Back in the days when I was a teen and in my early twenties, I used to diet and soups was a huge part of that diet, especially for dinner. And the soup I am sharing today is inspired by those soups that my mother used to make for me. It is quite easy to make and is pretty much a one pot meal which is cooked in the pressure cooker.

The colour of the soup will be dependent on the vegetables used and mine turned a bit greenish because of the green vegetables I used.

Indian Style Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped vegetables (you can use any combination you like, this time I used potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and frozen green peas)
• 2 medium sized onions, roughly chopped
• 1 bulb of garlic, peeled
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 1 small bunch of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• 2-3 dried red chillies
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 4-5 cloves
• 4-5 cardamom pods
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• Pepper powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp oil

Method:

• Chop the vegetables and keep aside
• Roughly chop the onions and the garlic and ginger and keep aside
• Heat oil in the pressure cooker and when the oil warms up, add the cumin seeds first and when the seeds start spluttering, add the fennel seeds and then the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and give it a good stir.
• Next add the garlic and ginger and stir it for a while till the garlic starts to brown.
• Then add the turmeric powder, stir a bit and then add the vegetables and the coriander leaves. Stir a bit, add the bay leaf and add just enough water that the vegetables don’t stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker.
• Let the pressure build up and cook for about 4-5 whistles. Switch off the flame, let the pressure ease and the vegetables cool.
• If you are cooking on the stovetop, then cover and cook until the vegetables are completely cooked and starting to fall apart. Switch off the gas and let it cool.
• When the vegetables are cooled enough, transfer to a blender and in batches blend it as fine or as chunky as you like.
• When it’s blended to your liking, transfer it back to the pan, add enough water to bring it to the consistency you want and let it come to a nice rolling boil. Season with salt and pepper.
• When it has been boiling for about 10 minutes in a low medium flame, switch off the flame and have hot with some croutons.

Notes:

• The coriander leaves add a green colour to the soup and can be omitted if this is a vegetable you don’t like.
• Tomatoes are also a wonderful addition to the soup. If adding tomatoes, make an x cross at the stem of the tomatoes and put it whole on top of the vegetables while cooking. Once the vegetables are cooked, remove the tomato with a slotted spoon and it can be easily peeled. Then blend it along with the other vegetables.