Veg Manchow Soup Recipe | How to make Vegetable Manchow Soup [Video]

Veg Manchow Soup Recipe with step by step video instructions. Veg Manchow Soup is a popular Indian-Chinese soup that is hot and sour and topped with crispy noodles. Vegetable Manchow soup is spicy and sour and full of vegetables like carrots, capsicum, beans, and cabbage. 

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Happy New Year Guys!! 

This is my first recipe of 2021 and I am really excited to share it with you guys, coz, it is kinda my favorite soup. If Manchow soup is on the menu, you can be assured I am going to order it. I remember a lot of my college days, just chugging on this soup for dinner followed by different main courses, but the soup was always the Veg Manchow. 

What is Manchow Soup?

Manchow Soup is a hot and spicy soup that falls into the category of Indian-Chinese cuisine. Manchow Soup is usually made by boiling finely chopped vegetables such as cabbage, capsicum, carrots in water or broth and then flavoring the soup with soy sauce and garlic. The soup is thickened using cornflour or flour. Manchow Soup is always topped with crispy deep-fried noodles, and it is this that sets it apart from the Hot and Sour soup, which has almost the same base. Manchow Soup is made with chicken too.

Making the Veg Manchow Soup...

Unlike soups that need hours of simmering, this one is almost an instant soup. Vegetables used here are very quick cooking and are generally chopped really fine so they cook even quicker. We have used carrots, beans, cabbage, spring onions and capsicum. You can add Tofu or Mushrooms too for added flavor.

To build the base of the soup, ginger garlic and green chillies are sauteed in oil before adding the other vegetables and frying. Soy sauce and water is added and the soup is simmered until the vegetables reach the desired texture. The vegetables should have a crunch or bite in them, they should not be completely cooked. Then a slurry of cornflour or maida (all purpose flour) is added to thicken the soup. The soup is topped with crispy noodles just before serving.

We made the crispy noodles at home too, but you can use store bought crispy noodles too. To make the crispy noodles, we boiled hakka noodles and then deep fried them. You can use any noodles you have available at home, like instant noodles or spaghetti to make the crispy noodles.

Always make extra crispy noodles, they taste so great!!!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Veg Manchow Soup Recipe | How to make Vegetable Manchow Soup

Veg Manchow Soup is a popular Indian-Chinese soup that is hot and sour and topped with crispy noodles.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            Indian-Chinese
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Total time:     1 Hour 15 Mins
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Author:                Anupama

Ingredients:

For the crispy noodles:

0.5 Packet Hakka Noodles
Oil to fry
Water as required

For the soup:

1 Tbsp Ginger, grated
1-2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
1 cup Spring Onions, chopped
1 cup Cabbage, finely shredded
8-10 Beans, finely chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped
0.5 Capsicum, chopped
2-3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp White Vinegar (Optional)
2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour or Cornflour
1 Litre Water or vegetable broth
2-3 Tbsp Oil
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

To make the crispy noodles:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add in the noodles. Boil until the noodles are just cooked, do not overcook the noodles.
2. Drain the noodles and rinse them. Keep it aside for 5-10 minutes to drain completely.
3. Heat oil in a kadhai for deep frying.
4. Add the noodles in batches to the oil and fry until golden and crispy. Keep aside until serving.

To make the Soup:

5. Heat Oil in large kadhai or wok and add in the ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute until fragrant.
6. Add the spring onions and saute until slightly softened.
7. Add the shredded cabbage, finely chopped beans and carrots and fry until the vegetables are slightly soft.
8. Add the chopped capsicum and saute for 1 minute.
9. Add the soy sauce, pepper and vinegar (if using) and mix well. Then add the water or vegetable broth and boil for 5-6 minutes.
10. Adjust the salt, pepper and/or the soy sauce and vinegar to taste. You can also add chilli sauce if you want it spicier.
11. Take the flour (maida or cornflour) in a small bowl and add a few tablespoons of water and mix well to remove any lumps.
12. Add the slurry to the soup and boil until the soup thickens.
13. Serve the soup hot and top with the crispy noodles while serving.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Vegan Laksa

