Mushroom-Onion Soup /मशरूम और प्याज का सूप

Mushroom-Onion soup 

Mushroom soups are light on stomach yet filling souostwith great nutritional value. I have already blogged Creamy Mushroom soup and Mushroom soup in coconut milk. Today's post is is the recipe of mushroom-onion soup. It has slightly grainy texture. Pair it with garlic bread or simple plain toast and it will be full meal.

Preparation Time :15 minutes 

Cooking Time :15 minutes 

Servings :4 medium size servings 

Nutritional value (approx) soup made from 100 gm Mushrooms and 50 gm onion. 

Energy : 270 cal

Carbs : 30 g

Proteins : 23.5g

Sugars : 33.2g

Cholesterol : 30 mg

Fats : 15.5g

Sodium : 238.9mg

Potassium : 1303.7mg

Dietary Fibers : 2.7 g

The soup is rich in vitamin B12, calcium, Iron and Magnesium. 

Ingredients for making Mushroom-Onion soup :

• Button Mushrooms :100 gm (I use white ones) 
• Onion :50-60 gm. 
• Butter : 10 gm
• Milk : 500 ml. 
• Water : 150 ml. 
• Cream : 2-3 Table spoons (optional) 
• Pepper powder : 1/2 Teaspoon (white /Black any) 
• Salt : 11/2 Teaspoons or to taste. 

Directions for Making Mushroom-Onion Soup :

• Wash mushrooms. Pat dry them with a cloth. Chop them to small pieces. 
• Peel and chop onion to small pieces. 

• In a thick bottom cooking vessel /wok heat  10 gm butter. 

• Add finely chopped onion to the hot butter oil mixture and cook till it starts getting golden brown color. 

• Immediately add Chopped mushrooms pieces and cook on medium heat with constant stirring till Mushroom pieces start changing to brownish color and start shrinking 

• Switch off the heat and take out the cooked onion mushrooms mixture in a grinder jar. 

• Allow it to cool. When the cooked mixture cooks down pulse it to little coarse paste (not too smooth). 

• In a cooking vessel take 

1. Milk 
2. Water 
3. Onion - Mushroom paste 

• Mix nicely 
• Keep the cooking vessel with the mixture on medium heat and cook with constant stirring (to avoid formation of lumps or anything sticking to the bottom. 

• Once the mixture comes to boil reduce the heat to low. Add 

1. Salt 
2. Pepper powder 

• Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

• Switch off the heat. Mushroom - Onion soup is ready. 
• To make the texture Creamy add 2-3 tablespoon cream to soup before switching off the heat and mix. 
• Enjoy Mushroom - Onion soup with bread croutons /toast /garlic bread 

Mushroom - Onion Soup 

Tips:

• Cream can be avoided to bring down the calorific value of soup. 
• Onions should be cooked just to the stage where they start becoming brown over cooking will spoil the taste and look of soup. 
• Take the mushrooms which are fresh, white and firm. Those with black underbelly will change the color and taste of soup. 

Suggested Variations :

• Fresh herbs like Basil,celery, parsley can be added to the soup just before serving. It enhances the looks and flavor of the soup.

Mushroom Soup in Cream Of Coconut

Cream of Coconut and Mushroom Soup

When it comes to mushrooms I get as innovative as possible to make the recipe packed with nutrition, flavor and taste. Mushroom soup with herbs, cream of mushroom soup now what? I looked at the remainder of beans and a carrot in the fridge and decided to make a thick, Coconutty flavored sour and sweet mushroom soup which will have added flavor and nutrition. The result was amazing and the gentle flavor of lemon grass added the zing to the soup.

Nutritional value of the soup:

These are approximate values for the total soup prepared from 100 gm mushrooms, 50 gm carrot, 25 gm French beans, 100 ml fresh thick creamy coconut milk and 20 gm curd of skimmed milk.

