T for Tomato Soup

In these troubled times, it’s very important to stay healthy. Improving your health will help boost immunity. Additionally, staying at home gives us very little opportunity for exercise so we need to stay fit by having a healthy diet. I try in my many small ways to eat nutritious food and yet make them tasty. This is such an example.

Fond Memories

Weirdly, some of my happy memories of sipping warm tomato soup are those aboard a speeding train. Trips on trains meant it was vacation time. Nowadays, due to time constraints and other factors, majority of my recent travel are via flights but my favorite way to travel is still trains. Seated at a window, watching the world flash by while being gently rocked by the chugging train are some of by best memories. Playing card games, eating packed lunch on paper plates and claiming the upper berth for sleep. Then came those rare trips on Rajdhani and Duronto where they serve food which, in those days, seemed exotic. Part of that was steaming cups of tomato soup with soup sticks. That tangy soup coupled with colorful view outside the window was the perfect combination.

Nostalgia aside, here’s my mom’s tomato soup recipe.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes – 6

Carrot (optional) – 1

Garlic – 4/5 cloves

Water – 4 cups

Oil – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Sugar – 2 tsp.

Butter – 1 tsp.

Pepper – 1 tsp.

Method:

1. Boil the tomatoes and carrot with 2-3 cloves of garlic with 4 cups of water in a cooker for 2-3 whistles.
2. Mash the tomatoes, carrot and garlic through a strainer.
3. In a pan, heat the oil. Chop and add the remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Fry till aromatic.
4. Add the strained broth and add salt and sugar.
5. Cook on high heat till the broth boils. Adjust taste and switch off heat.
6. Serve the steaming soup in 2 bowls garnished with ½ tsp. butter and ½ tsp. pepper per bowl.

Tip: Optionally, for step 2, you may blend the whole boiled broth in a mixer.

Best had on a cold winter evening, but it is still a filling evening meal along with a couple of toasted breads.

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 20 – Letter “T”.