Miso Noodle Soup

Mushroom Leek Soup

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Vegan Laksa Soup Recipe | How to make vegan Malaysian Laksa Lemak [Video]

Vegan Laksa Soup or Curry Laksa or Malaysian Laksa Lemak is a spicy noodle soup from Malaysia that has a rich creamy base made from coconut milk and topped with noodles, blanched vegetables and fried Tofu. The soup is spicy, sweet, salty and creamy. It is perfect for a cold winter day. This recipe includes video instructions to make the Laksa Soup.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

Hello friends, wishing you a very Happy New Year once again. Are you excited for what 2019 holds for you? Have you made resolutions yet?

I sure have. As every year before, I resolve to eat healthier, blog more and just spend contribute more time towards home. I would also love to reduce stress, and interact more with you on social media. I also want to go on more vacations and carve out some "me" time. A lot of resolutions and I hope can follow them through.

Now that we have our new year courtesies off the table, lets get on to the recipe - Vegan Laksa Soup.
The Laksa Soup is an uber-delicious Malaysian Noodle Soup. While there are different varieties of Laksa, this is the recipe for Curry Laksa or Laksa Lemak which is a spicy soup finished off with rich creamy coconut milk.  Which is perfect for this weather. Something weird is going on with the weather in Bangalore and we've had just about the coldest January in ages. Temperatures are dropping to 8-10 degree C and that's not really normal. So cozying up under a blanket and enjoying some delicious spicy soup is just perfect. I mean the weather calls for it!

My inspiration for recreating a Laksa at home came from the Laksa I ate at FoodHall in December. You have got to try theirs! It was so deliciously flavored, that I wanted more. When you want more and more of something, you have to make it at home, especially when they don't do a home delivery. So I looked up several recipes, and came up with mine. I mostly followed Adam Liaw's recipe, but kept it vegan.

The Laksa Soup has 3 main parts to it:

• Laksa Curry Paste - The curry paste is what gives the soup its flavor. The Laksa I had was spicy and hence, I added enough chillies to give the same heat. This heat is eventually balanced by the sweetness and saltiness, but I'd say add just as many chillies as you can tolerate. The curry paste is simple to make, just blend all the ingredients together and you will get your smooth curry paste. If you don't have access to fresh lemongrass, use lemongrass paste or lemon zest (lots of it!). Candle nuts can be replaced with cashew nuts like I did. Use fresh turmeric if you have access to it, else use the ground powder like me. 
• Laksa Soup - The soup I had was spicy, sweet, salty and sour (from the lemongrass).  It had the perfect balance of flavors (MasterChef judges would be proud of me!). To get the best flavor our of the soup, the laksa paste has to be fried until the oil separates or at least for 15-20 minutes. After that just add in broth or water to thin it. Add the thick coconut milk towards the end to get the creamy richness.
• Toppings/Additions - Since it is a noodle soup, noodles are kind of mandatory. Use any noodles you have accessible. If you are not  purist, you may also use spaghetti. After this it is totally up to you to add whatever vegetable you want. I added blanched broccoli, capsicum, snow peas and mushrooms. I blanched my veggies instead of cooking them in the soup because I wanted my vegetables to retain their crunch and texture. Since I did not have Tofu Puffs, I added pan fried Tofu and it was delish!

Enjoy this bowl of heartwarming deliciousness before the Winter is over! See you next week.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

Vegan Laksa Soup | Malaysian Laksa Lemak Recipe

Vegan Laksa Soup or Curry Laksa or Malaysian Laksa Lemak is a spicy noodle soup from Malaysia that has a rich creamy base made from coconut milk and topped with noodles, blanched vegetables and fried Tofu. The soup is spicy, sweet, salty and creamy.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            Malaysian
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     50 minutes
Total time:     60 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Laksa Curry Paste:

6-8 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Fresh Red Chillies
10-12 Cashew Nuts
3 Lemongrass Stalks (white part only)
1 small Onion
1 Tbsp Garlic
1 Tbsp Ginger
0.5 tsp Turmeric powder
1.5 Tbsp Coriander Seeds

