17 January 2012

Carrot-Ginger-Indian Spice Soup

A general cover of the standard Carrot-Ginger soup seen on so many sites, thrown together with what I had in the house. Here's Epicurious, and Jamie Oliver (next time I'll throw in some fresh-ground nutmeg) and Cooks.com. Mine is closest to the first but is vegan and non-dairy. Low calories, low fat (just the oil used to sautee the veggies), extremely high flavor. Yum (although the picture I took- not so yum. Carrot soup through my lens- not so great.)

  • 2lbs (approximately 4 cups) carrots, cut in coins
  • 2-4 large onions, diced as large as you want
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
  • thumb's worth+ of fresh (peeled), chopped ginger root
  • olive oil
  • pepper and salt to taste
  • T of yellow mustard seeds (didn't have)
  • T of coriander seeds (didn't have)
  • lots of garam masala (start with 3 T, add more to taste, contains mustard, coriander and cumin as well as other spices)
  • cumin, if you have it
  • organic lime, zested (3 tsp) and juiced (1-1/2 T)
  • 5-6 cups boiling water/vegetable stock
My soup is far more spicy than the ones linked to above, but I like it that way. I also add some cayenne and more black pepper after it's in my bowl- the spouse likes it as above.

So, sautee the onions in oil, add garlic after 5 minutes. Add all the spices and sautee a bit more. Then add the carrots and toss with the hot oil with onions and garlic for a bit.

Add the 5 cups of water/vegetable stock. In this case I added the water and then two blocks of Knorr's new MSG-free/natural vegetable stock. I was pretty excited to find that Knorr has begun to use some of its natural/MSG-free formulation in Germany: they have always sold them in Italy, but Germany had the MSG-cheap stuff dumped here. (Germans are acknowledged throughout Europe- and in Germany- to be more concerned with quantity and price than with quality.)

Bring to a boil then simmer until it's all tender (I picked the kids up from school: an hour later it was done). Puree with a stab mixer and add more water if too thick. If too thin, could cook a bit more or add a few potatoes (but would have to either have boiled potatoes to hand or let them cook before eating the soup).

Add lime zest (reserve a tiny bit to sprinkle on serving) and lime juice. Stir. Salt and pepper t0 taste (add cayenne if you want).

Serve.

(You can add a dollop of yogurt or whatever, but I love that this is parve, neither meat nor milk.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, that was an inspiration!

We had all the ingredients on hand except the carrots, so off I went.

It's now simmering nicely. I think K will appreciate a dollop of sour cream on top. :)

About the MSG Knorr's: is that available at supermarkets like Edeka or do you have to go to a Reformhaus?

- ian in hamburg

G in Berlin said...

Edeka- I first saw it in Dulmen, while visiting a friend, then sought it here. It says "Bouillon Pur", then "ohne blah blah blah". They have vegetable, beef and chicken. The mixes that are non-MSG and ick-stuff are all branded in the lower left corner "Guter Geschmack ist unser Natur: Natürlich ohne blah blah blah.
I used two for 6 cups, which is lots less than the mix calls for, but then you could probably do without it you had wackloads of celey and parsey and other veg/gewurz to hand.
How did you like it? I'll post my cauliflower potato soup next:-).