Fragrant Yoghurt Soup

I made this recipe yesterday evening just for the "Frozen Yoghurt" event at Siri's Corner. And boy, arent I glad I made it!? I started out thinking that this is actually a soup (and I still am not sure about whether it is) but then I kind of had the feeling that this is actually something that is taken with rice. Anyways, I enjoyed it immensely on its own. I was surprised when my lil one joined me. The stock actually lends a beautiful flavor to the soup and the best part is that it is very simple and takes mere minutes to put together. It has some of the best flavours of Indian cuisine coming together to form a really fragrant and tasty soup. I felt that it was similar to the kachiya moru of Kerala. I used the chili oil for the first time - it had a slight spicy flavor to it and all in all, I am very happy with this recipe. I would have it as a soup any time!! Enjoy!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Oil - 1 tbsp
Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - minced, 2
Garlic - crushed, 1/2 tsp
Ginger - grated, 1/4 tsp
Yoghurt - 3/4 cup
Vegetable stock - 3 cups
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Ground turmeric - a pinch
Ground red pepper - a pinch
Cilantro - 1 tsp, minced
Mint leaves - 1/2 tsp, minced
Chili oil - a few drops to garnish (optional)

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir fry the mustard seeds for about 1 minute until they crackle.

Add the green chillies, garlic and ginger.

Stir fry for 5 minutes and then add the yoghurt, stock and salt.

Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the yoghurt from curdling.

Add the turmeric, red pepper, coriander and mint leaves.

Mix well and serve hot, sprinkled with a few drops of chili oil.

Source: Authentic Recipes from India by Brinder Narula.

Tips:

1. I only made half the recipe.
2. I dont like mint leaves, so I omitted that.
3. Chicken stock can be used in place of vegetable stock. Or else, two chicken stock cubes in 3 cups of boiling water can be used.

I received the Blogging with a Purpose Award and Yummy Blog Award from Sailaja of Sailaja's Recipes. She is one of those bloggers whom I am getting to know more each day. A kind person and a regular visitor, her comments have come to mean a lot to me...Thanks a lot to you, I loooove these awards!! :-)


I would like to pass the Blogging with a purpose award to,

Trupti of Recipe Center
Kalai of Samaithu paarkalaam
Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Sujatha of A Khazaana of my favourite recipes
Skribles of Food with a pinch of love



I would like to pass the Yummy Blog Award to,

Vani of Illatharasi
Sangeeth of Art of Cooking Indian Food
Suma Rajesh of Suma's Cuisine
Hetal of Isha's kitchen
Sireesha of Mom's recipes

Enjoy your awards and spread the love!!

Dont forget to check out the new pictures at "Through the Looking Glass".

UPDATE: Looks like the voting has started at Dining hall forum for the Open Sesame - 2. If you liked my Sweet and Sour Chickpeas, dont forget to vote for me. You'll have to be a member to vote!

Thukpa / Gya-Thuk (Noodle-soup) and an award!!

After a small mess-up of not reading the event details carefully, I finally managed to make something for RCI - North Eastern Cuisine hosted at Bhags's Crazy Curry. I couldnt get my hands on a lot of North eastern Indian recipes, but still managed to find a very easy soup recipe on a website. The recipe is for Gya-tuk or Thukpa which is basically a Tibetan noodle soup, usually served with meat. It is popular in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and also in the state of Sikkim, Ladakh and some other parts of India. The food is widely available in restaurants in these regions (wiki). Please refer back to the actual website for the recipe. The recipe I am posting here includes the variations in the ingredients and quantities that I made. This is a quick soup that can be put together in about 10 minutes! There is no over-crowding of flavours or spices. So it gives off the pure flavour of the broth along with the wonderful taste of sauteed onions, chilli and green onions! With a few pieces of chicken added in, it makes for a great sip before dinner or when you need that extra bit of cozy warmth to make your day! I am submitting this as my entry from the cuisine of the north eastern state of Sikkim.

Recipe (Makes 2 servings):

Chicken broth - 1 can, 14.5 oz

Water - 1/2 cup

Mushrooms - 2 numbers

Egg noodles - scant 1 cup

Green onions - a handful chopped (green part only)

Onions - 1/2 small, chopped finely

Garlic - 1 medium clove, chopped finely

Green chillies (serranos) - 1, sliced thinly into rings

Cooked chicken - chopped, a handful

Method:

Boil water in a saucepan and add the egg noodles.

Cook until just tender, drain and pour cold water over to prevent further cooking.

Keep aside.

Heat oil in a skillet, saute finely chopped onion, garlic and green chillies.

When the onion starts to become golden, add the mushrooms at medium-high heat.

Saute until the mushrooms are cooked and tender (1-2 minutes).

Season with salt and keep aside.

Boil the broth and water in a saucepan, and season with salt if necessary.

In the serving bowl, pour the hot broth.

Stir in the noodles.

Add the sauteed onion-mushroom mixture.

Sprinkle generously with chopped green onion.

