Mixed Vegetable Soup Recipe

Lights. Food. Fun. Family. Festivity. The festival of Diwali brought with it wonderful celebrations this year.

The festival of Diwali calls for special food. Mom's and grandmom's get together in the kitchen to make yummy faraal of crsipy chakli, spicy chiwda, decadent laddoos, flaky karanjis... oh, such delicious food! 

It's food of festivity. It's food of family togetherness. It's food that you can't resist. It's food you HAVE to eat.    

Mixed Vegetable Soup Recipe

Now that Diwali is gone, it is time to put the stomach to a bit of rest and detox the body a little. Soups are a great way to do this!

Mixed Vegetable Soup Recipe

This mixed vegetable soups has many different types of vegetables and is full of nutrients. The browned garlic and cinnamon powder add two layers of flavours. It has very little oil and no carbs. And it is very filling. 

Mixed Vegetable Soup Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

6 medium sized tomatoes quartered
3 medium sized onions quartered
1 cup diced yellow pumpkin
1 cup diced bottle gourd
2 carrots diced
2 tsps cinnamon powder
2 cups water divided
2 tsps oil
8-10 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the vegetables with 1 cup of water and the cinnamon powder for about 10 minutes.

Puree this mixture to make a thick soup of it. Sieve this mixture.

In a pan heat the oil. Lower the flame and add the finely chopped garlic to it. Fry it slowly over the low flame till it turns brown.

Now add the soup mixture and mix well.

Cover and simmer on a low flame for 5 minutes for the flavour of garlic to seep through the soup.

Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot!

Curried Lentil Soup

Since I am a food blogger here and a restaurant reviewer on Spicerover India with a new excuse to eat out (the golden period after engagement), I tend to eat heavy meals outside at least 4-5 times a week. So, when I am eating at home, I try to have light meals to maintain a balance (and my weight!).

Curried Lentil Soup

A lentil soup makes for a great one-dish meal for a diet. A bowl of this soup is quite filling. It is made with very little oil, it has no carbs (unless eaten with some form of bread) and has lots of proteins. The only downside for the Indian palate is that is has very little spices in it. Therefore, the other day, I read through some basic lentil soup recipes on the internet and I added my twist to it to make a tasty curried lentil soup.

Curried Lentil Soup

The recipe for this yummy soup is as follows:

Curried Lentil Soup

Preparation Time: 2 hours (to soak the lentils)

Making Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow toor dal (split pigeon peas)
1/2 cup green moong dal (split green gram with the skins on)
1/2 cup udad dal (split black gram)
1/2 cup masoor dal (split red lentil)
4 cups water
1 tbsp olive/ peanut/ sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsps red chilly powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Lemon wedges to serve


Method

Wash all the lentils well and then soak them in 3 cups of water for 2 hours at least. Cook all the lentils in a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes till done. Roughly mash them a little after they are done.

In a deep pan heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds.

Once the cumin seeds begin to crackle, add in the asafoetida powder and let it sizzle in the oil for about 10 seconds.

Now add in the ginger paste and garlic paste and fry in the oil for another 15 seconds.

Reduce the flame to a medium high and add in the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and cumin powder. Fry the mixture for about 1 minute till the tomatoes release the oil and are tender.

Now increase the flame to high and add in the cooked and roughly mashed lentils.

Bring the mixture to a boil and add in the salt and black pepper powder. Reduce the flame and let the lentil soup simmer with the spices for about 10 minutes.

Serve hot with a dash of lemon juice.