KOCHI: The moody monsoon is here. The slight chill in the air is spreading faster. Tea and pakoras are the quintessential rain companions, however, let’s try something different this time. Why not slurp a bowl of hot soup, a healthy getaway for the mind and the soul? Soups are the ultimate comfort food, especially if you have a cold or are cooped up due to a fever.
For those who are intimidated to cook up solid meals in the chilly monsoon, soups are the best option. Bring on those veggies hiding in your kitchen cabinets or add some meaty elements for a flavourful, tasty, aromatic offering. Now, curl up and soak in the monsoon vibes.
The word soup is said to have originated from the post-classical Latin verb suppāre, meaning ‘soak’. Later derived as the noun suppa, the word was translated into old French as ‘soupe’. It means ‘piece of bread soaked in liquid’ and also ‘broth poured onto bread.’
With the passage of time, it entered English vocabulary in the seventeenth century. Explaining the derivation and origin of soup, Arun Vijayakumar an executive chef of Zam Zam Bun cafe in Thiruvananthapuram, says: “Soup can be an equal meal for both wealthy and poor people. It is also a must dish in the one-hour full-course meal in traditional French cuisine. Soup is generally served before the meal,” he says.
Historically, soup became part of a meal during the stone age. Precisely, the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, between the years 50,000-12,000 years ago. Soup is often prepared with seasonally available vegetables, meat products and seafood. Prepared using broth or stock, the dish is an easy way to increase your vegetable intake. Experts say soup is a healthy dish with multiple nutritional values. Bone, vegetables, or meat-based broths ensure vitamins, minerals, and even collagen to the body.
There are two types of soups, clear and thick ones. Thickening agents can be vegetable purées, starch, fish broth, egg, butter, cream, rice, lentils, flour, and grains. While the clear soups are of fully liquid consistency that do not contain any solid ingredients. Clear soup strictly prohibits solid food from being incorporated into the soup.
Arun says soup has other benefits too. Without worrying about excess calories, one can consume soup. It also helps with digestion. “Soup is a hydrated food. Broccoli and chicken soup, prawns and quinoa soup, creamy mushroom and chicken soups are the best for the season,” he says.
Also, he adds, porridge-chicken soup made using the simmering process is an immunity booster. “It is the time of communicable diseases, including fever and cold. So a bowl of warm chicken soup seasoned with crushed black pepper, salt and garlic paste is good for the gut with rice,” he says.
Tracing the roots of soups in the country, especially in the south, is the executive chef of Hilton Garden Inn, Asmic Raj. He points to the famous mulligatawny soup. . “It originated in Tamil Nadu, but now is recognised as a popular Lankan delicacy.,” he says.
“It is made with garlic, pepper, coriander stems, onion, freshly grind green chillies and turmeric. It was a vegetable soup and now people add chicken and beef broth too. It is similar to rasam and can be savoured with rice too. Basically, mulaku thanni (pepper water)became mulligatawny when the foreigners fell in love with the fiery soup.”
Kadal Meen Charu (Seafood Soup)
By Asmic Raj, Executive Chef, Hilton Garden Inn
Ingredients:
Method:
Clean the prawn and keep the shell and meat separate. Clean squid, fish, octopus and cut them into small pieces and keep them aside. Roast the prawn shells in the oven for 10 minutes and keep them aside. Heat a saucepan and add coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies, garlic, jeera, and sauté well. Add small onions and sauté well. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and tomato slice sauté for a few minutes. Add the prawn shells. Cook till the soup gets the flavour. Add cleaned prawn, squid, octopus and fish to the stock and bring them to a boil. Check the seasoning. Strain the soup and keep the cooked meat separately and discard the other ingredients. Place the cooked meat in a serving bowl. Pour the soup on top. Garnish with coriander spring. Can be served along with boiled rice too.
Pineapple Tulsi Soup
By Michel J, executive sous chef, Vega Dimora Restaurant
Ingredients
Method:
Grind the ingredients given for masala coarsely without adding water. Blend tomato and pineapple into a smooth paste. Heat Kadai and
add mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves, chop garlic, ginger and asafoetida. Allow them to crackle. Add turmeric powder and green chillies. Add pineapple and tomato paste, and enough water to the mix. Add salt to taste. If need a more sour taste, add some lemon juice. Finally, add the Tulasi leaves and coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Aattukaal soup (mutton leg soup)
By Arun Vijayakumar, culinary director, Hotel Palmyra
Ingredients:
Method:
Wash the mutton leg pieces in warm water and drain. Saute the leg pieces and onions in gingelly oil and turmeric in a large pressure cooker. Grind the ginger, garlic, curry leaves, black pepper and jeera into a fine paste in the mixer jar. Add this ground paste to the sauteed goat leg pieces and add 1 litre of water. Once it starts boiling, add salt accordingly and cook it for about 15 whistles or till it is softened. Once the steam is released, let it come to a rolling boil again a couple of times. Serve it hot with 1-2 pieces of mutton leg in each serving. Add coriander leaves and curry leaves for garnish.
Vazhathandu Veluthulli Soup
Ingredients:
Method:
Take a tender and fresh plantain stem. Slice into a round shape and put into water immediately. Once done, take 5 or 6 stakes of sliced plantain stem and chop nicely. Wash the tomato, mash well with hands and filter. Heat pan with oil, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add ginger and garlic, dry red chilli, curry leaves, and sauté. Add asafoetida sauté gently. Add tomato mixture; chopped plantain stem with water. Add turmeric powder, salt, cumin, and pepper powder and mix well; let it boil. Finally, add coconut milk. Sprinkle coriander leaves, and turn off the heat.
Nattu kozhi soup: (country chicken soup)
Ingredients:
Method:
In a pressure cooker, add all the above ingredients and 2 cups of water. Cook for 6 – 8 whistles. Wait till the pressure releases naturally. Drain the liquid and serve the soup hot. Add pepper powder and salt as per your taste.