Pepper 'n Spice

Want a warm soup on a rainy day? Enjoy with one of your favorite books. Green zucchini - 2, peeled and diced Carrot - 1, peeled and diced Olive oil - 2 tsp Salt Pepper Celery - 1 stalk with leaves, diced Water - 1 cup Mint leaves - a few Preheat oven to 200C. Place zucchini and carrot on a baking dish. Drizzle oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes, toss the vegetables with a shake of the dish. Keep aside to cool. Add celery. Puree. Transfer to a saucepan. Add water. Add spices, if required. Simmer, 5 minutes. Garnish with mint leaves.

Red cowpeas - 2 cups, soaked overnight Carrot - 2, diced Olive oil - 2 tsp Onion - 1, peeled and diced Garlic - 5 pods, peeled and crushed Celery - 1 stalk with leaves, diced Salt Pepper Red chili flakes - 2 tsp Water - 1 cup Mint leaves - a few Pressure cook beans and carrot with some water until cooked and soft. Allow to cool. In a saucepan, add oil. Add garlic and onion. Cook until soft. Add celery. Stir. Set aside to cool. Add both beans and onion mix in blender. Puree. Bring back to pan. Add water, spices. Simmer, 5 minutes. Garnish with mint leaves.

Pumpkin - 1/4, peeled and deseeded Ginger - 1/2 inch Celery - 2 stems with leaves, sliced small Salt Pepper Olive oil - 2 tsp Water - 1 cup Cube pumpkin. Preheat oven to 200C. Place pumpkin in a baking tray. Drizzle 1 tsp of oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper too. Bake for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes, toss the pumpkin in the tray. Keep aside to cool. In a saucepan, add 1 tsp oil. Add thinly sliced ginger. Stir, 5 minutes. In a blender, add roasted pumpkin, ginger, celery. Puree. Transfer to saucepan. Add water. Stir. Add spices if needed. Simmer, 5 minutes.

Ash gourd is a longish light green vegetable. Its inside is white, with white seeds. Seeds are big and the vegetable can be deseeded easily. Ash gourd has a lot of positive energy. Its very low in calories and it moves through our body almost like water. So its good to incorporate ash gourd into your diet. Ash gourd - 2 small, peeled and deseeded Garlic -  3 pods, thinly sliced Ginger - 1/2 inch, thinly sliced Salt Pepper Mint leaves - a handful Water - 2 cups Olive oil - 1 tsp Cube the ash gourd. Microwave it with some water for 10 minutes. Keep aside to cool. Puree. Peel ginger and garlic. Slice into small pieces. In a saucepan, sprinkle oil. Add garlic and ginger. Stir, 5 minutes. Add puree and water. Add spices. Simmer, 5 minutes Garnish with mint leaves.

Zucchini that we get here is either dark green or deep yellow in colour. Once the squash is peeled, its inside is white. So it is surprising that when the white insides are pureed, it becomes yellow or green, depending on the zucchini used. Ingredients are : Yellow zucchini - 2, peeled and thinly sliced Water - 3 cups Olive oil - 1 tsp Ginger - 1/2 inch, peeled and thinly sliced Garlic - 2 pods, peeled and thinly sliced Salt Black peppercorns - 2 tsp Mint leaves - a few Microwave chopped zucchini with a splash of water, 10 minutes. Keep aside to cool. Puree cooked zucchini. In a saucepan, add oil. Once it becomes hot, add ginger and garlic. Stir on medium flame, 5 minutes. Add pureed zucchini and water. Stir. Cook on slow flame, 5 to 7 minutes. Crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle. Add freshly crushed peppercorns into the soup. Add salt. Stir. Sprinkle mint leaves. Serve warm with toasted bread.