For the Laksa Soup:

2-3 tsp Jaggery or Sugar
1 cup thick Coconut Milk
4 Tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Water or Broth as required

For the Crispy Tofu

100 gms firm Tofu
2 tsp Corn Starch
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Oil

To assemble the Laksa Soup

2 cups cooked Noodles
1 cup Broccoli Florets
8-10 Snow peas
0.5 Capsicum
5 Mushrooms
1 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves

Method:

1. Soak the dry red chillies and cashew nuts in hot water and keep aside for 10 minutes. Then discard the water.
2. Blend together the soaked red chillies, cashew nuts along with all the other ingredients for the laksa curry paste along with a little water to a smooth paste.
3. Heat 4 Tbsp of Oil in a thick bottomed pan and add the curry paste.
4. Fry the paste for 15-20 minutes on low heat or until the oil separates.
5. Add 1 cup of water or broth and bring to a boil.
6. Add salt and sugar to taste.
7. Add in the coconut milk and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and keep aside.
9. Boil water in a pan and add a pinch of salt.
10. Dab the Tofu with kitchen towel to extract as much water from it as possible.
11. Dice the Tofu into cubes and add to a large bowl.
12. Sprinkle the corn starch, salt and pepper to the bowl and toss until the tofu is coated with the corn starch.
13. Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a frying pan and place the tofu in one layer. Flip the tofu until all sides are browned and crisp. Remove from heat until time to serve. Alternately, you can deep fry or bake the tofu.
14. Drop in the vegetables - broccoli, snow peas, diced capsicum and sliced mushrooms, one by one and blanch for few minutes until the vegetables are slightly soft.
15. To assemble the Laksa Soup, spoon the soup into a bowl, add the cooked noodles and the blanched vegetables. Top with crispy tofu and chopped coriander leaves before serving.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Miso Noodle Soup

Broccoli Almond Soup

Mushroom Leek Soup

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Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup Recipe

Vegan Mushroom and Leek Soup flavored with garlic and pepper. Perfect for cold night when you want to make soup instantly.

It's a fabulous Friday, again! Hope you guys have something fun planned for the weekend.

I have planned to sleep my entire weekend off. I cannot wait to hit the bed. This week felt like such a long week. I'm glad it is ending and I get 2 days to rejuvenate and gear up for 2 more weeks of long weekdays.

Since I was short of time this whole week, I've been looking at making quick nutritious meals like this Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup. And it was so perfect for the rainy weather that has wrapped over Bangalore like a blanket. Rainy weather, hot soup and a good episode of Masterchef Australia, is there anything more a foodie needs?

This soup is one of those instant soups that do not come out of a packet or tin, but can be whipped up at home in a very short time. To make this delicious creamy vegan soup, all we need to do is sweat the leek along with some garlic and then add in the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are cooked, we blend the soup and add in required seasoning. I kept the seasoning simple, just salt and pepper.

You can add in almond milk or regular milk to make this soup creamier. Cheese tastes awesome too. Flavor it with herbs that oregano or thyme, if you'd like a little variety in your soup. Serve it with some buttered croutons when you want to impress your guests or just get your picky kids to eat soup.

And if you know if the debate about whether we eat soup or drink soup has been settled, leave me a comment!!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup

Mushroom and Leek soup is a vegan, low calorie, healthy, gluten free soup that can be made instantly. This soup can be modified to fit into a plant based diet.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Total time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 Leek
200 gms Mushrooms
4-5 Garlic cloves
3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Wash or wipe the mushrooms clean and chop them. Discard the outer tough layer of the leeks and the top green portion. Wash the leek and then slice tit.
2. Heat oil in a deep pot and fry chopped garlic until fragrant. Add the sliced leek and saute for 6-7 minutes on low to medium heat until the leeks soften.
3. Now add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook them until the mushrooms are cooked. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.
4. Blend into a puree with a little water. You can blend it either smooth or chunky based on your like. 
5. Return the soup to the pot to reheat. Add water if the soup is too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve hot with crusty bread.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Vegn Miso Noodle Soup

Vegan creamy Pumpkin Soup"

Broccoli Almond Soup

Read more ...

