Guest Post - Mexican Bean Soup with an Italian Twist

 My aunt Jyothi Prabhu is an excellent cook who loves trying out new dishes. I requested her to do a guest post for me. Over to Jyothi Akka:

I am always fascinated by Tarla Dalal not just because she has popularised our Indian Vegetarian cuisine, but for the simplicity and ease which every recipe of hers portrays. She makes one  feel that cooking is the most refined and experimental of all forms of art.

After trying the  recipes from her book ‘Cooking with 1 teaspoon of oil’ which is a collection of low calorie Indian recipes, I confidently could venture into buying ‘ Mexican Cooking ‘ another book of hers which I treasure .

 Of all the worldwide cuisine, I think Mexican suits our Indian taste buds very comfortably since there is so much similarity of ingredients being used .

This soup is the output of her recipe with a small change which I made.To make it more filling and a one-pot-meal, I added  pasta to it , also red /orange capsicum for crunchiness & green chilli for that extra zing. It was a breezy winter day and one can imagine what magic this hot soup made to  our souls . It was a memorable family dinner to cherish!

 Here goes the recipe :

1 cup Red kidney beans (Rajma)

2 onions, chopped

4 tomatoes ,chopped ( or pureed)

3 garlic cloves, chopped fine

½ tsp chilli powder

1 green chilli

½ cup red and orange bell peppers chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 cup cooked pasta ( I used rotini)

½ tsp any italian herbs(optional) (I used oregano and rosemary)

 1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

For serving

Sliced green onions

Chopped coriander leaves

Tabasco sauce(optional)

Wash beans and soak overnight. Next day, pressure cook it. Reserve the water in which it is cooked, it gives the silkiness to the soup.

In a pan/kadai heat oil and fry onions for a min . Add garlic , green chilli and capsicum and stir fry briefly. Add chilli powder and salt and fry again for 10-15seconds.

Add tomatoes and cooked beans along with its liquid and boil on medium flame for 10 to 12 mts or until tomatoes are cooked till mushy. Now add the pasta and lemon juice. Rub the herbs between your palms and add it to the soup.

Serve piping hot garnished with the ingredients mentioned .

(note : for thickness ¼ cup rajma can be pureed and added at the end or corn flour paste will also do)