We are being brutally plunked with snow storms one after the other here in Colorado this winter. The sharp cold winds, impossible to clear driveways and icy roads have done a good job of keeping us indoors most of the time this holiday season. So, what do you do on such awful cold winter days? My top pick - turn to piping hot food for comfort! The healthy winner from the long list of comfort foods – a hot bowl of soup!
Soups are one of my favorite things to cook, serve and eat. They can pack in some super nutrition, delightful taste and the much needed comfort, giving anyone an almost instant gratification with just a whiff! Though my personal favorite is the classic spicy tomato soup made the Indian way (a post about that to follow soon), I enjoy just about any kind of soup, but I sure am not a big fan of some of those heavy cheesy greasy soups.
Here is one such recipe that I would grandly list in the “Simplicity at its best” category; very few simple ingredients, easy to make and delightful to the palate. Try it and you’ll know what I mean!
You’ll need:
- 1 cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1 small onion, diced (preferably white or yellow)
- 1 small potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp oil
- 2 tbsp yogurt, whipped (for garnish)
- 2-3 cups Water, or as required
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Method:
- If using frozen peas, thaw out well
- Heat oil in a pot, add the bay leaf and diced onions
- Sauté until the onions turn a little soft. Add the cubed potatoes, green peas and about a cup & half of water. Season with salt and bring it to a boil and cook until the potatoes & peas are fork tender
- Turn off the heat and let it cool
- Discard the bay leaf, transfer the cooked peas to a blender and puree until smooth (you can also use a hand blender)
- Return the puree to the pot, turn on the heat and adjust the seasonings and water to the consistency you want. It’s best neither watery nor thick; just soup-y!
- Add sugar, freshly ground black pepper and bring the soup to a gentle boil
- Take off the heat, ladle into bowls and garnish with whipped yogurt. Enjoy!
Everything good sees a start with sugar rush in India; lovely sweet beginnings! For the first post on my new shiny blog, what could be better than a sweet treat that would also pave my way into this month’s JFI – Coconut event hosted by Ashwini of Food For Thought?
Phirni is a ’kheer’ like pudding made primarily with milk, rice and sugar. This basic pudding is so versatile, I think, that you can flavor it and dress it up to suit your fancy. Some traditional phirni flavors are Saffron (Kesar Phirni), Mango Phirni, Badam (Almond) Phirni, Rose Phirni (yes, flavored with rose water/rose jam and garnished with rose petals). Check out Ashwini’s wonderful post about Rose Phirni with interesting insight into the history of its origin.
One of my favorite flavors of this smooth velvety dessert is with Almonds. I also happen to love Almond-Coconut combination, so no points for guessing what came out of that! Yes, Coconut-Almond Phirni. So, there I went, wandering off into my kitchen, imagining the two great flavors blending into a smooth, rich pudding and got to work. Traditionally, phirni is not part of South Indian cuisine and I had no idea about this dessert growing up. So, I felt free to experiment with it and I must say it turned out pretty real good! Read on for the recipe.
You’ll need:
- 4 cups milk (I used organic, 2% fat)
- ½ cup coconut milk (homemade or a good variety, store bought)
- ¾ cup sugar *
- 2 tbsp basmati rice **
- ½ cup raw almonds
- ½ cup of fresh grated coconut
- 2-3 pods of green cardamom, peeled and crushed
- A few flakes of toasted coconut for garnish
Method:
- Soak almonds in plenty of water for 5-6 hours. You can also soak them in boiling water for about an hour
- Wash and soak the rice separately for about an hour
- Peel the almonds and grind with coconut and soaked rice to a smooth paste
- In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat the milk and bring it to a gentle boil
- Add sugar and slowly incorporate the ground coconut-rice-almond paste, continuously whisking the mixture to avoid any lumps
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes thick
- Add crushed cardamom and coconut milk. Mix well to combine
- Take off the heat and let it cool. Chill in the refrigerator for a good 4-6 hours
- Serve garnished with flakes of toasted coconut. Enjoy!
* I use Florida Crystals Organic sugar. Since this is not ‘white’ sugar, it added a very faint color to the phirni
** Rice is used mainly as a thickening agent in this dessert. I prefer a runny consistency than a denser one, so I used 2 tbsp of rice. If you’d like a denser, thicker phirni, use about 3-4 tbsp of rice.
Another food blog…why, you ask? Well, it’s just a means of channelizing and sharing my exploding passion for cooking! The inspirations for starting my own food blog are many. When I first stumbled upon food blogs a long time ago, I probably spent hours and hours surveying them, just awestruck at the energy, dedication and warmth of the cooking aficionados out there! I then spent days cerebrating if I should start a food blog of my own; the biggest reason holding me back from jumping in all these days was the apprehension that I would not be able to do justice to it in terms of constant posts and maintenance given my busy schedule. But then, wonderful events like JFI and others pushed me over the edge! I couldn’t hold back any longer and I had to take the plunge! So, here I am!
The food blogs I frequent are many and Indira’s Mahanandi deserves a special utterance. Thanks to Indira for her encouragement to swoop me into this wonderful world of food blogging. The other blogs I visit and absolutely adore are all listed in the Kitchen links.
With that said, I am enthusiastically looking forward to my first post!