Toss in a few pieces of chopped chicken.

Serve hot and enjoy!!

Tips:

1. I used no fat - reduced sodium chicken broth.
2. The addition of the mushrooms is one of my variations.
3. I used a piece of fried chicken (thigh - store bought) and chopped up the meat to add to the soup.
4. The soup can also be made without meat (vegetarian) or the addition of more/different vegetables.
5. The kinds of meat usually used are chicken, beef or pork and are usually minced and cooked by sauteeing along with the onion mixture before adding to the soup.
   

Again its happening, its raining awards on me! Thanks to each one of you who considered me for the awards! I am so happy today because this time I received a beautiful and inspiring award from Madhuram of Eggless cooking. The concept behind the award is so meaningful and I am definitely overwhelmed by her generosity and thoughtfulness. I really am thankful Madhu, for your kind gesture and your sweet words!

This award was conceptualised by Jamie of the Flavour Pantry. Jamie tells the following,

“This is given to bloggers whose stories and recipes inspire us. Whether it’s to eat healthier, dive back into our past to conjure up something we ate as children, or just make the light bulbs in our brains go on with a new idea for a recipe. As recipients of this award, please share with us what inspires you and then pass on the Inspiration Award to 4 other deserving bloggers. Please let them know what the award means and what to do with it.”

I am supposed to write about things that inspire me. I am inspired by

1. ....the kind, encouraging words, humbling gestures and extraordinary talent of all my fellow bloggers who have supported me and who have come to mean a lot to me within a very few months!
2. ....the ecstatic looks on the face of my family when they taste one of my creations (when it happens I mean ;-)!). It does not happen always, I do have my share of screw-ups, but when it does, I forget everything else!!
3. ....people who do not give up, endure and fight back even in the face of unthinkable disasters or set backs in life. I know I am not that strong, I probably would give up earlier on! But still I am inspired but their endurance/persistence to try harder!
4. ....my family members who have always supported me, loved me and accepted me no matter how crazy I get! ;-)
   

As per the terms of the award, I have to pass this award to four other bloggers. I wish I could give them to all of you because all of you have a part to play in my life now, through my blog. The thoughts that you pass on to me through your comments are my inspiration to do more, otherwise I would have stopped blogging long back!! The sense of belonging that I get from the messages is something that I cannot describe, and eventhough we wouldnt probably meet at all, you all will always be special to me! You should understand how hard it is for me to choose just four of my friends!!

I am passing this on to:

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner, with whom I have formed a bond pretty quickly, who has definitely inspired me to keep up my work on the blog!

Shubha of Chutki Bhar Pyar, who again is one of my frequent visitors and a great person, her personality shines through her comments!!

Sukanya of Hot n' Sweet bowl, who inspires all of us through her beautiful cakes and other recipes!

Sig of Live to Eat, who is inargueably one of the most-liked blogger, who bares her life before us, makes us laugh and entertain us through her great writing techniques and pictures!

Love you all!!! Pleased to be in the company of all of you!

Hot n' Sour Vegetable Soup and my FIRST award!!

After a period of extreme activity I had started to cool off in terms of my cooking/baking in the kitchen. I dont know what happened, but it was like I was getting a bit discouraged or something! I was trying hard to get out of it, but inertia of the mind was much stronger than I thought it would be...I wanted to sumbit recipes for the blog events and thought that looking at the upcoming deadlines for foodie events would drive me back into action, but it was like I was in a gutter!! Finally a small cold passed from my lil girl to her dad drove me into action. Together with that the magic happened! Along came Trupti with the best encouragement a foodie blogger could get. She passed on the "Yummy Blog Award" to me. Thanks a lot Trupti, it means the world to me. It definitely feels good to be appreciated!

As per the rules of the award, I have to pass on the award to four of my blogger friends, which is extremely hard! But I would like to let all the others know that their blogs are also as yummy as can be! Thanks for all your support!

I would like to pass this on to:

Mansi Desai of Fun and Food

EC of Simple Indian Food

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Annita of My treasure My pleasure

What could be better than a nice hot bowl of soup, when you have the cold!?. With MBP: Soups and Salads in my mind, I looked around and found the perfect soup at Mansi's Fun and Food. For probably the first time, I had everything at home, and I set out to make the quick, easy and spicy hot and sour soup. I am once again motivated to experiment and create. I hope this is the start of the rest of my blogging days! Check out Mansi's blog for the recipe. This is my entry for the Monthly Blog patrol: Soups and Salads hosted by Raaga of "The Singing Chef" and started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe.

Tips:

1. The chilli sauce I had was the thai sweet chilli sauce. Together with the ketchup, the soup turned out to be a little sweeter than I would've liked, but at the same time having the spicy flavor of the pepper. So if using sweet chilli sauce, omit tomato sauce or you can add some green chilli sauce.
2. For the veggies in the soup, I used ready-to-use coleslaw veggies (shredded cabbage and carrots), scallions and green bell peppers.