Wadhwa - HEALTHY SOUPS AND STARTERS : soup as a meal

HEALTHY
SOUPS AND STARTERS SOUP AS A MEAL Kirti Wadhwa Copyright 2015 Kirti Wadhwa. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-4828-4512-9 (sc) 978-1-4828-4511-2 (e) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. www.partridgepublishing.com/india 06/23/2015 DEDICATION I dedicate this book is to my mother Mrs Sarla Gauba, who has inculcated in me, the value of healthy and tasty food making and eating sensibly, using basics of gastronomy in a practical manner. www.partridgepublishing.com/india 06/23/2015 DEDICATION I dedicate this book is to my mother Mrs Sarla Gauba, who has inculcated in me, the value of healthy and tasty food making and eating sensibly, using basics of gastronomy in a practical manner.

She has been the fountain-head of knowledge, talent, encouragement and passion with which I could pursue my hobbies now culminating in the form of this book. Thank you, Mother Meri! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks to all my friends and relatives, who, over the years, have appreciated my culinary experiments and encouraged me to write a compendium of my journey into the world of cookery. Special word of thank you for my husband and children who have been connoisseurs of my dishes and germinated the idea of this book. This book could only be completed with efficient editorial support from Dear Reshma-Thanks a lot Reshma. It merits a special mention about our family friends Mugdha and Amit for their insightful advice on technical matters about publishing Many thanks to my photographer Abhinav for his infinite patience, a discerning eye and unique talent that makes this book a colorful reading. CONTENTS LIGHT VEGETARIAN SOUPS (Ser ves 4) CREAMY VEGETABLE SOUPS (Ser ves 4) SOUP AND STEW AS A MEAL-VEGETARIAN (Ser ves 4) NON VEGETARIAN SOUPS (Ser ves 4) SOUP AS A MEAL-NON VEGETARIAN (Ser ves 4) NON VEGETARIAN STEWS AND CHOWDERS (Ser ves 4) VEGETARIAN STARTERS (Ser ves 4) NON VEGETARIAN STARTERS (Ser ves 4) Our immune system is our first line of defence against toxins and germs.

If you are prone to allergies, frequently feel stressed, suffer from headaches and a sore throat, chances are that your immune system is under stress. The soups that we will see here are full of immunity boosting nutrients and pack in at least one portion of your daily vegetables. Soups can be very beneficial in winters, when we need extra energy to keep ourselves warm. What better than the warmth of a good winter soup to keep away the flu! A bowl of soup can be a satisfying evening meal accompanied by crusty whole meal bread, salads or starters specially in winters . Soups are quick to prepare and nutri tious. Starters that are given in this book complement the soups explained above.

Contrary to the general belief the starters here are prepared in a healthy manner, combining nutrition with delectable taste. And these Starters make the whole dining experience sumptuous and wholesome. It is hoped that through this book the readers benefit from these easy to learn and use recipes given here and enjoy eating with their folks. Suggestions and feedback welcome to make this effort more enriching.. KIRTI WADHWA Making your own soups ensures that you are getting the fresh ingredients. Also, you are avoiding additives and high sodium content which is the base of many commercially prepared soups.

Soups are an excellent way of ensuring that you get at least one of your five portions of vegetables and fruits per day. A healthy homemade soup can make for a balanced meal and give you your daily dose of:

• PROTEIN - pulses, eggs, soy, tofu, cottage cheese, meat, fish, nuts.
• CARBOHYDRATES - rice, barley, wheat, oats, potatoes etc.
• FATS - healthy unrefined oils, nuts, seeds, butter and cream
• FIBRE - fibrous vegetables, pulses, bread
• WATER - it is the base with all the soups
• VITAMINS & MINERALS from all the ingredients you use

There are different categories of soups and according to the consistency of soup; these can be categorized as THIN SOUPS - these are consomm and broths, consomm are clear soups and broths are semi clear soups with vegetables and/or meat pieces THICK SOUPS- these are puree and cream soups, basically pureed in the blender. And to have cream soups, further thicken with cream, egg yolks or white sauce. Thin Soups (CONSOMME) If you like thin soups then the recipe for a good Consomm is essential Co nsomm A clear soup made from vegetables/ chicken, meat or fish. VEGETABLE/ CHICKEN CONSOMM 250 gm chicken with bone cut in small pieces 200 gm turnip cut in small pieces (for vegetable consomm, instead of ch icken) 2 small carrots, c hopped 1 small onion, c hopped 1 liter water Bouquet garni (a bunch of herbs like parsley, thyme, bay leaves, etc. tied in m uslin) 1 egg white

1. Put first five ingredients together with salt and pepper except the egg white in a large pan and bring to the boil.

   Turn the heat down and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the egg white, whisking continuously with a wire whisk, until thick froth forms on the surface. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, whisking to prevent the liquid from boiling.

2. Let it stand for 15 minutes; let the soup settle and then strain consomm into a bowl through a fine strainer. It should be clear and sparkling.
3. Reheat the consomm and check the seasoning before you serve.

To have clear consomm stock used should be clear and let the soup settle before straining. To make the consomm rich serve with some garnishing such as 1 carrot, cabbage, juliennes of bell pepper, vermicelli, ginger juliennes, peeled and seeded tomatoes diced, coriander or mint leaves CHICKEN /MUTTON BROTH 300 gm of lamb or chicken, cut in small pieces, neck pieces can also b e used 25 gm rice or barley 1 medium onion, c hopped 4-5 carrots, chopped in slices 100 gm pumpkin cut in small cubes Bouquet garni or lemon grass Chopped Parsley or coriander for g arnish Salt and pepper

1. Put the meat in large pan with 6 cups of water, bring it to boil. Remove any scum from surface, reduce the heat add rice/barley.

   Simmer for 15 minutes for mutton or 5 minutes if you are using chicken. Add rest of the ingredients and simmer for another 15minutes.

2. Remove bones, strip off the meat and put it back into the broth. Remember to remove bouquet garni or lemon grass. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot in a large soup bowl and garnish with chopped coriander or mint.

Pressure Cooker Recipe Cook the mutton with water and bouquet garni in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes. Let it stand till pressure is there. Put rice along with the vegetables cook in the pressure cooker for one whistle; let it stand till the pressure is there.

Remove the bones from the mutton; put the diced pieces back, and remove bouquet-garni, serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander. For chicken broth cook chicken along with rice and vegetables for one whistle, let it stand,till the pressure is there, remove bones from the chicken,put the diced pieces back . Slow Cooker R ecipe Good recipe for the slow cooker as well, when you are using slow cooker put all the ingredients (as mentioned for chicken broth) in the cooker at the same time, for vegetable broth or for chicken broth. VEGETABLE BROTH 2 tbsp red lentil 2 tbs p rice Bouquet garni 3 carrots c hopped 100 gm pumpkin c hopped 100 gm broccoli or cauliflower c hopped 1 onion cut in small pieces 3 tomatoes c hopped 1 ginger grated 3 cloves garlic c hopped 4 cups of water Salt and pepper to taste Coriander or herbs of your taste for garn ishing

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