Food Talk: Steaming soupy delights for a lazy winter evening

Pushpesh Pant

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CAN anything be more tempting, and satisfying than a bowl of steaming soup on a winter evening? It can be clear — thin as water or thick, just short of porridge, cream of this or that, Chinese or Thai, Italian and what not? It can be 100 per cent Indian — yakhni, shorba or rasam. It can serve as an appetiser or become a nourishing meal all by itself. Soup can add a splash of colour and spice to any meal, and in a restaurant, it can be happily split and shared.

Making an out-of-ordinary soup at home isn’t difficult at all. And we aren’t referring to readymade packets of branded soups in different flavours that can be mixed with hot waters and stirred like instant coffee to produce a cup in a jiffy.

Believe you us, soups prepared with stock made at home are something magical. Although you can purchase vegetarian and non-vegetarian cubes of stock for emergency use that promise good quality, but we would like to persuade our dear readers to make a big pot of stock and keep it in the fridge to use three-four times. No one minds working longer in the kitchen when the winter chill sets in and simmering stock (or pressurising it in a cooker) becomes a welcome chore. Leftover bones, peels of vegetables, onions and potatoes, along with flavour-enhancing spices work a powerful magic.

But don’t let this deter you. You can do without stock and still make a wonderful soup, slowly adding water as required by the recipe and enriching it with milk, cream and garnishes. Serving soup provides another opportunity to add stylistic flourishes. While serving a meal, a tureen, soup bowls and long-handled ladle transform an ordinary meal into a celebration.

What we share this time is an Italian specialty — aubergine soup with mozzarella and gremolata. Gremolata is nothing but a mixture of garlic, lemon and parsley that adds a wonderful zing to this soup.

And, for those who cannot do without a little meat, we suggest they try the lamb and vegetable broth, a modern variation on the classic Irish mutton broth. It makes a filling lunch dish in winters.

Aubergine soup with mozzarella and gremolata

Ingredients

Aubergine (baingan) 1 kg

Stock 4 cups

Cream 2/3 cup

Mozzarella (cheese) 175 g

Olive oil 2 tbsp

Shallots/spring onions 2

Garlic cloves 2

Parsley/fresh coriander 2 tsp

Salt To taste

Black peppercorns To taste

(freshly ground)

For gremolata

Garlic cloves (finely chopped) 2

Lemon rind 2

Parsley/fresh coriander 1 tbsp

Method

Roughly chop aubergine. Chop shallots and garlic. Thinly slice the mozzarella. Heat oil in a pan and put in it the garlic and shallots. Cook for about five minutes on medium high-flame, stirring regularly. Add aubergine and continue cooking for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and well-browned. Add stock or hot water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for five minutes. Allow to cool a little. Transfer to blender and puree. Pour into a pan and bring to boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Add cream and stir. Mix all ingredients for gremolata in a small bowl. Ladle out the soup into individual bowls. Top with a slice of mozzarella and garnish with a generous pinch of gremolata. Enjoy!

Broth Lamb and vegetable

Ingredients

Lamb/mutton 500 g

Onion 1 (large)

Carrots 3

Turnip 1 (small)

Cabbage head Half (small)

Leaks 2

Tomato puree 1 tbsp

Bay leaf 2

Parsley 2 tbsp

Salt To taste

Black pepper To taste

Method

• Trim excess fat from the meat, peel and chop onion. Chop carrots, dice turnips, shred the cabbage and thinly slice the leaks.
• Put lamb and bay leaves in a large pan. Add six cups of water & bring to a boil. Skim the surface and simmer for about an hour and a half.
• Remove the lamb and transfer to a chopping board. Separate meat from the bones when cool. Cut into small pieces. Discard bones and add meat to the broth.
• Put in the vegetables. Season well and simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve hot.