Calories 248

Saturated Fats 20.0565 gm (Mainly from Coconut milk)

Cholesterol 0.408 (From skimmed milk curd)

Poly unsaturated fats 0.16 gm (from mushrooms)

Mono unsaturated fats 0.001 gm

Sodium 21 mg (From Mushrooms, beans and curd)

Carbs 23 gm (from mushrooms, carrot and beans coconut milk)

Sugars 8.5 gm (Mainly from carrot)

Proteins 5.7 gm (From mushrooms, beans, curd)

Dietary fibers 6 gm (From mushrooms, carrots and beans mainly)

Vitamins A, C miniscule amount of Vitamin B if found

Minerals Iron, Calcium

Medicinal value: Anti- microbial, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic. These medicinal qualities are imparted by fresh coconut milk and lemon grass.Coconut milk has fats from Lauric acid, which is found in mother’s milk also and helps in brain development and bone health.

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4 Medium servings

Ingredients Required for Making Mushroom Soup In cream of Coconut:

• 100 gm. Button Mushrooms/ Table mushrooms
• 50 gm. Carrot (1 medium size carrot)
• 25 gm. French beans
• 3-4 fresh leafs of Lemon grass
• 20 gm. Curd of skimmed milk
• 1/2 Teaspoon Black / white Pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Teaspoon Olive oil

Direction for Making Mushroom Soup in Cream of Coconut:

       How to make coconut Milk:

• Grate kernel of a coconut and pulse it in the mixer with as little water (50-75 ml added in small portions) as possible till it turns to paste.
• Put the paste in a muslin cloth and squeeze out thick creamy coconut milk. One coconut should give 100 ml thick milk. The rest of the solid can be pulsed in mixer adding 100 ml water and then squeezed to take out all milk from it. This milk will be thin and can be used to make coconut gravy for savories.

Fresh thick creamy Milk o0f Coconut

• Whisk the curd to make it free of lumps.
• Wash and dry the mushrooms.
• Separate the stalks and head of mushrooms. Cut the stalks to very fine pieces (Forgot to click pic) and slice the heads (caps of mushrooms) to 1/2 cm. thick slices.
• Wash carrot and beans. De-vein the beans. Do not peel the carrots just remove the fibrous roots. Peeling causes loss of nutrients of carrot.
• Cut carrot and beans to small pieces.

Mushrooms and veggies

• Cut the lemon grass to approximately 1 inch pieces.
• Heat 1/2 teaspoon olive oil in a thick bottom pan. When the oil is hot add lemon grass pieces and cook for 30 sec. This will cause the flavor of lemon grass to seep in oil.

Lemon grass in Olive oil

• Add finely chopped beans and carrot.
• Cook for a min. or so on medium flame with continuous stirring. Do not cover.

Veggies being sauteed

• Add thick creamy milk of coconut and bring the heat to high. Cook with stirring till it starts boiling. Lower the flame and cook for 2 min maximum.

Veggies cooking in cream of coconut

• Add finely chopped stalk  and mushroom cap pieces and cook for a 2 minutes on medium flame with stirring.

Mushroom added to veggies cooked in cream of coconut

• Add curd and cook on medium flame with stirring.

Cream of coconut and Mushroom soup before pepper is added

• Add pepper mix and give it a final boil.

Pepper added to the soup

• Switch off the gas and add salt as per requirement.
• Mix nicely and serve hot creamy mushroom soup in cream of coconut, loaded with nutrients. Flavor and taste.

Cream of Coconut and Mushroom Soup

Tips:

• Devein the beans as the veins of beans are very unpalatable in soup.
• Remove any dirt and fibrous roots from carrot but avoid peeling, else you will risk loosing many nutrients of carrots.
• Finely chopped stalks will make the soup creamier.
• If you will cut big and thick pieces of beans and carrots they will remain undercooked and in process to cook them you may turn the veggies mushy and mushrooms chewy.

Suggested Variations;

• Finely chopped fennel can replace lemon grass.
• Fresh herbs (Celery/parsley) can be added for additional flavor. Dried herbs did not give good result. So I prefer fresh herbs which give flavor as well as crunchy texture to the soup.
• Lemon grass has antibacterial quality thus adds to the medicinal value of soup thus instead of replacing it I prefer making addition of herbs.
• If you wish to reduce  then quantity of coconut milk can be reduced to half, replacing the rest half with skimmed milk.
• When in hurry I just pulse the mushroom stalks and caps gently to get a nice non-gooey mixture. Soups comes out great only pieces of mushrooms become too small. you can pulse the stalks and cut the caps/heads of mushroom. Much creamier soup will be made.

