Indian soup again. I get into ruts. But they are good ruts.
I made a nice, comforting Chana Dal/Tomato,Garbanzo soup today. A few variations from last week's version, and, I must say, it's spectacular! Last week's version (which I did not describe in this blog) was actually more involved, because I put about half the soup mixture in to a blender and then returned it to the pot. Not this time. And I accelerated the spices a bit. Here's the recipe I used this afternoon...I call it by the unique name of John’s Chana Dal/Garbanzo/Tomato Soup:
1 cup chana dal, cooked for 1 hour in 3 cups water in a large pot
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of cumin seed
1 tablespoon, minced ginger (1-½ inches fresh ginger)
1 small onion or ½ large onion, diced into large pieces
1 tablespoon, minced garlic (or 3 cloves crushed in garlic press)
½ tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garam masala
2 cans 15oz. tomatoes
1 can 15 oz. garbanzos
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
yoghurt (about 4 tablespoons, or more)
Mix turmeric, coriander, cayenne, coriander, and garam masala together in small bowl and set aside.
In coated saucepan, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking; put cumin in pan and stir until it begins to toast.
Add onion, garlic & ginger and cook until they begin changing character.
Empty saucepan into potl in which chana dal was cooked (leave the water).
Add cans of tomatoes and garbanzos and the dry spice mix and stir well; heat for about 10-15 minutes
When ready to serve, spoon soup into bowls and squeeze juice of ½ large lime or 1 small lime over soup and then add a dollop of plain yoghurt.
Play with this recipe. It's incredibly easy and tastes wonderful. This week's version was spicier, tarter, better than last week's. I just play with ingredients and volume. I suggest making a double recipe, depending on how many are eating it. I could easily devour a full receipe personally...2 people should double the recipe.
This soup could cause me to become vegetarian. That's the problem with such soups. Devout carnivores could be transformed against their wills.
5 comments:
Sounds like a great recipe to this vegetarian. Must give it a try!
Bev, tell me how you like it! It's amazingly simple to make and is remarkably flavorful.
That looks like a wonderful soup. It's be fun to try to make some of the Indian bread to accompany it - naan, which I've had with lots of onions in it. I bet it's like a pizza dough.
isabelita, naan would be a perfect accompaniment. I may try making naan one of these days. I've always taken in for granted when eating in an Indian restaurant, but have never even seen a recipe for it (haven't looked).
I have a recipe for naan on my site. Do a search for it. It's amazingly simple.
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