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Sunday, March 21, 2010

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)


13 comments:

  1. Yummy & comforting soup, a meal in itself...Was a nice guest post aparna...

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  2. Jyothi Akka sounds like an adventurous cook and a super-cool web-savvy Aunt! :) Nice post! Look forward to more from India!

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  3. Aahh ! My pleasure indeed Apy dear :")
    Thanx for all your kind words .

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  4. Soup sounds yummy and delicious...

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  5. Hey,
    Tats one yummy looking soup... incidentally, i'm a fan of both Mexican and Italian food... will definitely give it a try soon... all tat deterring me from trying it now is the super hot weather here!
    Looking fwd to more yummy recipes from you dear...
    Cheers,
    Shra

    Cheers,
    Shra

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  6. Wonderful fusion recipe...lovely soup there, like the ingredients gone-in, sounds very comforting to me:)

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  7. hey Aparna, what a lovely looking soup. I agree so much with Jyothi aunt that Mexican cuisine is the closest we can get to suit Indian tastes. The soup looks healthy and filling being a meal in itself. Comforting to make since most ingredients are easily available to us. :)

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  8. Hi Aparna,
    Thank you so much for visiting my sace dear.Loved ur space too..Sup looks delicious..Will come here again for more.

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  9. A wonderful fusion recipe! The Soup looks yumm!

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  10. Love the color here and the Mexican delight. You have a very delectable space here and I am following you :)

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  11. Hi Aparna,

    Nice blog you have with wow recipes and beautiful clicks. Kep up the good work!!!!!!

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