Soup is one of my favourite things – but only if drunk from a mug. It’s comfort food; especially as the days and nights get colder. We had a bag of kala chana in our house – which lead to some interesting musings about who ate them first, and how they decided that these stone-like things could be rendered edible after lots of soaking and boiling – and we decided to soak and boil them all up at once.
The result? A large pot full of cooked kala chana. We made some into curry, some we roasted and prepared chaat with them. And we still had cups of the stuff left. The obvious solution was to turn them into soup. It’s delicious, and worth resurrecting this blog for!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of sambar powder
3 teaspoons of cumin powder
3 teaspoons of chili powder
6 tablespoons of unsweetened desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste
1 litre of vegetable stock
400g of tinned tomatoes
500mls of hot water
14 tablespoons of cooked kala chana
Salt to taste
Method:
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat.
Add the cumin powder, sambhar powder and dessicated coconut.
Stir until the powders release their fragrance, stirring to ensure they don’t burn.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and continue stirring until the raw smell goes off the the mixture.
Add the stock, water, and tomatoes.
Turn the heat up, cover the saucepan, and bring to the boil.
Add the kala chana and turn the heat back down to medium.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn the heat off, season, and blend with a stick blender.
Have on its own, or serve with bread, noodles, orzo, or rice.
Austerity Bites 