Nov 19, 2022 | Condiments and spices
Vegetable Broth | Veg Stock.
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.
You may also like the soup recipes below –
Roasted tomato and garlic soup
Spinach & roasted almond soup
Nov 11, 2022 | Mains
Beans & Kale Soup.
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.
You may also like –
Roasted tomato and garlic soup
Spinach & roasted almond soup
Nov 1, 2022 | Drinks, Mains
Vegan Veggies & Black Rice Soup.
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.
Recipe – Serves 2
Ingredients –
1/4 cup carrots – finely chopped
1/4 cup red bell peppers – fine chopped
1/2 piece or 1/4 cup onions – fine chopped
1 tsp garlic – finely chopped
3/4 tsp ginger – finely chopped
1/2 cup button mushrooms – quartered
1/3 cup black rice – soaked for 30 mins
200 ml coconut milk
1/2 – 3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper- crushed
1/8 tsp mixed dried herbs
1/4 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
2.5 cups water/homemade veggie stock
1 tbsp olive oil
Garnish – parsley, thick coconut milk, crushed black pepper, sautéed mushrooms (optional)
Method –
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.
You may also like –
Roasted tomato and garlic soup
Spinach & roasted almond soup
Oct 1, 2022 | Snacks
Sweet Potato Beetroot & Carrot Tikki Chaat.
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.
The link to the chutney recipes – Chutneys
Sep 9, 2022 | Mains
Red Rice Congee.
This is a true definition of comfort food. Rice congee with sautéed mushrooms, kimchi, a slight drizzle of Sriracha and garnished with white sesame seeds and cilantro.
I have used red rice here which takes much longer to break down into a congee, but the outcome of this patience is just superb! Feel free to use white rice which cooks quicker. Leftover rice works great too to make this.
The recipe for sautéed mushrooms is here – Butter garlic & thyme mushroom I have only sliced the mushrooms and changed the seasonings. Feel free to play around with choice of herbs and seasonings.
If you are not fond of mushrooms, there could be a lot of other toppings for congee – Kimchi, Fried onions, spring onions, sautéed or pulled meat, boiled eggs, tofu, pickles of choice, cucumber salad, chilli oil, chutneys, roasted peanuts, sautéed jackfruit and more.
Let me know in the comments section below which one is your favorite.
Recipe – Serves 2
Ingredients –
1/2 cup red rice if raw, 1 cup rice if cooked.
6-8 cups water
1 cup homemade veggie stock (optional)
Salt to taste
Method 1 –
Put red rice, 2 cups water and salt in a pot on low flame.. Check in intervals and once the water lessens, add 2 more cups water and let it simmer. Continue this step until the rice breaks down into a porridge and comes to desired consistency. Keeping the flame at low at all times is the key here. It might take 45-50 mins or more if using white rice and a couple hours if using red.
Method 2 –
Pressure cook red rice, salt, water and stock if using to upto 7-8 whistles on medium low flame (a couple of whistles more if using raw red rice). Let the pressure settle naturally and check if the rice is broken to porridge consistency.
Use the desired toppings as mentioned above and dig in!
Enjoy!
Notes – If using white rice, reduce the water quantity and the cooking time.
This red rice congee is such a great meal when feeling under the weather. Do you have a go-to comfort meal too? Tell me in the comments below. You can also connect with me on my Instagram or Facebook handle.