Soba is Japanese noodles. This soup I made is chicken soup with a few noodle strands floating in the broth. If you cook the noodles along with the chicken and carrot, it will absorb the broth.  Talking about soba and Japan, there is an excellent book called Ikigai, which is the Japanese secret to a fulfilling life. I remember enjoying it. Ingredients for the soup are  Soba noodles - a few Chicken breasts - 2, cubed Carrot - 2, peeled and cubed Salt - to taste Pepper - 1 tsp Water - 4 cups Olive oil - 1 tsp Ginger - 1/2 inch, peeled and thinly chopped Garlic - 4 pods, peeled and thinly chopped Boil noodles in water till it swells up and becomes soft. Strain and keep aside. Clean chicken and cook in pressure cooker for 3 whistles. Open lid of cooker, add 3 cups of water, carrot, salt and pepper. Cook on slow flame, 15 to 20 minutes without lid. In a saucepan, add olive oil. When it becomes warm, add ginger and garlic. Stir, 5 minute...

Frozen sweet corn kernels - 3 cups Spring onion leaves - 3 or 4, minced Olive oil - 1/2 tsp Garlic - 4 pods, crushed Ginger - 1/2 inch, thinly diced Salt Black peppercorns - 1 Tbsp Water - 2 cups White bread - 4 slices, for breadcrumbs Thaw the corn. Puree. In a deep bottomed saucepan, add oil. Add garlic, ginger and spring onion leaves. Stir, 1 minute. Add pureed corn. Add water. Stir. Bring to boil. Simmer. Crush peppercorn with a mortar and pestle. Add salt and crushed peppercorn. Stir. Simmer, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm with breadcrumbs.

Chicken soup is a soul comforting food. Before corona times, our family used to lunch out every Sunday. Usually it would be at the nearby Centre Hotel. Whenever the soup offered in the buffet is sweet corn chicken soup, my little one would have a small bowl. She's been missing the soup, that when she saw that we have chicken in the fridge she specially requested me to make the soup. We had our family Uno cards playing session today, with Mom and Dad too. Also it was a cool, rainy evening. Perfect time to serve the soup. The soup is a clear broth with chicken and sweet corn. In some places, pasta or rice is also added. Chicken breast - 1 and 1/2, diced into small cubes Frozen sweet corn - 1/4 cup Olive oil - 1 tsp Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped Ginger - 1/2 inch, finely chopped Salt - 1/4 tsp Pepper - 1/4 tsp Chicken soup cube - 1 Water - 3 cups Celery - 1 stick Coriander leaves - a few Thaw the corn. Mince celery stem. Roughly chop celery leaves. Keep it all ...

Pea soup reminds me of the traditional Swedish Artsoppa served on Thursdays. Unlike my green pea soup, the Swedish Artsoppa is a thick yellow pea soup served along with knackebrod (crisp bread) and pannkakor (pancakes). The Swedes started this tradition on Thursdays to remind them of Jesus Christ's suffering on Good Friday. Frozen peas - 250 gms Garlic cloves - 3, peeled and crushed Onion - 1 small, thinly sliced Green chili - 2, minced Potato - 1 medium, thinly sliced Chicken soup cubes - 2 Salt - a pinch Pepper - a pinch Celery stick - 1/2 with leaves, chopped roughly Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Water - 1 cup Thaw peas. Heat oil in a saucepan. Add garlic, onion, chili. Saute, 5 minutes. Add potato. Crumble soup cubes. Saute till potato becomes soft. Set aside to cool. Puree. Transfer back to pan. Add water, salt and pepper. Stir. Simmer, 5 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with celery.

I used red cowpeas, called vanpayar in malayalam, for the soup. The recipe is my uncle, Ashok's. The whole family loved it. Olive oil - 3 Tbsp Cloves - 1 Cardamom - 1 Cinnamon stick - 1 small Chilli powder - 1 tsp Salt - 1 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Green chilli - 2, 1 spicy one; both minced Onion - 1 medium, thinly sliced Leek - 1, washed well, chopped into thin rings Carrot - 1 small, peeled and thinly sliced Yellow capsicum - 1/2, thinly sliced Tomato - 1, coarsely chopped Pumpkin - 1/4, steamed and pureed Lentils - 1/4 cup, soaked overnight Tomato paste - 3 Tbsp Water - 1 cup Coriander leaves - a few In a medium saucepan, warm oil. Add cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Saute. Add onion, chilli and leek. Saute for 3 minutes. Add tomato, carrot and capsicum. Add spices. Stir until the vegetables are cooked, 10 minutes. Remove from heat. In a large sauce pan, add tomato paste, pumpkin and water. Stir to remove lumps, 5 minutes. Cook beans in little water in microwave...

