It’s the soup and stew season and what could be better than homemade broth to form a perfect base for the soups or stews. I have used store bought bouillon for a long time but the sodium content in those made me rethink of my choices. This broth is super flavourful and can be stored in freezer for upto 3 months.
How to make this –
Ingredients – Makes 2.5 cups of broth
2 medium sized onions – roughly chopped
7-8 cloves garlic – minced
1 inch ginger – minced
1 green chilli
3 small carrots – sliced thin
1/3 cup button mushrooms – sliced
3 dried shiitake mushrooms – optional
Salt – generous sprinkle
2 sprigs thyme
1/2 star anise
1 tejpatta
7-8 whole black peppercorns
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
Handful of coriander stems (no leaves)
1.5 litres of water
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method –
Heat olive oil and put in the tejpatta, star anise and whole black peppercorns. Sauté for a few seconds and add the ginger, garlic and green chilli and continue to cook for another couple mins. Now add the onions cook for 2-3 mins and add the carrots and mushrooms.
Sauté everything on medium high flame for 3-4 mins and then mix in the water. Then add thyme, turmeric powder, salt and coriander stems. Let the water come to a boil, lower the flame to minimal, cover the pot and let it simmer for approximately one and half to two hours. Sieve the mix and separate the broth. Use the remains and suggested below –
Once the broth is simmered and sieved to separate the broth, churn the veggie remains (take off the star anise and tejpatta), add salt, garam masala, cumin and make a soup out of it or use in the gravies. The umami is unbeatable!
The broth can stay in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in a clean airtight container or in the freezer for 3 months. I freeze them in ice cube moulds and then I store the cubes in the freezer safe zip lock. Its easier to add the quantity to my recipes as required instead of thawing the whole thing every time.
Traditionally celery is also added to the broth. Since I don’t like the strong flavour of celery I don’t add that to my broth. Feel free to add if you prefer.
If you like this vegetable broth | veg stock recipe, do let me know in the comments below or connect with me on my Instagramor Facebook handles.
We love one pot meals, not just for the ease of making it but also for how versatile it could be. This soup is loaded with veggies, beans, pasta, kale and simple flavours. Topped with bits of curly parsley and homemade tortilla chips, this is a great meal. Personally, it was very comforting for me while my throat was fighting an infection.
How to make this –
Ingredients – serves 4
1 onion – finely chopped
2 small tomatoes – finely chopped
1 green chilli – finely chopped
1 inch ginger – finely chopped
7-8 cloves garlic – minced
1 small carrot – sliced thin
6-7 button mushrooms – sliced
3 tbsp sweet corn – frozen
7-8 Tuscan kale leaves – stems removed
1/2 cup kidney beans (I used fresh rajma, chitra rajma and red rajma) – dried ones soaked overnight
1/3 cup pasta of choice
1 tbsp parsley – chopped
2 twigs of fresh thyme
Salt to taste
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp olive oil
2.5 cups water
To garnish – Chopped parsley, Baked homemade tortilla chips, black pepper and red chilli flakes.
Method –
Heat oil in a stock pot. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté for a min. Mix in onions and continue to cook on medium low flame.
Add carrots and mushrooms and let increase the flame. Cook everything for 3-4 mins and then add tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes turn mushy, approx 5-6 mins more.
Then mix in salt, cumin powder and garam masala. Mix everything and add the soaked beans and fresh beans if using. Now add the water, kale, sauces, sugar, thyme, then cover the pot and let it cook on low flame for 20 mins. Now add the pasta and parsley, cover and cook for another 15 mins. Check if the beans and pasta are cooked as desired or else continue to cook it further. Keep the flame low.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish and serve hot.
Enjoy!
If you like this beans & kale soup recipe, do let me know in the comments below or connect with me on my Instagram or Facebook handles.
It’s the soup season and my fav one! This is the simplest and yummiest one pot meal/soup that makes a perfect lunch or dinner option. Add whatever seasonal veggies are handy. I have used black organic rice to make this but feel free to use any rice of choice. Just account for the cooking time and the extra water that it would need.
Heat olive oil in a stock pot. Sauté ginger and garlic for a min or until the garlic begins to change colour.
Add the onions and sauté for another min. Mix in all the vegetables and on medium high heat sauté them for 3-4 mins.
Pour in the water and stock . Add the uncooked rice.
