Turkish Soup

We, Indians, have adopted majority of International cuisines and moulded them by giving an Indian Tadka to it. In India, many cuisines such as Chinese, Italian, Thai, have gained popularity. However, Turkish cuisine still remains unexlored by Indian home cooks. Also, there is a strong notion that most of the Turkish recipes are non-vegeterian. But even the Turkish cuisine has few very delicious vegetarian recipes. This Turkish Soup is an Indian version of Turkish Red Lentil Soup - 'Mercimek Corbasi', which uses chopped veggies like cabbage, carrots and capsicum that are largely used in chinese soups. This soup uses a special aromatic stock that gives it a pleasant aroma and flavor.

Servings : 4-5 servings

Ingredients:
For the Paste:
1 cup Red Lentil (Masoor Dal)
4 chopped Onions
1/2 chopped Beetroot 
2-3 cups water

For Aromatic Stock:
3 Cups Water
3 Bay leaves (Tamalpatra)
7-8 cloves (Lavang)
1/4 cup Celery leaves & stems 
8-10 Garlic cloves
6-7 lime leaves (Or 1/2 lemon - sliced )

For Turkish Soup:
2 tbpns Butter
1/4 cup chopped Carrot
1/4 cup chopped Capsicum
1/4 cup chopped Cabbage
Stock (as above)
Paste (as above)
Salt to taste

For Garnishing :
Parsley
A dollop of Butter

Method:

To make Paste:

Take Red Lentil, chopped onions and beetroot in a pressure cooker. Add water to the ingredients and cook them. It does not take much time to cook the Lentils. Once cooked, allow it to cool. Then transfer it into a blender and blend it into a smooth paste.

To make aromatic Stock:

Heat water in a pan. Add Bay leaves, cloves, Celery leaves, garlic cloves and limes leaves (or sliced lemon) to it. Boil it for 10 minutes on high flame. Pass it through a sieve. Set aside the stock.

To make Soup:

Heat butter in a pan. Add chopped carrots and saute them. Then, sprinkle salt over the carrots. After sauteeing for 2 minutes, add chopped capsicum and cabbage. Again saute it for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the stock to it. 

Add the Lentil paste to the mixture. Cook till the mixture starts boiling. Turn off the flame. Garnish it with Parsley & a dollop of salted butter. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. While making stock, the celery leaves may be substituted with Corriander leaves and stems.
2. A few drops of lemon juice may be added while serving the soup
3. Water may be added to adjust the consistency

Stepwise Pictures:

 

 

 

Sending this entry to Foodelicious's 'ONLY' GLUTEN FREE COOKING

Steam Idli

A plate of Idli Sambar makes for a very healthy breakfast at the start of a day. The reciepe below is a variation as I have suggested adding a pinch of fruit salt so that the Idli becomes soft and light. You will need a Idli steamer and moulds for making idlis.

Servings:
Approx. 20 pieces

Ingredients:

For Idli Batter 
3 cups par-boiled rice (ukda Tandool) or regular rice
1 cup Urad dal 
1 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
1-2 tspns Fruit Salt
Water as required
salt to taste
Oil for greasing

For Serving
Coconut chutney
Sambar

Method:

To make the idli batter

Wash urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds. Add enough quantity of water to soak the urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds. The level of water should be approximately 1/2 inch above the level of this mixture. Allow it to soak for 5-6 hours.

After soaking, remove excess water from dal and rice so that it can be used to adjust the consistency of the batter and keep it aside. Now transfer the mixture into a blender and blend it into paste of medium consistency (neither smooth nor coarse). Add some dal and rice water kept aside, if required. Transfer the batter into a large bowl and cover it. Allow it to rest overnight so that the mixture gets fermented. Ensure that the bowl is kept in a warm place for fermentation.

To make Idli

Take Idli Steamer (special Idli cooker) and add enough water in the base. Cover it and allow the water to boil. Take Idli moulds and grease them with oil.

Take enough batter in a bowl. Add salt and some water to adjust the consistency of the batter. Now add 1/2 spoon of fruit salt and mix it in the batter. Take a spoonful of batter and pour it into the greased Idli moulds. Steam it for 10-15 minutes. After steaming, allow it to cool for some time. Scoop out the Idlis from the Idli mould with the help of a greased spoon . 

Serve hot with Coconut chutney and Sambar.

Notes:

1. While storing the batter for fermentation, ensure that there is enough space in the bowl as the batter will rise further. If the bowl used in small, then the batter will spill out of the bowl.
2. Ensure that the final batter is not thick, because thick batter leads to hard Idlis
3. If you do not have an Idli steamer, you can make a double boiler and cover the outer vessel with a lid. You can take small bowls (steel/aluminum) and put small quantities of batter in each and steam the idlis. Alternatively, you can use a flat alluminium dish/plate with a good height and steam the batter.

Stepwise Pictures:

Sending this recipe to Anu's Healthy Kitchen's - South Indian Cooking Series hosted by Nivedhanam