Creamy Broccoli Almond Soup Recipe (Vegan)

Creamy Broccoli Almond Soup - This creamy vegan soup is made with blanched almonds and broccoli and flavored with garlic and pepper. Perfect for cold night when you want to make soup instantly. 

Happy Friday!!! It's almost weekend, and I cannot wait any longer. Last weekend was my best weekend off late. It was 4 days long :). A festival on Thursday and a day off on Friday just made it a super special weekend. After a long long weekend last week, this one seems so short. But nevertheless, I'm excited, cause, it is the WEEKEND!

What kind of food do you eat on weekends? Do you stick to your regular diet or do you let your hair down and eat anything and everything under the sun? I slip up majorly on weekends. While weekdays are designed for controlled healthy home cooked meals, weekends just go hay wire. A trip to the mall results in a pizza or a burger. A grocery shopping spree ends up in a plate of Pani Puri. You are getting the picture, right?

It is not that I don't want to binge or enjoy on the weekends, but I'd like to sneak in at least one healthy meal in there, just so that the guilt is less. And this Broccoli Almond Soup works perfectly well!!

As a kid, a soup always meant a mixed vegetable one with alphabet pasta. Unfortunately, I can't find these alphabet pasta in Bangalore and the soup just isn't fun when you cannot make words with your food. So I have expanded my horizons to other soups now. And this Soup counter in office has definitely helped. This Broccoli Almond soup is inspired by that counter.

So at work, the management decided to introduce a healthy soup counter and everyone is loving it. The soups are delicious and filling and leave us feeling all healthy and awesome. I just loved the various soups I had from the counter and decided I HAD to make them at home. It is also the perfect time as the nights are only going to get colder from now on.

This Broccoli Almond soup is vegan, healthy, gluten free and fits right into an oil-free plant based diet if required. But apart from meeting all the dietary requirements, this soup is also super-delicious!! It is smooth, creamy and tastes of broccoli, garlic and pepper - a combination I love in all forms. It is also a very simple soup to make. It does not require slow cooker or for it to stew slowly on the stove. It is really INSTANT.

The broccoli and almonds are blanched, then sauteed with garlic and onion. YUM... Then the whole thing is blended with salt and pepper and reheated. That's it! If you love to make it yummier, add in some sharp cheddar and you get Broccoli Almond Cheddar Soup. I also like a squeeze of lime in my soup at times. You can go ahead and add all the herbs you like and make your own version of the Broccoli Almond Soup.

Go ahead, enjoy the soup. Wishing you a healthy weekend ahead!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Creamy Broccoli Almond Soup (Vegan)

Creamy Broccoli and Almond Soup is an instant vegan soup made with blanched broccoli and almonds that is flavored with garlic and pepper. Vegan, low calorie, healthy, gluten free and can be fit into a plant based diet.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     40 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

3 cups Broccoli florets
15 Almonds
1 large Onion
4-5 Garlic cloves
3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Boil water in a large pan and add the broccoli to it. Blanch for 3-4 minutes and dunk them immediately into cold water.
2. Blanch the almonds in the same water for 5-6 minutes. Plunge them into cold water and peel the almonds.
3. Heat oil in a deep pot and fry chopped garlic and onion until fragrant. Toss in the broccoli and almonds and saute for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Blend into a puree with a little water. You can blend it either smooth or chunky based on your like. 
5. Return the soup to the pot to reheat. Add water if the soup is too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve hot with crusty bread.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Vegn Miso Noodle Soup

Vegan creamy Pumpkin Soup"

Vegan Lentil Soup

Read more ...

Healthy Miso Noodle Soup

This 30 minute vegan healthy Miso Noodle soup is perfect for those cold winter nights!!