Zucchini also called courgette, comes in green and yellow colours. I found zucchini in our local store and started using it in fried rice, in a steamed form. Exploring more on zucchini recipes, I discovered that it could be used in soups and cakes too. In today's soup recipe, I also added celery. Do you know that every part of the celery plant is usable? The stalks and leaves give out such a nice aroma, that my little one was persuaded to try out this soup and her verdict was "YUM". Green zucchini - 2, peeled and thinly chopped Garlic - 4 pods, crushed Spring onions, with their leaves - 3 Celery, along with their leaves - 1 stick Salt - as required Pepper - 1/2 tsp Olive oil - 3 Tbsp Chicken soup cubes - 2 Water - 2 cups Coriander leaves -a fistful, separated from their stems Yogurt - 1 tsp Snip the ends of the stem of celery stick and slice into small pieces. Steam these and zucchini slices until crisp-tender. Warm a saucepan with oil. Discard the root ...

Every time there is broccoli with dark green heads and crisp stalks at our local shop, I pick one. Broccoli in any cooked form is welcome in our home. Broccoli is a cross between cauliflower and pea. It contains a lot of phytochemicals which help ward off disease. All of the florets, its stem and side shoots can be used in dishes. A short cooking time brings out the best flavor and green color of the broccoli. I prefer to steam.  Leek, the white part - 1, thinly sliced Garlic - 2 pods, crushed Ginger - 1 inch, grated Olive oil - 4 Tbsp Broccoli - 1 Carrot - 1. peeled and thinly diced Potato - 1, peeled and thinly diced Chicken soup cubes - 3 Water - 2 cups Salt - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Pepper - 1/2 tsp Fresh coriander leaves - a few Blanch broccoli florets and its stems with a pinch of turmeric, salt and warm water. Steam broccoli, carrot and potato until they become soft. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic a...

Soup is a warm comfort food. There are clear soups and thick soups. This spinach soup is a thick one. I was encouraged to try making soups when my uncle, Ashok shared a soup recipe with me. Soups make you feel full because it contains a lot of water and fiber. Don't throw away any of the water that you use for cooking the vegetables or meat for a soup - it can be used for the broth.  Spinach Onion - 1 small, thinly sliced Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chilli - 1, sliced into small circles Potato - 1 small, peeled and diced Olive oil - 2 Tbsp Salt - as required Pepper - 1/2 tsp Chicken masala - 1 tsp Water - 1 cup Wash the spinach leaves and remove the stems. In a pan on medium heat, add the oil. Once it warms up, add the ginger, chilli and onion. Saute till the onion becomes soft.  Add the spices, Then the potato and spinach and 1/2 cup water. Stir around till the potato gets cooked. This might take a few minutes. Also the spinach will wilt. Allow this to cool. Then...

This is a pleasant home made dish for a cold day. I was living in Sweden, where the temperatures dip to -6 degrees in the winter. Inspite of the heating system, you still feel a little chill inside the buildings. And so I decided to make this simple soup which does most of the cooking on its own. Its quite a warm relish! Ingredients : Potato - 1 medium Carrot - 3 medium Leek - 1 Celery - 3 stalks Celery leaves - a handful Parsnip - 1 Onion - 1 small Garlic - 1 clove Vegetable stock - 1 cube Water - 1 litre Butter - 1 Tbsp heaped Salt & Pepper - to taste Clean the vegetables and peel potato, carrot and parsnip. Cut them into cubes. Remove the root and green leaves of the leek. Cut the light greenish part into thin circular slices. Slice the celery stalks into small strips. Chop onion, garlic clove into small slices. Warm water in a vessel. Add the vegetable stock cube, potato, carrot, parsnip, leek and garlic. Close vessel and keep at medium flame...