Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup

Ingredients

Serves 6

2 medium onions – chopped
2 cloves garlic – chopped
2/3 Tbsp fresh ginger – minced
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp whole black pepppercorns
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp garbanzo (chick pea) flour
2 medium russet potatoes – cubed 1″
4 medium turnips or parsnips – peeled & sliced
4 medium carrots – peeled & sliced
4 cups vegetable stock/or water
1/3 bunch basil
1 cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon salt (to taste)

Preparation

  1. Chop onions.
  2. Mince garlic and ginger.
  3. Toast fennel and cumin seeds in a cast iron skillet or pan, stirring frequently until they’re fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  4. In a bowl, mix chick pea flour with equal amount of vegetable stock or water to form a slurry.
  5. Use a spice grinder to grind toasted seeds and black peppercorns into a powder. Mix with the other spices (coriander powder, turmeric and cayenne pepper).
  6. Heat oil in a large pot. Add diced onions, minced garlic and ginger and saute until onions are soft.
  7. Add diced vegetables (potatoes, turnips or parsnips and carrots), the remainder of the vegetable stock or water, the chickpea flour slurry, the spice mixture and the basil.
  8. Bring soup to boil, then simmer until the vegetables are tender, or until a knife easily pierces the pieces of turnip.
  9. This may take 45-60 minutes depending on the vegetable sizes and the total quantity in the pot
  10. Ladle out some of stock the and reserve for possible later use. Blend the soup to the desired consistency with an immersion blender. Add the reserved stock as neccessary to bring the soup to a desired consistency.
  11. Add coconut milk and salt, stirring frequently. Keep pureed soup hot until serving time.
  12. Adjust cayenne pepper by adding more as needed, but noting that the heat will become stronger with time.