls.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to a boil
in a medium pan with mushrooms and green onions. Stir chicken into boiling stock. When stock returns to a boil, crack eggs directly into stock.
3. Continue to cook until chicken is no longer pink and eggs are cooked, about 8 to 10 minutes. Pour the chicken soup over the noodles in the bowls and serve immediately.
- Beverly
Rajasthani tamater shorba
Ready in 30 minutes This is really a tomato soup made and served North Indian style. You can make this any time of year, because these tangy, tantalizing vegetables—rich in carotenoids, several vitamins, antioxidants, potassium—are always available.
Ingredients: 14 medium-sized tomatoes
1 tablespoon ghee
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon dry pudina powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
Method: 1. Boil tomatoes and blend them in the mixer to make a puree.
2. Heat ghee in a pan; add jeera and when it turns golden brown, add tomato purée and the remaining ingredients. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot on
a cold rainy day!
Serving suggestions: To add an interesting variation, I sometimes top it with garlic flavoured croutons or lightly sauteed bread crumbs for some crunch in the soup.
During a party, I usually serve this soup in coffee mugs as it makes it easier for everyone to enjoy this as a starter without having to sit down at a dining table.
- Pragatim
German Kinderpunsch
Ready in 10 minutes
This is not a soup, but kids and adults will love this drink on a chilly monsoon evening. Kinderpunsch is an alcohol-free, warming drink, served mainly in
Germany at Christmas. Substitute white grape juice for apple if you prefer.
Ingredients:
225ml water
150 grams castor sugar
2 pinches ground cloves
1 cinnamon stick
750ml apple juice
1 lemon, sliced
Method: 1. In a 3-litre pan, bring water, sugar, cloves and cinnamon to a boil.
2. Stir in juice and heat through. Do not boil. Take spices out and pour over lemon slices in serving bowl. Serve warm.
