reStore Food Blog: Chill!! Soup and Tangy Mango Rice
April 2, 2011
Its hot. You know that. Feel it. So whats new..eh?
Well, after the success of the SFA Organic Food Mela, I took a short break from food blogging. It gave me some time to get creative. So here I am audaciously pairing a Chilled Soup with a traditional Mango Rice. So thats whats new!
Without preamble, patience being in short supply in this hot weather.. … here goes:
CHILLED Almond Gourd SOUP
Ingredients:
Blanched peeled almonds about 10 nos;
Ashgourd (aka white pumpkin) cubed 3 – 4 cups
Raw unripe tomato OR peeled ridge gourd – seed removed and cubed about 1 cup
juice of ginger – 1/2 teaspoon
garlic peeled and minced – teaspoon or less
shallots ( sambar vengayam) peeled and minced about a tablespoon
Black pepper whole – about a teaspoon
Cloves 2 nos
Salt to taste
Cooking Method
Steam the ashgourd, lightly salted. Separate and save the water. Set both to cool
In a heavy pan on high heat, quickly roast the the other vegetables including onions and garlic. Remember it should not cook through or brown even a bit, just shocked by the heat. Remove immediately and set to cool.
In a blender or mixer, run the almonds through with the water from the ashgourd steaming. Use additional water, if needed, to get a milk like consistency. Remove almond milk from mixer and set aside. Now run the vegetables – except for about half a cup of the steamed ashgourd, through the mixer. Strain this mix add some salt and let sit.
In a separate pan boil about half a cup of water and add the pepper and the cloves to it and bring to boil. When the water is well flavoured with the spices, strain the water and set aside.
In a soup or sauce pan, add the vegetable mix, the almond milk, the spice tea and set on very low simmer. Remove from fire and set to cool. Add the ginger juice and chill the soup in the refrigerator .
Freeze the half cup of cooked ash gourd and add as garnish just before serving.
TANGY MANGO RICE
Ingredients:
1 cup grated raw unripe mango
4 cups cooked rice
red chilly 2-3 nos
fenugreek/methi seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Chana dal – 1 teaspoon
Urad Dal – 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera/cumin – 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 4-6
Asafoetida – a pinch
Sesame Oil – 2 teaspoons or less.
Salt to taste
Cooking Method:
In a heavy bottomed pan or kadai, add oil and the dals. Once the dals are almost lightly browned, add the spice seeds and let sputter. Add the chilly and curry leaves next. When the chilly is nicely roasted, add the grated mango and saute for about 5 mins. Add the turmeric and asafoetida. Add salt to taste. Now, add the rice slowly, making sure there are no lumps. Let sit about 3o to 45 mins before serving.
