Tomato Carrot Soup

Tomato Carrot Soup in Marathi

Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
8 Large tomatoes, big chunks
2 large carrots, cut into cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1.5 tsp olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup basil leaves, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 cup orange juice (unsweetened)
1/4 cup coconut milk or heavy cream
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper.

Method:
1) Heat olive oil into a deep pan. Add bay leaves, and garlic. Saute for few seconds. Add onion and saute until onion becomes slightly translucent.
2) Add carrots, cover the pan and cook until carrots become soft. Add tomato chunks and cover again. When tomatoes becomes mushy, add basil leaves. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from heat. Let it cool down for 5-7 minutes.
3) Remove the bay leaves. Put the cooked tomatoes-carrots mixture into a blender. Grind it and make a fine puree. Strain this puree. Add little water while straining to extract as much as you can. Also water will help you to adjust the consistency.
4) Transfer strained soup back to the pan. Add orange juice, salt, red chili powder and sugar to taste. Boil for few minutes. Add cream/ coconut milk and simmer for couple of minutes.
Serve in soup bowls. Drizzle a spoonful of cream and some freshly crushed black pepper.

Tomato Rasam

Tomato Rasam in Marathi



Time: 40 to 50 minutes

Serves: 3 to 4 persons



Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

1/4 cup toor dal

3 cups plain water

For tempering:- 1 tbsp oil, 2-3 pinches mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, 2 dried red chilies (broken), 1/2 tsp urad dal, 15 to 20 methi seeds, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 spring of curry leaves.

10 to 12 black pepper, crushed

1 green chilies, chopped

1.5 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp tamarind

Salt to taste



Method:

1) Pressure cook toor dal by adding 2 cups water. Once toor dal is cooked, drain and save the water. Squeeze out water from dal too.

2) Add 1/2 cup hot water in tamarind. Let the tamarind soak in for 10 minutes. Then squeeze the tamarind and get the juice.

3) Mix 2 cups plain water and 2 cups dal water into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Add chopped tomatoes, green chili and half of tamarind juice. Simmer for atleast 20 minutes or until tomatoes soften and mashed up.

4) Heat oil in a tadka pan. add urad dal, methi seeds. Wait till color turns to light brown. Add garlic, and red chilies. Add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric and curry leaves. Pour this tadka over rasam.

5) Add salt, crushed pepper, coriander powder and cumin powder. Boil for atleast 10 to 15 minutes.

Check the taste and adjust the spices. Add some tamarind juice if sourness is required.



Serve hot with rice or have it as a soup.



Tips:

1) Use nicely ripe red tomatoes.

2) If you don't like chunky rasam, puree 2 tomatoes instead of chopping.

3) Rasam should be spicy. However, to make it subtle, reduce the amount of black pepper.

4) Flavors intensify (in good way), if you serve rasam after couple of hours.

Tomato Rice

Tomato Rice in Marathi

Serves: 2 persons
Time 10 to 15 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked Rice (basmati)
2 big juicy red tomatoes, finely chopped
3 to 4 big garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp ghee or oil, 2 pinches cumin seeds, 1/8 tsp hing, 2 green chilies, 1 spring of curry leaves
Salt to taste
chopped cilantro for garnishing

Method:
1) Heat ghee into a pan. Add garlic and cook over high heat. Stir continuously. Saute garlic until edges become brown.
2) Once garlic cooks nicely, add cumin seeds, hing, green chilies, curry leaves. Fry for 15 to 20 seconds.
3) Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Cover and cook over high heat, stir occasionally. Let tomatoes become completely mushy.
4) Mix in the rice and toss well. Rice should get coated with sauteed tomato. Cover pan and cook for couple of minutes over medium-low heat.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Tips:
1) dried Red chilies can be used instead of green chilies
2) Garlic should get nicely brown (do not burn). Raw flavor of garlic doesn't taste good.
3) Choose good quality, red, fully riped and juicy to get tomato flavor.
4) You may add garam masala in the recipe. However, garam masala overpowers flavor of tomato.