Herbed Fresh Corn and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Tomatoes - 5-6 ripe ones, chopped roughly with the skin and seeds on
2. Frozen Sweet corn - 150 gm
3. Black olives - 6, pitted
4. Garlic cloves, chopped roughly
5. Fresh Thyme leaves - 50 gm (The dry thyme does not work well in this soup. It leaves a very soapy taste)
6. Salt
7. Paprika - 2 tspns
8. Tomato Puree - 1 tspn
9. Olive Oil - 2 tbspn

Procedure

1. In a heavy bottomed dish, heat about 1/2 tspn of oil and add the garlic.
2. After about a min, add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes give off their juices and become mostly tender. 
3. add the olives and about 30 gm of thyme and cook for another 2-3 min. 
4. now add this mixture to your food processor and pulse for about a min or so, till everything is almost  blended and mashed. 
5. meanwhile, in your now empty dish, add the corn and defrost it and let it cook for about 2 min
6. add the pulsed tomato mixture to the cooked corn, cook for 2 min.  
7. Add the remaining olive oil and cook for another min or so.
8. Pour into your bowls and garnish with the remaining thyme leaves

Serve hot aside crackers ! 

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 2
2. Cauliflower - 100 gm
3. Radish - 1 
4. Water boiled of yellow dal - 100 ml
5. corn flour - 1 tspn
6. garlic cloves - 6
7. salt 
8. pepper (optional)
9. Turmeric (optional)
10. Demerara sugar - 1 tspn
11. Olive Oil - 2 tbspns
12. Dill - for garnish
13. water - 100 ml

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 250 C

1. Chop carrots and radish to about 1/2 inch long pieces and the cauliflower to small florets, and spread them on a roasting tray. Finely chop the garlic cloves and sprinkle them also on the tray.
2. Sprinkle about a tbspn of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast them for about 40 min, till the garlic turns brown and burnt and the vegetables are roasted about 70 percent. 
3. Set them aside to cool a bit and get on with the stock for the soup. 
4. In a big dish, start boiling the water and the dal water. In about 2 tbspn of water, mix the corn flour and then add this to the dal-water mixture. 
5. Meanwhile, in a blender, blend all the roasted vegetables, except the garlic. Blend them very finely, almost paste like. 
6. Add this mixture to the boiling water and let it boil for about 10 min. Add in the salt, turmeric and pepper too.
7. Take it off the heat, and add in the chopped garlic.

 Serve hot, with the dill garnishing ! 

Leek and Herb Soup

Ingredients:

1. Leeks - 200 gm , chopped roughly
2. Garlic - 4 cloves - crushed
3. Herbs like Fresh Marjoram, Thyme and Basil - a handful
4. Salt
5. Pepper
6. Water - 2 cups
7. Corn Flour - 1 tbspn
8. Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tspn

Procedure:

1. cook the leeks, herbs and garlic in the olive oil on stove, for about 7 min, till they are almost tender.(you can add a little salt at this stage, if you like)
2. then take it off the heat and let it cool for about a minute
3. then add all of them to a blender, add the water and blend till it is a fine puree
4. strain the whole mixture

Serve Hot !! 

Pine Apple Rasam

Ingredients

1. Pine Apple – One half of a pine Apple
2. Tomato – 1 medium size
3. Coriander Leaves – 7 strands
4. Curry leaves – 10 leaves
5. Tamarind Paste – 2 tsp [ According to taste if you like your rasam sour then add a little more , keep in mind the sourness of the pine apple]
6. Green Chilli - 1
7. Garlic Pod – 3 [ Optional]
8. Jeera – 1tsp
9. Black Pepper – 1tsp
10. Tumeric Powder – 1 tsp
11. Asafoetida – A pinch
12. Salt to taste

For Seasoning

1. Mustard Seed – ½ tsp
2. Urad Dal – ½ tsp
3. Dry Red Chilli -1 sliced in the center
4. Oil- 1tsp

Directions

1. Slice ¾ of the pine apple into cubes and put the rest in a mixer
2. Slice half the tomato and put the rest in the mixer
3. Along with it add 3 to 12 and grind it to a fine paste
4. In a vessel heat oil and fry mustard seed , dry chilli and urad dal
5. To the seasoning pour 3 – 4 glasses of water
6. Add the sliced tomato and pine Apple and bring it to boil
7. Simmer and add the masala paste and bring to boil.
8. Switch of the gas once you seethe rasam boil.
9. Close it with a lid so the aroma stays inside.
10. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Tomato Sage Soup

