Wondrous warmth

Kandla Nijhowne 

Winter is all about sunny days, picnics and peanuts! Come evening when the mercury dips, we look for the cozy comfort of heated rooms and hot food. Consequently, we seek a hot gulaab jamun as against a chilled rasgulla, or a bowl of soup instead of a tumbler of spiced lassi. A good soup is all about flavour or it can taste like salted pepper water. For good results you need to slow cook the fragrant ingredients to extract the zing from them. A pressure cooker helps if you are in a hurry, but keep the heat low. This way you allow mingling to the maximum. ‘A meal in a bowl’ is a soup that has all the elements to satisfy the tummy as well as ticks all the boxes for nourishment. No wonder such soups are termed ‘hearty’!

Ingredients

• 1½ tbsp refined oil
• 1 carrot
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 small onion
• ½ cup sliced mushrooms
• ½ cup bean sprouts or bokchoy
• 3-4 cups vegetable stock
• ½ cup broken noodles
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup chopped herbs  (basil or parsley)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Cooked, diced chicken or prawns

Method

• Scrape and slice the carrot, peel and chop onion and garlic, slice celery and mushrooms.
• Boil the noodles in salted water till tender. Drain and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add the onion. Stir till translucent.
• Add garlic and stir for a few seconds, followed by the carrots and celery.
• When the veggies are tender, add salt and mushrooms. Do not over-cook the mushrooms. Add meats (if using)
• Add the stock and bring to a boil, checking seasoning.
• Turn off the heat and add fresh herbs and lemon juice.
• Place clumps of bean sprouts or torn bokchoy in individual bowls.
• Ladle the steaming soup over them. That is all the heat required to soften them slightly, yet keep them crunchy.

Note: Make stock by boiling chopped onion, celery and carrots along with a bay leaf, cinnamon, peppercorns and salt. Again, the mantra is slow cooking. You can play around with the ingredients, Add corn, broccoli, spring onion, red bell pepper or young spinach leaves to the mix. Do try to use noodles made with durham wheat and not maida. They are healthier by far.

(Nijhowne is a Chandigarh-based culinary expert)