Carrot soup/गाजर का सूप

Carrot soup

Carrot is rich in vitamin A, carbohydrates, sugar and dietary fibers. It is taken in the form of salad, vegetable, soup cakes, desserts and all for are nutritive but the healthiest form is the one where it is not cooked at very high temperature. Soups are healthy option for a lean but nutritious diet. 100 gm. of carrots have: 0.93gm. Proteins, 9.58gm. Carbs, 0.24 gm. fats,2.8 gm. dietary fibers, sodium  69 gm. , Potassium 320 mg., Sugars 4.5 gm.  Carrots are extremely rich source of Vitamin A and contain reasonably good amount of Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium (336% A, 10% C, 3% iron and 2% Iron). 90% of energy provided by carrots comes from carbs and rest from fats and proteins. Since carrots are very low on fat and rich in vitamins and minerals therefore they are very good for convulsing persons. Making soup does not destroy the nutrients. For those who are on strict diet regime for weight, soups are the best nourishing, make full dinner along with greens, whole wheat bread and chicken / fish.

Preparation Time: 10 min.

Cooking Time: 15 min

Servings : 400 ml. soup

Nutritional Value of Carrot Soup (For 400 ml of soup):

Calories: 71
Total Fat:0.403gm (sturated0.118gm. , Polysaturatd0.174gm,mono saturated0.026gm.)
Potassium: 5410mg.
Sodium: 73 mg.
Total Carb:72.03gm.
Sugars: 7.50gm.
Protein: 14.16gm.
Vitamin A:344%
Vitamin C: 26%
Calcium: 4%
Iron:4%
Dietary Fibers:10.28gm.
Garlic is good source of Phosphorous,Selenium,Manganese, Vitamin B6

Ingredients required For making Carrot soup:

• 100 gm. Carrots 

Carrots

• 50 gm. Onion 

Onion

• 4-5 cloves of garlic

Garlic

• 50 gm. (One medium size) Tomato

Tomatoes

• Salt to taste

• 2-3 cm. Long Stick of Cinnamon

• Water.

Directions For making Carrot Soup:

• Wash the carrots and remove the thin roots sticking to them.

• Remove the top where leaves were attached.

• Cut carrots to on 2-3 cm. big pieces.

• Peel onion and cut it to 2-3 cm. big pieces or slice to long thin pieces.

Sliced Onion

• Peel garlic and pound it.

• Wash and cut tomato to 2-3 cm. big pieces.

Tomatoes cut to 2-3 cm. pieces

• Take all carrot, tomato, onion, garlic, cinnamon and 150 ml. water into a pressure cooker.

• Close the lid of pressure cooker and keep it on high flame till pressure is formed in the cooker.

• Lower the flame and cook for 2-3 min.

• Remove the cooker from gas and allow it to cool.

Carrots, onion, onion, garlic boiled with a cinnamon stick

• Sieve the liquid from boiled solid.

Liquid separated from solid pieces

• Mash all solid and pass the contents of cooker through a sieve.

All solid made to fine pulp

• While passing the mashed contents through the sieve make sure maximum mashed vegetables pass through it. You may require 100-200ml. water to sieve the solid through the sieve.

• Throw the little solid left on the sieve. They will mostly be seeds of tomato and cinnamon stick.

• Add the pulp to the liquid you get after sieving, add salt and give one boil.

Pulp and liquid mixed

• Take out the hot soup in a soup bowl / glass sprinkle some pepper powder and serve hot.

Carrot soup

Tips:

• Do not peel the carrots as peeling carrots will cause loss of vitamins.

• Do not throw the central part of carrot even if it is yellow /white as it contains most of vitamin A.

• Do not take only liquid from boiled carrots, tomato etc. mash all vegetables and pass them through the sieve. This will make sure all fiber content is retained in soup.

• Add salt after sieving, while giving last boil, just before serving.

• Prefer not to keep / serve hot food / soup in plastic containers. Keep / serve in steel / glass containers. Plastic has plasticizers which dissolve fast in hot food.

Suggested Variations:

• If you are having tendency / or suffering from any type of stone (Kidney, gall bladder etc.) then remove the seeds of tomato before chopping it to pieces.

• While giving last boil dry herbs like parsley / celery / basil can be added to the soup.

• If dry herbs have been boiled with soup then fresh springs of the same herb can shredded and placed on the top of soup before serving.

