Pineapple Rasam!

Series of incidents kept me away from cooking.Firstly, I was away for a week's trip to Kolkata and Gangtok. And came back with a "BANG"..I fell down and got a bruised hip and was bedridden for the following week. But yesterday,I was talking to one of my good ol' friend Ajay. He was boasting about the pineapple rasam he made for lunch.While he was sharing the recipe with me,I wanted to try it right away. So today,ignoring my lingering pain, I made this rasam. Just the first sip, brought me back into life. This rasam is really a keeper. Pineapple would have never tasted better in anything else.Making rasam is an art,it doesn't always taste the same. A perfect concoction of right amount of tartness with mellowing sweetness and the right blend of spices.Pineapple rasam is just pineapple chunks in generic rasam.That sounds simple,but it tastes exotic!

I would not prefer having it with rice .This rasam has to be enjoyed on its own in sheer tranquility to indulge in a pine-apply experience. I'am not going to endorse further on this rasam and test your patience.So here comes the recipe..

You will need :

1 cup of chopped pineapple pieces

1 tomato

2 green chillies

1/2 cup cooked tuar dal

1 marble-sized tamarind pulp

1 tsp rasam powder(see recipe below)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dal

A pinch of asfoteadia

1 tsp of oil

1 sprig curry leaves

Salt to taste

For rasam powder:

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

10 peppercorns

1 tbsp tuar dal

3 or 4 dry red chillies

Dry roast the above 5 ingredients and powder them.

Recipe for pineapple rasam..

Start off with soaking the tamarind pulp in half liter of water

Heat oil in a kadai, add asafotedia, mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add tuar dal, slit green chillies,green chillies, garlic and fry for couple of mins. Add the quartered tomato and fry for another couple of mins.

Now extract the tamarind juice, add salt, rasam powder and bring to boil. Add the cooked dal, the tadka tomato mixture. slightly crush the pineapple chunks before dropping them into the rasam. Check for salt and simmer for 5 mins.

A warm,aromatic rasam is ready to delight you!

Tomato Soup!

I have never made tomato soup before.I love tomato soup but I don't know why I haven't tried them at home.Few months ago my 'poet' friend Shravan was bragging about this tomato soup he made .He just praised it so much that I started nagging him for the recipe.He was forgetting to send me the recipe and later I too forgot.Recently when Sanghi announced  FIL event ,his tomato soup flashed my memory and I  asked him to send the recipe.And this time he sent me immediately,and I tried it today.It was just brilliant and I'm going to make this soup atleast once in a week.It tasted incredibly delicious and thats becoz of the secret ingredient in it-MILK.When Shravan sent me the recipe,he mentioned 'Milk is the highlight of the soup..Tastes like god'. And thats 100% percent true,the milk created all the difference!

To accompany the soup ,I made Aparna's cumin flavored whole wheat barley rolls/bread.It was fabulous.I'm new to bread baking.And this is my first successful bread.Instead of making them as rolls ,I made it as a big oval bread.It was soft inside and crusty outside.I toasted the bread slices in butter.Just dunk the bread in the tomato soup and have a bite..its pure indulgence.

Tomato Soup recipe :

I made few changes to his original recipe.I skipped the garlic and included 2 carrots n onion!

You will need :

1/2 Kg tomatoes,chunks

2 carrots,chunks

1 onion,chopped

1 inch piece of ginger,chopped

2 tbsp butter

2 glass of water

1/2 cup of milk

1 tsp corn flour

1 bay leaf

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 clove

salt,pepper n sugar to taste

In pressure cooker,throw the tomatoes,onion,carrot,ginger,cinnamon,bay leaf  n clove.

Pour the water. Bring the water to boil.Add the butter.Give a stir.Cover and cook for 1 whistle.

When the steam went out,carefully open the lid and let it cool for some time.

Remove the cinnamon,bayleaf n clove.Strain  the cooked stuff and reserve the water.Blend to a smooth pulp.

In the same pressure pan,pour the tomato pulp and the reserved water.Add more water if required.Heat the mixture in medium heat.

Add salt,pepper and sugar as per taste.I added 2 tsp of salt,2 tsp of sugar and 1 tablespoon of coarsely ground pepper.

In the 1/2 cup milk,dissolve the corn flour and pour it in the boiling soup.Stir immediately and cook in low heat for a couple of mins.Garnish with cream/herbs.Serve it with croutons!

I'm dedicating this tomato soup to my friend Shravan.He is not only a poet but a great cook too..

This yummy soup goes to Sanghi's Fall in love-Tomato event..Its so kind of her that she extented the deadline until March-31st..

French Onion Soup

It had been in my mind for a long time to make this soup.Finally,I did this today and loved it to its last drop.For past few days,I was suffering from cold and this soup is so much relieving.I tried this with white onions and didn't used any liquor.Traditionally,liquor(like sherry or wine) is used to prepare the soup..Here in restaurants,they don't top it with cheese bread(Croutons) while serving the french onion soup.This further pushed me to try it at home..yeah,I wanna try that cheese bread topping with this soup.And I did,but with cheddar not with the Gruyere cheese..The soup was lip-smackingly delicious...

The real beauty in making french onion soup is in frying the thinly sliced onion to dark brown..I'm so impatient and just didn't browned it much..Even then ,it was good..after all they are onions ..it has to be good :)..I have to be more specific in maintaining the patience next time ..

Note:Some add Worcestershire sauce to the soup..this gives the dark color and extra flavour and tartness to the soup.I just skipped this sauce and prepared..I adapted the recipe from Mrs.Malikka Badrinath's Soup and juice recipes.

You will need:

4 white onions

1 tbsp butter

1 clove of garlic

1 1/2 cup of stock (vegetable/chicken)

salt and pepper

For Croutons :

1 small Baguette bread-sliced into 1 inch thick slices

1 cup of cheese 

some butter

Remove the skin off the onions an put them in boiling water for 5 mins.Then transfer them in cool water for 5 mins.Slice them very thinly..

In a crock pot,melt butter and add the crushed clove of garlic

Add the thinly sliced onion and fry till brown..

Add stock and cook covered for few mins until the onions are soft..

Add required water like 2-3 cups and add salt and pepper as per taste..

Bring to boil and turn off the heat..

Preparing the croutons...

Apply some butter on each baguette slice and top it with some shredded cheese.Line them in a baking tray and bake in 250 C preheated oven for 10 mins or until the cheese melts and gets a golden crust..

Serve the soup hot with few croutons..(Generally,the soup is ladled in a small french ramekins and it is covered with a fitting slicing of baguette and cheese ..which is baked and served )

My croutons got soaked and started sinking while taking pictures..sigh!!

Weight watchers can skip the cheese..

Sending this as my second entry to Dk's A.W.E.D France...

And also to Neha's SWC Soups..