Miso Soup... I'd read about it, seen it but never got a chance to try it. Reason? It usually contains fish. Even the ready to eat soup packets have fish in them. So I knew the only thing I could do was make it myself, without fish, of course. But for that I needed Miso Paste. Hard that it may sound, but not many people have actually heard of Miso Paste, not just in India but in a lot of South East Asian countries as well. I looked for it high an low in everywhere nope, I did not find it. It is more apt to say I did not find it in the quantity and the cost that I was actually looking for. I did find it in a Japanese store in Cambodia but it was over 1 kg in quantity and with everything written in Japanese on the cover, I was completely lost on what the ingredients were. It is available in India, however, it is either not too good or way too expensive. I finally purchased my first batch in Whole Foods, Chicago and have been loving it. It is fish free, salty-sweet and delicate in flavor. I could it just by the spoonful.

Miso is a paste of rice and soybeans that has been fermented using koji. Shiro Miso is the mild light colored one and also the one I used in this recipe. It just adds a hint of flavor but a lot of health to the soup. It is a great source of iron and protein. You can replace it with the red miso or Aka Miso, but definitely reduce the quantity as that is much stronger than the white miso.

Traditionally, the base of a miso soup is a Japanese stock called dashi which is made from sea kelp (kombu) and fish flakes (bonito flakes), but that is not something I would eat. So I skipped that totally and made it vegan. If you can find some sea weed like wakame or nori, add it to enhance the umami of the soup. I would have loved to, but I did not have any.

I know all my talk is about Miso here and it is a Miso soup, but even if you cannot find a good miso paste, don't be disheartened. Make the soup anyway, just call it Noodle Soup :) The soup is very healthy because of all the vegetables it contains. It is also super low in calories, with one serving being under 150 calories. All the more reason to make it, don't you think? It is absolutely guilt free. And if you thought it won't fill you up, let me warn you right away, you are wrong.  I could never drink/eat 2 whole servings because all that fiber from the vegetables filled me up right away.

I used whole wheat noodles in the soup, you can substitute it with soba noodles. Udon noodles wouldn't be bad as well. This soup is the healthiest thing you can have on a cold winter night. And the best part, it takes less than 30 minutes to make.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Lentil Soup with Roasted Pumpkin and Dumplings
• Spicy Tomato Soup
• Vegan creamy Pumpkin Soup

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Healthy Miso Noodle Soup

Vegan healthy soup made with white or shiro miso, wholewheat noodles and fresh vegetables. 

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            Japanese
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:                Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

3 tsp Shiro Miso Paste
50gms Wholewheat Noodles
1.5 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha Sauce
30gms Tofu, cubed
4-5 Mushrooms, sliced
3 baby Bok choy, chopped roughly
0.5 cup Broccoli florets
1 small Onion
1 cup Cabbage, shredded
1 small Carrot, julienned
3 tsp Oil
1 liter Vegetable Broth or Water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:

Cook the noodles as per instructions on the packet. Drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the onions until they are translucent.
Add the broth or water and bring to a rolling boil.
Dissolve the miso paste in half cup of water and add it to the pan.
Add the soy sauce, sriracha sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
Boil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the bokchoy, broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage and carrot and boil for another 2 minutes.
Add the noodles and tofu and serve hot.

Read more ...

Lentil Soup with Roasted Pumpkin and Dumplings

Warm hearty healthy vegan Lentil Soup with cumin roasted pumpkin and broken wheat dumplings for cold rainy evenings!

I'm blogging after a long time - one and a half months!! The last two months were tough. Too much happening at work, I was stressed out a lot and the thought of opening my laptop once I had shut down the office one was so stressful, I let the blog slide for a while. Add to that I had some unplanned weekend travel that left me exhausted. Toss in a sore throat and a runny nose with that and I'm sure you understand how bad the past 2 months were for me.

I did not stop cooking though, I cooked a lot!! Hoping to get all those recipes on the blog soon. First one comes today - Lentil Soup with Roasted Pumpkin and Dumplings!! (whew! long name)

Is it raining where you are? It definitely is pouring cats, dogs and elephants where I am and I have a higher chance of survival if I were a whale. Not sure if it is our friendly South West monsoons gone rogue or the effects of a depression in Bay of Bengal, but we've received a lot more rain than the city can handle. Flooded roads are adding to traffic and increasing travel time exponentially. 

