Creamy Carrot Soup

My husband and I took a pranayam course here in San Diego couple of weeks back. It was for 3 days and of which one day, they provided lunch with us. They had this carrot soup that day which tasted out of the world. We all totally fell in love with the soup. My god! it tasted so good. From then I really wanted to make carrot soup at home and today I made it. It came out very well. I never thought carrot soup would taste so good. Am sure you will all like this too.. 

Ingredients: 

Carrots - 4 chopped roughly

Onion- 2 Small chopped roughly

Green Chilli (optional) - 1 

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Bay Leaf - 2 

Cloves - 3-4

Fresh Cream - 3 tbsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Preparation:

In a pan heat ghee and oil. When hot add cloves and bay leaf. When the cloves start to puff up, take away cloves and bay leaf and throw them away.

In that oil, add onions and green chilli, turmeric and saute in high heat till onions caramelize. Then add carrots and saute in high heat till carrots become tender. Sprinkle water if necessary for the carrots to cook faster. 

When carrots are 90% cooked, turn off heat and let the contents cool. 

Blend everything in a blender along with some salt and make it a fine paste.

In the same pan, add this paste and bring it to a boil. Add water according to required consistency. Then add fresh cream , mix well and turn off heat. 

Serve hot with warm bread. 

Sending this to Deb's Souper Sundays and Girliechef's Hearth and Soul

Kumquat Pickle

Hey friends!!! Wondering about kumquat??? Its really tasty... I tasted this in my husband's cousin's house. She made this pickle and it tasted great. We all fell in love with this pickle instantaneously. It tasted more like lime pickle but with a natural sweet tinge to it. Let me give a small intro to this amazing little fruit.

The Round Kumquat (also Marumi Kumquat or Morgani Kumquat) is an evergreen tree, producing edible golden-yellow colored fruit. The fruit is small and usually round but can be oval shaped. The peel has a sweet flavor but the fruit has a sour center. The fruit can be eaten raw but is mainly used to make marmalade and jelly. It is grown as an ornamental plant and can be used in bonsai. This plant symbolizes good luck in China and other Asian countries, where it is sometimes given as a gift during the Lunar New Year. It's more commonly cultivated than most other kumquats as it is cold tolerant. It can be kept as a houseplant. (Source Wikipedia)

With simple preparation process that my aunt told me, I made this pickle and it came out really well. Thanks to my aunt and cousin sister.. 

Health Benefits:

Improves immune system

Reduces aging

Improves lung health

Helps fight againt dry and itchy skin

Strenghtens hair and nails

Improves wound healing

And there are many more benefits . For more benefits check out this link http://genuineaid.com/2010/05/01/komquats-nutrients-and-benefits/

Ingredients:

Kumquats - 20 (cut into 4 pices each) 

salt - to taste

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 1/4 cup

Mustard - 1 tsp for seasoning. 

Asafoetida -1/2 tsp

For dry roast:

Mustard - 1 tsp

Cumin - 1 tsp

Fenugreek (methi) - 1 tsp

Red Chilli - 2

Preparation:

In about 6 - 8 tbsp (just enough to cook kumquats) water boil  the kumquats for about 2 mins. It becomes tender pretty quick. So keep an eye on it. Alternatively, you can add salt to the fruit and keep it aside for about 2 days. The fruit becomes tender in 2-3 days. But if we boil it in water, it becomes tender fast and the pickle will be ready in a day. 

Now when the kumquats become tender, remove from heat and let it cool. At room temperature, add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and mix well with dry spoon and keep it aside for one day. 

Next day, dry roast fenugreek, cumin seeds, mustard red chilli until you hear the spluttering sound and grind it to fine powder. Do not burn the mustard seeds.  Mix well with the kumquats. 

Heat 1/4 cup oil and add a tsp of mustard, asafoetida and when it splutters add it to the mixture. Set aside for another day so that the kumquats soak well in spices and oil. 

You can serve it immediately or the next day. Pickles always tastes better when it soaks well in spices for atleast 2-3 days. 

Serve it with rotis or rice. Tastes really good. You can always add salt and red chilli according to your requirements. 

Sending this to Hima's Pickle/Achar/Urgayi Mela event 

See you soon ....

Crispy Plantain Chips/ Vazhakai Chips

I found these plantains yesterday in the Indian store and I couldn't stop myself from buying these really fresh plantains. Usually I make roast out of it. But this time i decided to make chips. It came out very well. We liked it. Its so simple to make and its delicious. 

Ingredients:

Raw banana/ Plaintain/ Vazhaikai - 3

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Oil - for deep frying

Preparation

Slice the plantain into thin slices. 

Deep fry them in batches 

Fry it until golden brown and transfer it into a bowl with paper towel. Excess oil will be absorbed by the paper towel. 

Immediately transfer it to another air tight container and add salt and asafoetida and mix well when it is warm. When we mix it warm, the salt and asafoetida sticks to the chips well. 

Adding asafoetida is optional. But try it with asafoetida. Your chips will taste great with it. 


See you later!!!