Tomato (Thakkali) Soup

Tomato Soup is a popular soup among soup lovers. It is prepared by using different spices, herbs with slight variations.

In this soup, I added little green gram to thicken soup and to improve the taste and nutritive value. Also I used spices by tying them in a clean cloth while boiling and removed it later. This gives mild flavor to the soup. I used cream to garnish soup without using milk in the soup.

Tomato is known as Thakkali in Tamil and as Tomatar in Hindi.

For the given quantity of ingredients, I got 8 to 10 cups of soup.

Cooking time: 30 minutes approximately

Ingredients

• Tomato – 10 no (use both round and oval)
• Carrot – 1 no
• Vegetable stock – 4 cup
• Garlic – 4 cloves
• Ginger – one inch long piece
• Onion – 1 no
• Split green gram – 1 table spoon
• Sugar – ½ tea spoon
• Corn flour – 1 table spoon
• Freshly ground black pepper powder – 1 tea spoon (adjust as per taste)
• Low fat butter – 1 tea spoon
• Few mint leaves – for adding in last step for flavor
• Low fat Cream – 1 table spoon for garnishing
• Salt – as per taste
• Spices to be tied in a cloth
  • Cinnamons stick – 2 inch long
  • Cloves – 3 no
  • Green cardamom – 2 no
  • Aniseeds – ½ tea spoon
  • Cumin seeds – ½ tea spoon

Method

• Chop onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and tomato; in a cooker add chopped tomato, ginger, garlic, carrot and onion; add washed green gram, 2 cups of water, spices (tied in a cloth); cook for two whistles and allow it to cool; remove the cloth tied with spices (hereafter it is not needed).

• Blend it lightly in a mixer; filter and keep the pulp.

• In a pan add butter, corn flour and mix; cook in low flame for few seconds; add ½ cup water, mix briskly; cook for a minute; add vegetable stock, ground tomato pulp and mix it; adjust water consistency as per your need.

• Add salt, pepper and sugar; remove just before boiling state; add mint leaves.

• Garnish with cream and serve hot.

Tips

• Combination of oval and round shaped tomatoes help to balance sour taste (round ones have thin skin with more juice and sour; oval ones have thick skin, less juice and slightly sweet).
• Sugar also helps to balance the taste.
• Remove the soup from flame just before boiling point to get creamy texture in soup.