With rain, comes wind - sharp and cold!! And all this cloudy cold is making me crave is hot hot HOT.. What's hotter and more comforting than soup on a cold windy day? Let us assume that I'm only talking about food for now. So Soup it is!! 

I was browsing through some really old magazines of mine and I chanced upon my sole copy of BBC Good Food magazine. I'm really upset they stopped the magazine in India. I hope they see the merit of starting it again someday. Waiting with crossed fingers! But yeah, the magazine had this exact recipe of Lentil Soup with roasted pumpkin and dumplings that I adapted from. 

This soup has 3 components - Lentils, Pumpkin and Dumplings.

Lentils - While the recipe mentioned Puy lentils, I used whole red lentils or Masoor. This cut down my cooking time as well as expense in half. To start with, just boil the lentils in water along with a little salt until they are done. Stop cooking before they are mushy enough to become dal. The lentils should preferably hold their shape and have the slightest of the bite in them. Cook them in vegetable broth for added flavor.

Pumpkin - Red pumpkin is roasted along with olive oil, salt, chilli powder and lots of cumin. Cube it and then roast it to reduce cooking time. These taste fabulous, so advise you to make a little extra, you can nibble on them as you cook. I definitely lost a good quantity of them to Raj and Gee while I cooked. A part of the pumpkin is pureed with the lentils and added to the soup while the rest can be just tossed in adding to the texture of the soup.

Dumplings - The recipe called for fine Bulghar wheat, what I used was Dalia or broken wheat, an Indian breakfast staple along with some millets. I soaked both the dalia and fox tail millets (navane) for half hour before draining and mixing in chopped onions, chopped coriander, salt, pepper, a tiny teaspoon of oil and plain flour. Mixed it and shaped into marble sized balls. I boiled them in water for 15-20 minutes until the wheat was almost cooked. Boil them in stock for added flavor.

The last step was combining all the 3 components and simmering for 10 minutes until everything came together. Garnish with chopped coriander and you are ready to serve.

This soup is very hearty and filling, it can keep you going for hours.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email (How convenient!!)

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Black Bean Soup - Mexican style black bean soup. Vegan.
• Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Soup - Thick creamy vegan pumpkin soup.
• Panchrangi Dal / Panchmel Dal - A dal from West India made with 5 different types of lentils.

You can find more soup recipes here.

Lentil Soup with Roasted Pumpkin and Dumplings

Lentil soup with added cumin roasted pumpkins and dumplings made of broken wheat.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     45 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

150 gms Whole Red Lentils / Masoor
150 gms Pumpkin
4 Tbsp Broken Wheat / Dalia
2 Tbsp Foxtail Millet
2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour / Maida
1 small Onion
3 Tbsp chopped Coriander
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Pepper Powder
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Water as required
4-5 tsp Oil

Method:

Soak the lentils in water for 30 minutes.
Soak the broken wheat and foxtail millet in water for 30 minutes.
Boil 3 cups of water in a large pot and add 0.5 tsp of salt to it.
Drain the lentils and add to the pot of boiling water and cook until the lentils are done.
Drain out the broken wheat and millets. Add all purpose flour, finely chopped onions, 1 Tbsp chopped coriander, salt and 0.5 tsp pepper. Mix until combined. If it is runny, add more flour.
Shape into marble sized balls.
Boil 2 cups of water in a pot and add the dumplings into it. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked.
Dice the pumpkin into bite sized pieces. Rub with olive oil, red chilli powder, cumin and salt. Lay onto a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 200 degree C. Bake the pumpkin for 20-25 minutes or until done.
Blend 1/3rd of the pumpkin with 1/3rd of the lentils and add to the boiled lentils. Add salt and pepper as required. Add more water if required and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the remaining pumpkin and the dumplings and simmer for 5 minutes.
Garnish with the remaining chopped coriander and serve hot.

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MIL's Spicy Tomato Curry with fried Bhindi (Okra) [Video]

Spicy Tomato Curry with fried Bhindi / Okra recipe with video instructions. Spicy Tomato Curry is a quick vegan tomato soup that is served with pan fried okra. Spicy Tomato Curry is vegan, gluten free and fits a Jain diet.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

They say winter is over. While I love the promise of sunshine all through the day, I miss the chill in the air. Luckily, it is still chilly in the morning, so I'm enjoying the last few days with my jacket until it is stacked in the cupboard for the next 6-7 months until the monsoons bring on some more chill.

