Dec 10, 2009

Gingered tomato carrot soup

Due to a shopping list error my fridge received an additional bag of vine ripe tomatoes. To take advantage of the bounty of tomatoes I had no choice but to go the soup way. Also, I thought it was a nice way to honor Maurice Sendak’s (upper left corner) ode to Dec in his Chicken Soup with Rice poem – “with soup bowls draped all over me”.
A chicken soup would have been a more fitting tribute but I am sure he will forgive me opting for a tomato soup instead.

Caution: This soup does not taste like your regular restaurant soups, where the flavor and taste of tomatoes is masked by heavy cream. It is tangy with a hint of sweetness from carrots and a subtle zing of ginger and green chilies.
One hot cup of this soup is being sent off to Harini of Tounge Ticklers who is hosting Meeta's Monthly Mingle this month.

Ingredients:
8-10 vine ripe tomatoes
2-4 large carrots
2 green chilies (vary according to heat preference)
1 big chunk of ginger
1 tbsp cream cheese (substitute with cream)
3-4 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Wash the tomatoes, carrots, green chilies and ginger. Chop the carrots, chilies and ginger in big chunks.
Put everything in a pressure cooker with some water and cook for one whistle. Turn off the heat and let cool.
Alternatively, bring to boil everything in a big pot till the carrots are fork tender and the skins of tomatoes start to peel.


Remove the skins off the tomatoes. Blend the tomatoes, carrots, chilies and ginger in a blender till smooth.
Transfer to a big pot and add the water left over from cooking the tomatoes etc. Whip the cream cheese and add to the soup with sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Boil till desired thickness is achieved.
Transfer to soup bowls and serve hot with some crusty bread or sandwiches.

Notice the white flecks of cream cheese? Can be avoided by whipping it before adding to the soup.

Note: I added a tbsp of cream cheese, which sounds decadent but is guilt free at 45 cal divided between 6-8 bowls of soup.
4 tsp of sugar seems like a lot but it helps to cut the sharp acidity of the tomatoes.

16 comments:

  1. That's a lovely soup.Bookmarked it.Incidentally I prepared tomato coriander soup two days ago! Will try your too..

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  2. omg.. I just realized there is another PJ who just commented on your blog before this one; i was thinking to myself i don't remember commenting on this soup yet :) its a small world indeed!

    hey, very nice soup! the one without the cream is the best! sounds like this might taste very similar to the tomato saar, right?

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  3. I see gaajar is ruling blogs already! The soup looks delicious and thanks for participating in the mingle.

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  4. I love that your soup doesn't have any artificial colours coz the soup doesn't look a scorching red ;) but I'm sure it tasted great when its so cold!

    I've been craving for some Tomato soup with cheesy bread for quite sometime now!

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  5. Malar, no offense but if you would like more participation in your event, it is just easier to enter it in the event and roundup blog started by Srivallli or at Roma's Town Square or RC's food blog aggregator. It will save you the hassle of soliciting entries for the event.

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  6. PJ and PJ, thanks and thank you.

    PJ1, sure would love to try your tomato coriander soup too.

    PJ2, I am not sure it will taste exactly like tomato saar, since it has coconut in it. But the taste is very tomatoey, if you know what I mean. :)

    Thanks Harini (Sunshinemom). It was a pleasure to enter MM.

    A-and-N, thank you. It did taste good with pepperjack cheese melted on some crusty bread.

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  7. Love the colour of the soup, ginger,carrot and tomatoes make a great combination. Perfect for the winter.
    I had also made gingered carrot soup for Taste and Create event, it was diffent as it asked for all spice and cashewnuts in it.

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  8. Mmmm ... just my kind of soup on a December night. :-) Your space is lovely Jaya! :-)

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  9. Seems a great soup for a cold wintry day. Will try and let you know the results.

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  10. Soup looks comforting in this chilly weather. Love the addition of ginger which gives warmth to the soup.

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  11. Yum....I am glad for the carrot in there. Try as I may I am NOT a huge tomato soup fan although I use tomato based soups all the time...borscht, veggie etc. But this is delightful

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  12. Hi girl:)
    Your soup looks amazing...and more power to you for letting people know just what you think...personally i have always loved a straight forward no bullshit kinda women:)
    Have a wonderful day, SP

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  13. soup looks perfect Jaya !!
    i have tried carrot n ginger but not with green chillies , red chilly flakes n garlic are common in my soups ..
    those bits of cream cheese are perfect for me...small bits i like in a hot soup ..

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  14. A very healthy and a redreshing soup.

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  15. i love soups,,,, and tomato is one of my favs.... i was actually in search... how to prepere a nice tomoto soup.... and yes, i got it in ur blog...

    thanks...!!

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  16. Looks perfect...somehow never use green chillies in these kind of soups, instead I use black pepper...now thinking about using green chillies, i'm sure DH will be happy...

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