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Friday, January 14, 2011

Ginger up! Spiced Cauliflower Soup

Lunch time today comes with a velvety spiced cauliflower soup. It's the easiest thing in the world to make when you are hungry, as it cooks so quickly. 30 busy minutes in the kitchen are over and it's time to call your family for lunch :)


Type of cuisine: Indian/Vegetarian
Mildly hot
Cooking time: 30 minutes


Oh, I never liked cauliflower :( ....until I discovered Indian cuisine. One day, I came across and fell in love with Aloo Gobi (an enchanting mix of cauliflower and potatoes with selected spices). 
The other day I had a fresh cauliflower in my fridge and going through the options, I made up my mind to turn in into a soup.


A hot soup with spices and pungent flavours is best recommended on cold, gloomy winter days.






The spices

2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger root

2 tablespoons of turmeric

2 tablespoons of cumin seeds (use them for decoration at the end)

1 tablespoon of (yellow) mustard seeds

2 tablespoons of coriander seeds (keep some to use for decoration at the end)

1 tablespoon of onion seeds


You will also need

a cauliflower head (fresh)

chicken or vegetable stock

single cream or yoghurt (I use single cream)

a small onion


Preparation
Break the cauliflower into florets and boil them for 15-20 minutes. Drain (but keep some of the water)

Method
In a pot fry the onion and the spices (ginger root, cumin, mustard, coriander and onion seeds) and cover- they will pop and splatter your cooker with hot oil! (And you could get burned as well).

Pour the water in which the cauliflower has boiled in over the spices and mix.
Add the cauliflower and use a vertical blender to puree the soup.  

In a small bowl, take some soup from the pot and dissolve a chicken/vegetable stock in it.  Add to the soup and let it simmer. 

Work in the cream/yoghurt and add the turmeric.  

To serve use the some cumin, coriander or onion seeds to decorate. 

The result should be light, creamy and very tasty. 

The ginger is the base of this delightful soup and it will give it a mild spicy flavour.  
As I can't handle hot chilly too well, most of my Indian dishes tend to be mild. This dish will surprise you with its edginess, given by the fresh ginger root. Don't substitute it for dry powder ginger from the supermarket. It will ruin your soup. Store the ginger in a cold place. It will keep well in the fridge for a couple of weeks. 

3 comments:

  1. I love this combination of cauliflower and spices. Actually, I think i will try it tonight, but without transforming it into soup. My kids love the little pieces of cauliflower :)

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  2. Let me know how it worked out :) In a solid form, I'd make a cauliflower curry or I would fry the cauliflower in the spices and add some cream, coconut milk or yoghurt. Indian cuisine is so varied. I love it. How was your trip and the cooking course? Details :)

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  3. We loved the cauliflower. I like curry also and I prepared several times. this time I used the spices you used and then served it with yogurt. Kids loved it <3
    Trip was a bliss. Fantastic memories! Just one issue: too many pictures (over 3000). So many wonderful things happened... I wish I had the time to write about everything :)
    Cooking class was quite fun, as in the end my husband cooked and I took the pictures :) It was impossible to do both things. But , to my great surprise, he's a great cook. :))) Found another cooking school in Bangkok, visited it, can't wait to go back. Have fun!

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