Tomatoes & Mixed Veggies Soup

Thick, tasty, healthy tomato and mixed veggies soup!

As the cold wave grips northern India, I am beginning to see its effects here, down south too.. It is an oddly cold, breezy day and the tender sunshine on the terrace is on a mission to play hide and seek. Wrapped in my shawl, I was thinking of preparing a tasty, healthy and delightfully warm soup for snacks this evening. Soups served in restaurants, especially the ones with a tomato-base are usually laced with cornflour to thicken it and I always felt it somehow spoiled the taste... My solution is simple, just add a potato to thicken it as well as to provide a little nutrition that it has to offer! 

This recipe is uncomplicated, simple and wholesome! Go ahead and enjoy that hot bowl of soup while you watch your favourite TV show or while you simply sit and chat with friends and family! 

TOMATOES & MIXED VEGGIES SOUP

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 10 mins | Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes - 5-6 nos (firm, red medium-sized)
2. Beetroot - half (of a medium sized)
3. Carrots - 2 nos (baby carrots)
4. Spinach leaves - 7-8 large leaves
5. Bottle gourd - about a 3 inch piece
6. Potato - 1 medium-large sized
7. Yellow split moong dal - 1-2 tablespoons 
8. Black Pepper Powder - 2 teaspoons
9. Cumin Powder (Jeera) - 1-2 teaspoons
10. Sugar - 2 teaspoons
11. Butter - 2 teaspoons
12. Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash and clean the moong dal and all the vegetables. Peel and chop carrots, bottle gourd, beetroot and potato into large chunks. Cut tomatoes into chunks of 4. Pressure cook all the vegetables along with the dal and set aside for cooling. Considering beetroot takes slightly longer to cook, around 5-6 whistles should be adequate.
2. Once the vegetables are cooked, blend them in a mixer or blender. Remember and DO NOT throw away the water from the pressure cooker used for cooking these vegetables since it contains most of the nutrition from the vegetables and dal.
3. Empty the blended vegetables into a vessel and set it to heat. Depending on how thick or liquid you like your soup to be (I like mine slightly thicker), add the water (saved from cooking the vegetables) to the mixture.
4. Add pepper and cumin powders along with salt, sugar and better and bring to boil once.
5. Take it off the heat and you may garnish it with a little parsley or a spoon of cream and serve hot with bread-sticks, garlic bread or simply gulp bowls of soup! 

Quick Notes:

• The moong dal and other vegetables make it nutritious
• Potato thickens the soup and is a better alternative than cornflour
• I restrict the use of spinach to a few leaves because it has a strong flavour of its own which most people may not like
• You are free to add more vegetables like beans, cauliflower etc if you like

Using tomato as a base gives it its tang and flavour along with a beautiful red colour, adding that little sparkle to your Christmas winter evenings! Bon Apetit!