A Soup A Day To Keep The Cold At Bay..

When I started this post last week, I was cribbing and tired, recovering from a bout of flu. The weather plays havoc being warm one day and cold the next day leading to a spate of sickness all around. One after another, domino style, everyone in the family came down with the flu! (Apparently 6 out of every 10 people here in the NE are down with the flu.) So while the rest of my siblings were vacationing in warmer climates, our taste buds were the only ones here on vacation. I was surfing the blogs and everything looked so appealing but food generally tasted like variations of cardboard.My cooking was horrible to say the least! Only soups managed to sear a hot path down the throat!

Of course I love the naturality of the change of seasons (and the nice new clothes that a change of season signifies)and the white blanket of snow and hot chocolate and so on etc but seriously, I can only take so much of this cold weather. I guess its necessary to renew the earth and my family in the other hemisphere needs to have their summer now and the so on..My toes are so cold that I think blood froze on the way down to them and only hot liquids i.e. soups and tea, fed intravenously would keep me warm.

But then it snowed and my faith in the necessity of winter was reaffirmed. If it has to be cold anyway, at least it should snow like last Friday so that schools close and the kids can have a snowball fight and make snow mans. (I can say this now, as I am at home and not scrambling for alternate day care or forced to take leave on an unexpected holiday unlike last year.) So my cribbing post had to be modified to a "I love snow" post.:)

There is something about the quietness and beauty of a snow "storm" that is soothing and refreshing. The whiteness of the snow just blankets out the dead lawn and ugly twiggy trees to become a beautiful winter wonderland. Even the ugliest house on the block gets a makeover and becomes a charming cottage and I get reminded of Robert Frost's poems.

Well, everyone wants their version of soup at home and so I decided to do a soup festival. If anyone wants to join my soup fest, just link back to this post all through the coming two weeks! We can have a soup party for the flu ridden.

Red Velvet Lentil Soup



So for the first of this soup series I chose a Red Velvet Lentil Soup. It came out in the NY Times Dining Section some weeks back and I had to try it immediately. The author, Melissa Clark described the texture and color of the soup and only the term "red" and "velvety" stayed in my head.
It seemed so apt that I added it to the name. You would think, "its just some "dal"(lentils)..whats the big deal about Americans suddenly discovering our staple"...but taste this..It's dal, its tomatoey, its lemony, its a bit spicy, but the pureeing and the drizzle of olive oil elevates it from a humble dal to a soupy taste to be savored on its own. Pour the leftovers over some bulgur or rice and you have a meal.

If you can't see the recipe at the link, here is my version of it with some minor modifications.

You will need:
2 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste( Substitute with fresh/canned tomatoes but fry them a bit)
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 tsp red chili powder
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth (I tried with chicken stock and water...both taste good)
1 cup red split lentils(Masoor Dal)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

1. In a large pot or pressure cooker, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Reduce heat to medium and add onion and garlic, and saute until golden, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in tomato paste or tomatoes diced, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder and paprika, and saute for 2 minutes longer. Don't be tempted to add more chili powder as I was..its a soup, not dal. Take care not to burn the spices.

3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. (Use a pressure cooker for one whistle to save time.)

4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, puree half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Yield: 4 servings.

Ulli Kozhi/ Chicken Cry With Lots of Onion

Its cold out there (below zero..brr..r.)and it snowed yesterday. It's slushy and snowy and the roads are horrible. The schools are opening late so the kids are loving the weather but for the poor commuters, its havoc on the streets with accidents and delays.

Thankfully I am home, wrapped up in a warm clothes but still chilled to the bone. Anyway, it's the perfect season to make this yummy spicy chicken cry (a cross between a curry and a fry)and some parathas or madikki pathiris. This is my friend's recipe and though I kept making it, never got around to blogging it before. Thanks Ki! You are right, it goes well with almost everything.

For those who like the gravy more than the meat (and scrape up the gravy leaving the pieces behind :)), this is a perfect dish as you can't really separate the two with the gravy clinging so happily to the meat that there are no bland spots left. The coconut oil and curry leaves reminded me of some of the Kerala Resort style cooking. If made with boneless chicken, can be a rich appetizer. Yum!!

Notes: Use small pieces of chicken and do fry the tomatoes too. The oil daunted me a bit earlier but its not really a lot if you consider how much gets used up in frying. You could microwave the onions in a microwave safe plate for 5 minutes or so to cut down the frying time if you want to.

You will need:
Chicken -1 kg cut in pieces
Onion- 4 medium sized ones (2-3 cups chopped)
Tomato- 3 medium sized ones diced
Lemon Juice- 1 lemon’s juice.
Salt to taste

Spice Masala(to be ground together)
Red chili powder- 2 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric- ½ teas spoon
Ginger- ½ inch piece
Garlic- 4
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cardamom -3
Pepper -1 table spoon
Oil (coconut oil tastes the best.) But any oil can be used-1/4 cup more or less
Curry leaves- A handful
Coriander leaves – A Handful

Preparation:
After cleaning and cutting chicken , wash it well and let it drain in a colander. Marinate the chicken with ½ teaspoon each of the chill powder, turmeric and salt , lemon juice for 1/2 hr.

Slice the onion into thin long slices. Heat oil, add the onion and fry them on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Make sure they don't burn. The less the oil you use, more chances of it getting burnt.

Remove the onions and keep aside. After keeping aside 1/4th of the fried onions for garnish, crush the rest with hand or give a quick whip in a processor. (Don’t make it into fine paste) Just one pulse should be enough.

In the same oil, fry the cut tomatoes for about 3-4 minutes and keep aside.
Then add the ground masala and fry on low heat until the oil runs clear. Now add the marinated chicken, fried tomatoes, crushed onions to the masala ,mix well and let the water come out of the chicken. If there is not enough water, add ½ cup water to cook.

Cover and cook on low heat. The chicken should get cooked in about 15 minutes on low heat, but keep checking and stirring.

Add more salt and adjust taste as necessary.
Don't add too much of water as this not a gravy dish, more like a cry and tastes best with the whole onion masala sticking nicely to the chicken. Garnish with fried onion, curry leaves and coriander.
Goes well with almost everything…appam, puttu, paratha….