Winter may be over, and warm nights back on the calendar, but hey, that really does not stop me from enjoying hot meals. And speaking of hot meals, especially my Mother-in-law's Spicy Tomato Curry. This curry is perfect for winter nights or rainy nights when all you want is a bowl of spicy sour soul warming goodness. But don't let the weather stop you from enjoying something this delicious. Unless you live on the coast in a tropical country in the Northern Hemisphere, you still have a few days of cold nights left, use it to enjoy this Tomato Curry.

While the name suggests curry, this is really a spicy Tomato Soup flavored with cumin, thickened with chickpea flour (gram flour/ besan) and garnished with fried okra (bhindi). Isn't fried okra the BEST? Crispy crunchy salty and we can always pretend it is healthy, after all it is a vegetable. If I haven't convinced you to fry that okra, you can just as well be a health freak and grill it up until it is nice and charred. My mother in law sometimes adds boiled potato cubes to the curry as well, but okra is the family favorite.

This is probably the quickest and absolutely no fuss soup I know to prepare. So no fine chopping, no 100 ingredients, no exotic spices (unless you consider cumin exotic), no hours and hours of simmering. NADA!!! Just 3 main ingredients and barely 40 minutes to prepare. No chopping, just blending.

Making this curry is super simple. I pressure cook the tomatoes whole for 8-10 minutes or 1-2 whistles. Then allow them to cool a little, before peeling them and blending. Meanwhile, fry up your chopped okra or boil the potatoes. Heat oil in a kadhai or pot and add cumin seeds. When they brown, add in the gram flour and saute it well for 1 minute. Then add in the blended tomatoes. Add water if required. Season with salt and red chilli powder and allow it to simmer for 5-8 minutes. If it is too thin, add more gram flour. If it is too thick add water. Too sweet, then add a little tamarind juice or lime juice. Too sour, then you can sweeten it with sugar or jaggery. Just TRUST your taste buds more than anything. I like my curry hot, sour with full flavor of cumin. Add the fried okra or potato just before serving.

Serve it with some crusty bread and dinner is done! You can also serve it with rice, though then I'd recommend you keep it thick.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

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Video Recipe

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Spicy Tomato Curry

Spicy and easy Tomato Curry or Soup made with fresh tomatoes, thickened with gram flour and garnished with crispy fried okra.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     40 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

5-6 large Tomatoes
6 tsp Oil
1 Tbsp Gram Flour (Chickpea Flour / Besan)
1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
15-20 small Okra (Bhindi)
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder (Optional)
A handful of Curry leaves
Red Chilli Powder to taste
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Pressure cook the tomatoes with 1 cup of water for 1-2 whistles or 8-10 minutes. If cooking in a pan, cook the tomatoes until they are soft. Reserve the water.
2. Peel the tomatoes and leave aside to cool.
3. Chop the end of the okra.
4. Heat 3 tsp oil in a small pan and fry the okra until they are slightly browned and crispy. Keep flipping the okra so that they cook evenly.
5. Once the tomatoes have cooled, blend into a puree with 1 cup of reserved water.
6. Once the tomatoes have cooled, blend into a puree.
7. Heat 3 tsp Oil in a large pan or pot and add the cumin seeds and curry leaves.
8. Once they brown slightly, add the gram flour and saute for 1 minute until the raw smell disappears.
9. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
10. Pour in the blended tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Add salt to taste.
11. Let it come to a boil and then simmer for 5-8 minutes.
12. If the consistency is too thick, add more water. If it is too thin, add a 1 Tbsp gram flour mixed in water.
13. If the curry is too sour, add a little sugar. If the curry is not sour enough add a little tamarind juice or lime juice.
14. Add the crispy okra just before serving.
15. Serve hot with crusty bread or rice.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Corn Tomato Bharta

Tomato Saar

Tomato Gazpacho

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