Vegetarian – Spice Aromas by Manisha

Broccoli is a very healthy and nutritious vegetable for all of us. Unfortunately, there are many broccoli haters out there who think that the vegetable tastes bad. However, I believe that they just aren’t eating it right. My scrumptious broccoli soup is just one of the ways to consume this ingredient whilst enjoying or even loving the dish you are eating. Many recipes use cream to make the soup rich and creamy but this also hugely increases the number of calories in it and makes the nutritional value of the broccoli worthless. My recipe will provide you with thick creamy soup but without using any cream, maintaining all of its nutritional value.

So here’s what you need to make this scrumptious broccoli soup.

Ingredients for Broccoli Soup

Around 400 g of broccoli
3-4 garlic cloves
Small piece of ginger
Half a medium sized onion
Black pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
2 tbsp butter
Croutons

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Step-by-step recipe

Cut the broccoli into large chunks and wash them thoroughly. Then put them to boil until they are cooked and feel soft. When this happens, drain the water and keep them aside.

Chop up the onion, garlic and ginger.

Melt some butter on a pan and then add the garlic and ginger. Stir for a bit and then add the onions. Allow them to cook until they brown slightly.

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger on a pan

Once they have browned, add the boiled broccoli and mix it in well.

Add all of the contents of the pan to a blender to form a paste. Then add some hot water and blend again to make the paste smoother.

Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a saucepan and then add the blended paste.

Add some hot water to the blending container and pour the contents into the saucepan. This clears any leftover paste in the container and also makes the soup slightly thinner and smoother.

Pour the remaining paste into the saucepan.

Add salt and pepper to taste and then you’re good to go.

Serving suggestions: This dish is best served with a side of fresh bread and topped with croutons.

If you would like more visual assistance or details on how to make the soup, please feel free to watch the video below.

How to make Scrumptious Broccoli Soup

Brinjal is a much loved vegetable in India and is used in a variety of foods all over the country. My favourite whilst growing up in Marathwada was the authentic brinjal curry made in my mother’s village. I would visit there almost every holiday and this amazing curry would be one of the first things on my mind. My recipe uses fresh masala, leaving it hard to tell that the dish has not been prepared in the depths of Maharashtra. This differentiates the curry from the bland food served at the local takeaway and gives you a true taste of Marathwada.

So here’s what you need to make this mouthwatering curry.

Ingredients for Brinjal Curry

1 kg small brinjals
3 medium sized onions
6 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp chilli powder
1tbsp coriander seeds (dhana whole)
1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp ground coconut
2 tbsp white poppy seeds (kaskas seeds)
Garam Masala(any brand)
salt
cooking oil
fresh coriander

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 6 people

Special Notes: You can add chilli powder according to your test on how spicy you want the dish to be.

Step-By-Step Recipe for Brinjal Curry

Thoroughly wash the brinjals. Then, score them with a knife about half an inch deep twice at perpendicular angles and set them aside for now.

Score the Brinjal at perpendicular angles.

On a hot pan, roast the cumin and coriander seeds along with white poppy seeds and coconut for just over a minute. Then remove the contents of the pan And place it in a separate dish. Now put the onions on the heat.

Roast the coconut, cumin, coriander and white poppy seeds

Cook the onions until they are slightly brown

While the onions cook, grind the roasted contents into a fine powder and then place it aside.

Grind the roasted contents into a fine powder

Once the onion has browned a little, put it in a blender and make a paste. Then add garlic and some coriander to the paste and blend again.

Make a paste using onions, garlic and coriander

Add some oil to the pan. Once heated, cook the paste and add chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix it well and allow it to cook for around 3 minutes.