• If you like your soup less sour and more sweet then amount of tomatoes can be reduced to half of carrots can be increased to 150 gm. This will change the nutritional values given above.

• While boiling the vegetables cinnamon can be replaced by China grass. No other herb is required with china grass. It has its own great flavor as well as medicinal values.

Chicken-Coriander Soup

Chicken-Coriander Soup

Chicken soup is very rich in nutrients and when mixed with coriander and lemon it becomes rich in vitamin C and Iron also. This gives it an edge over rest of the soups in taste as well as its therapeutic value. For a person suffering from cough, cold, and sore throat or is feeling low in energy this is the soup which helps tremendously and rejuvenating the system completely.  The lemony flavor along with the coriander makes it not only tasty but very appealing to our olfactory system. In simpler words the flavor of coriander and lemon make it very tempting and second helping is always called. If I am making the soup while my children are not well then I do not remove the fat otherwise fat is removed before dicing the chicken. It is very easy to make and does not require big preparations or long intricate steps.

Preparation Time: 5-10 min.

Cooking Time: 10-15 min

Servings: 4 Large helpings

Ingredients Required To Make Chicken-Coriander Soup:

• 150 gm. Bone less chicken
• 800 ml. Water
• 10 ml. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
• Small bunch of Fresh Green Coriander Leaves
• Salt to taste

Directions For making Chicken-Coriander Soup:

• Wash chicken thoroughly and drain all water from it.
• Dice chicken to small (1cm. approx.) pieces.

Diced Chicken

• Clean and wash the coriander leaves thoroughly.

Coriander Leaves

• Cut the coriander leaves to small pieces. It is not required to be cut finely.
• Squeeze lemon and store the juice in the fridge.
• Take water in a big cooking bowl and add salt to taste. Put it on the heat and let it boil.
• Once water starts boiling lower the heat and add diced chicken in it and keep stirring while it is being cooked.

Chicken being Added To Boiling Water

• Cook on low medium flame for 5 minutes with constant stirring. Chicken will turn to pinkish white and will become soft.

Chicken pieces after 5 Min. of Cooking

• Switch off the heat and add the coriander.
• Cover and allow it to stand for 2-3 minutes for coriander flavor to mix nicely with the soup and chicken pieces.
• Take required amount of pieces and liquid in a soup bowl/Cup and add freshly squeezed lemon juice as per the taste.
• Serve hot. It is healthy tasty and taken with crisp toast/ garlic bread makes full meal.

Chicken-Coriander soup

Tips:

• Chicken fat provides much needed energy and need not be removed but if it is being taken for watching the weight then it is suggested that fat be removed completely before dicing.
• Wash coriander in flowing water even if it looks clean. Herbs grow nearest to the soil thus require utmost care during cleaning.
• If the stalk of the coriander are hard then take only top green leafy part otherwise just remove the root and use rest, Why waste?
• Do not cook the chicken for a long time as it will become chewy surely an unwelcome thing.
• Keep stirring the chicken while it is cooking to avoid formation of chicken lump 
• Add less salt to water during cooking the chicken more can be added after tasting the soup as per requirement. Excess salt will spoil the taste.
• Do not add lemon juice while the chicken is cooking it will impart bitter taste to the soup. Add lemon juice to hot soup just before serving to get full flavor and taste.

Suggested Variations:

• Few coriander leaves can be diced fine and added after adding lemon juice.
• Cilantro which is one of the variety of coriander does not impart as good flavor as coriander leaves thus I prefer Coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta).

Rasam/ रसम (A sweet and Sour soup)

Rasam

Rasam is a sweet and sour soup made all over southern part of India as main course. It is taken with rice/Vada/Idli. I love taking it as soup. Rasam is light to digest and has wonderful flavor of garlic, Curry leaves and spices. Garlic Curry leaves not only add flavor but have tremendous medicinal values and all spices (cardamoms, black pepper, Cumin, Coriander, Fenugreek seeds.. ) have essential oils good for digestion and cough and cold. Tamarind and jaggery when boiled in it adds to the medicinal value. Tamarind when taken raw is bad for throat and also causes acidity but when boiled it acts as medicine for cough and cold. Jaggery apart adding sweet taste also is good when boiled. I can vouch for the effectiveness of this Rasam’s effectiveness in cough/cold/sinusitis because my daughter-in law made it for me when I was at my wits end for getting rid of sinusitis. One glasses of piping hot rasam and I started feeling better and in three days was cured of my trauma. What else one wants if one gets tasty remedies instead of drops and syrups. It acts as a very good appetizer also. Rasam an Indian sweet and sour soup is very easy to make and can be made and stored in fridge for 1-2 days.

