Friday, December 10, 2010

Indian Autumn Soup

I continued my summer CSA habit with the monthly CSA box...my last pick up was three weeks ago, and I wanted to make use of some of the longer lasting veggies before they passed the peak of perfection.

I rough chopped three small onions and caramelized them over medium high heat with some kosher salt. Then I added three chopped cloves of garlic, one peeled and chopped celeriac root, and three ribs of celery. Mixed it all up. Added 6 CSA carrots, chopped large and about 2/3 of a butternut squash, unpeeled. Covered it all with liquid - you can use any or all of veggie/chicken stock (I don't use chicken if I plan to eat with yogurt) and water, some more salt and a lot of black pepper.

Now what made it Indian? Well, the spices, of course!

I usually add a mix of Indian spices that I bought at Patel Bros. Supermarket in Jackson Heights (a large Indian grocery) for a ridiculously low price, but I hope to be moving house soon, so I surveyed my spice rack and found some old mix of curry spice that was very nice but a few years old. I heated about two teaspoons of oil in a small pan and added about three tablespoons of the curry mix - I figured it was older, so it wasn't as potent, then added it into the soup. Cooking spices in hot oil is key to release their flavors and develop them as well. What I should have done is add them in to the onions and garlic before I added the other veggies, but I forgot...whoops! Also, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ginger powder.

Simmered for 30 minutes, then pureed with an immersion blender and continued cooking on very low for another hour, but probably not necesssary. Serve with yogurt and cilantro chutney from the Indian grocery.

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