Ingredients:


• Tomatoes – 4, cut into halves

• honey – 2 tbspn

• Garlic Cloves – 4-5

• Red Onion - ½ (or 1, depending on the intensity you want)

• Water – 75 ml (3 to 4 tbspsn)

• Olive Oil – 50 ml or a little less

• Fresh Sage Leaves – 4-5

• Salt, Pepper

Procedure:

1. In a heavy bottomed dish, pour in about a tbspn of olive oil and cook the tomatoes, sage and honey for about 10 min, till all moisture starts to release. Take it off the heat and let it cool

2. Peel off the skins and chop the tomatoes and the leaves finely.

3. Now in the same dish, pour the remaining oil and start cooking your garlic and onions. Don't burn or brown your garlic or onion. They just need to be cooked till soft and translucent.

4. Put your tomatoes, most of the sage leaves, and the onion garlic mixture into your food processor and blend till about 95 percent is crushed and blended.

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, combine well.

6. Dish it up in your soup bowl and drizzle a little more olive oil and the remaining sage leaves.

Serve hot !!

American Sweet Corn Soup

Ingredients:

1.    American Sweet Corn – 200 gm

2.    Red Onion – 1 – halved or quartered

3.    Garlic – 3 cloves – whole

4.    Milk – 4 tbspns

5.    Corn Flour – 1 tbspn – mixed in water and made into a whitel fluid

6.    Salt

7.    Pepper

8.    Water – about 2 cups

Procedure:

1.    in a heavy bottom dish, add water, let it boil and corn, the quartered onion and garlic

2.    Boil for about 4-6 min, till the corn is softened

3.    Remove the onion and garlic

4.    Drain the corn, let it cool

5.    put the corn in the blender and blend till about 80% is mashed/blended.

6.    Take out the mashed corn, add in the milk and the corn water. Boil for about 2 min.

7.    Add salt and pepper and serve hot, garnished with cream, if you like ! 

Mysore Rasam

Ingredients

Thuar Dhal - 1/2 cup
Red Chillies - 4 to 5
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 - 1 tsp
Tamarind - Big lemon size
Salt
Jaggery (optional)
Onions (Medium sized) - 1/4 Kg
Garlic - 2 full

Method
1. Pressure cook thuar dhal and red chillies.
2. Peel Onions and garlic and cook them.
3. Grind cooked dhal with pepper, jeera and coriander seeds to paste.
4. Soak tamarind, salt and jaggery and take extract.
5. Mix ground paste, onions, garlic and tamarind extract in a vessel.
6. Add water if needed. It should be of sambhar consistency.
7. Boil and garnish with coriander leaves.
8. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Chips / Vadams would be good accompaniment.

Kollu Paruppu Rasam

In Coimbatore this rasam is very famous. We used to prepare whenever somebody gets cold or fever. This is very effective remedy for cold.

Ingredients:

Kollu (horsegram) - 1cup

Tomato - 2

Tamaraind - small lemon size

Small onion - 4 nos.

Curry leaves - few

Dry Red Chilli - 2

Rasam poweder - 1 t.spoon (black pepper, jeera and few methi seeds - grind all together)

Hing - 1/4 t.spoon

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 t.spoon

Method

1. Soak kollu for 2 hours and add salt with enough water and pressure cook.

2. Drain the water and save. Take 2 t.spoons of cooked kollu parupu and mash it.

(With excess kollu paruppu we can make sundal)

3. In drained water blanch tomatoes.

4. Head oil in kadai and season with musturd seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and chopped small onions.

5. Now add blanched tomatoes with kollu paruppu water.

6. Add crushed garlic pods.

7. Add mashed kollu paruppu, rasam powder and hing.

8. Add salt to taste and allow it to boil for 5 mintues.

9. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Healthy kollu rasam is ready.