Let it come to a boil and then cover and cook the veggies for approx 20 mins or until the rice is cooked through. (If using cooked rice to make this, use less water and reduce the cooking time; also add the rice towards the end once the veggies are cooked).
Once the rice and veggies are cooked, then add coconut milk, soy sauce, sriracha sauce and nutritional yeast (if using). Stir continuously until the soup just begins to boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 mins or until it reaches the desired consistency. Add black pepper and dried herbs. Taste and add salt accordingly.
Garnish and serve!
Enjoy!
If you like this vegan veggies & black rice soup recipe, do let me know in the comments below or connect with me on my Instagramor Facebook handles.
Though this is a great Navratri snack/meal but we eat it all the time the sweet potatoes are in season. Chaat lovers would simple adore it and vegans can skip the yogurt. There is no onion and garlic in this recipe and I promise you wouldn’t miss it. The tikkis are cooked on low flame until they have a gorgeous crisp texture on the outside and soft but thoroughly cooked on the inside. I end up eating a couple of them in the pretext of tasting before serving it to others 😛
Turn these gorgeousness into a delicious chaat with whisked yogurt, green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney (I will link the recipes of the chutneys below), sev, boondi, micro greens, pomegranates arils and some red chilli powder.
Recipe – makes 10 tikkis of diameter 3 inch each.
Ingredients –
1 cup sweet potatoes – boiled and grated
1/2 cup beetroot – boiled and grated
1/3 cup carrots – grated
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp crushed ginger and green chillies
1/3 tsp red chilli powder (skip if the green chillies are too hot)
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
3 tbsp coriander leaves – finely chopped
2 tbsp besan
1 tsp cornflour
1 cup panko breadcrumb
Cold pressed sesame oil as required
Method –
Mix together the grated sweet potatoes, beetroot, carrots, all the spices, ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves.
Mix cornflour and besan with water and make it into a slurry. Use ice cold water. Make the slurry runny and not thick.
Make small patties, dip them one by one into the slurry and toss them in the panko breadcrumbs. Re do the dipping and tossing process. Keep them ready to be cooked.
Heat sesame oil in a pan and cook the tikkis from both the sides on low flame until the exterior is brown and crisp. It takes a while to do it so patience is the key here 🙂
Assemble the chaat with the toppings mentioned above as desired or eat these as is.
Enjoy!
If you like this recipe of Sweet Potato Beetroot & Carrot Tikki Chaat, I would love to hear from you in the comments below or connect with me on my Instagram or Facebook handles.
One of the staple parathas in Indian families is aloo paratha. Whole wheat flatbreads stuffed with spiced potato filling, dunked in cold yogurt makhana raita and with punjabi mango pickle on the side, makes a perfect breakfast, brunch or lunch. We Marwaris love our parathas and this definitely takes the cake away.
Recipe – makes 6 parathas.
Ingredients –
1 cup whole wheat flour
3-4 medium sized potatoes – boiled.
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander leaves – finely chopped
3/4 tsp amchur powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 garam masala
1 tsp crushed green chillies and ginger
Oil/ghee as required
Method –
Knead whole wheat flour with water as required into a soft dough.
Mash/grate the boiled potatoes. Mix in all the spices, coriander leaves, crushed chillies and ginger.
Divide the dough into small balls.
Flatten the dough ball into 3 inch diameter, brush ghee (clarified butter)/oil and spread the aloo filling.
Close the edges forming a flattened ball again and roll it to give a shape of roti/flatbread.
Roast on griddle/tawa with ghee/oil.
Enjoy!
Makhana Raita Recipe –
Heat 1.5 tsp ghee. Toss 1/4 cup chopped makhanas for a couple mins until they turn crisp. Stir continuously or it might get burnt.
Whisk 1 cup curd along with 1/2 tsp sugar, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Add a little water/milk if the curd is too thick.
Mix in the chopped and roasted makhanas and top it up with some mint leaves.
Enjoy with hot parathas!
If you like this recipe of Aloo Paratha | Spiced Potato Stuffed Flatbreads, I would love to hear from you in the comments below or connect with me on my Instagram or Facebook handles.
A food stylist, photographer, and blogger. After leading Human Resources for several years in India and the US, my inner calling prompted me to work on a dream and a vision envisaged by my younger self many years ago. Being creatively inclined and with an interest in food, I decided to embark on my journey towards endless and limitless possibilities.