Preparation Time: 20 min. (Including making Rasam Masala and Tamarind Pulp)

Cooking Time: 15-20 min

Servings: 800 ml. Rasam

Ingredients Required:

For making Rasam (Sweet and Sour Soup):

• 50 gm. Tamarind (ripe seedless)
• 50 gm. Jaggery 
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
• 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds (Rai/sarson)
• 10 curry Leaves (Kadi Patta/sweet neem)
• 10-12 Cloves of Garlic
• 3-4 Whole Red chilies
• 1 Medium size finely cut tomato (Optional)
• 2 Table Spoons Rasam Powder
• 1 Lt. Water
• Salt to taste
• 2 ml. Cooking Oil

For Making Rasam Powder:

• 50 gm. Tur Dal (Split pigeon peas/yellow lentil )
• 8-10 Cloves (Lawang)
• 10-12 Black pepper seeds (Kali mirch dana)
• 1 Teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 8 Teaspoon Coriander seeds (Sabut Dhaniya)
• 5 Teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1 Inch Cinnamon stick
• 4-5 Black Cardamom
• 2-3 Whole red chilies

Directions For Making Rasam:

Making Rasam Powder:

• Roast Tur dal on low flame till golden brown
• Roast Dhaniya, Jeera and Methi individually (Not together) till golden brown on low flame.
• Roast lawang till it changes color to whitish grey on the surface.
• Pound the black cardamom to split the cover then roast them for one min. along with kali mirch (Black pepper).
• Roast Whole deseeded chili to brown color.
• Let the roasted ingredients cool and then grind all of them together to fine powder and store it in an airtight container use as and when required.

Making Rasam:

• Soak tamarind in 100 ml. water for 10 minutes then boil for ten minutes.
• Cool boiled tamarind. Mash and sieve to take out tamarind pulp.
• Add water to the remaining tamarind and mash and sieve; add this tamarind water to tamarind pulp. Tamarind extract is ready.
• Cut garlic very fine.
• Take oil in a thick bottom wok and heat till smoking hot.
• Add
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Curry leaves
• Whole Red chilies
• Finely cut garlic.
• Cook till garlic is golden brown in color.

Sautted Spices Ready for Adding Tomatoes

• Add finely cut tomato.

Tomatoes Being Cooked With Sauteed Spices

• Cook on low flame till tomato pieces become soft and mushy.
• Add 3 Spoon of Rasam powder and mix (See tips). Cook for one minute with continuous stirring.

Rasam Masala Added to Cooked Tomato spices mixture

• Add
• Tamarind extract
• Jaggery
• Salt

Tamarind Extract and Jaggery added to cokked Tomato and spices mixture

• Boil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add remaining 900 ml. water
• Boil for 10 min with occasional stirring
• Yummy Rasam is ready.

Rasam Ready after boiling for 10 minutes

• Enjoy Rasam as soup/with rice/idli/vada.

Rasam

• Rasam is a wonderful home remedy. Take one teacup full this rasam every 4 hours during  cough/cold/indigestion it is extremely helpful.

Tips:

• Do not roast dal, coriander jeera all together as each take different time.
• Always roast at low temperature for best results.
• Add rasam powder one spoon at a time and taste you may like to increase /decrease the amount according to your taste.
• Amount of jaggery can be increased/decreased according to the taste.
• Those who do not take garlic can avoid it but the taste and medicinal value will not be exactly same.
• More the curry leaves and garlic better the taste and medicinal values.

Suggested Variations:

• If Rasam is to be had with rice/vada/idli then reduce the amount of water to 700ml. to make slightly thicker rasam.
• Rasam can be garnished with finely cut fresh cilantro (Dhaniya patta) or tempered with curry leaves and red chili pieces sautéed in oil.
• When taken with rice/idli/vada grated fresh coconut can be used to garnish to give it a coconutty twist.
• 20-25 curry leaves can be roasted and ground to powder along with other roasted ingredients.