Gingered Carrot Almond Soup

Yesterday, while I was in the kitchen, preparing the subject of today’s post – Gingered Carrot Almond Soup, both my daughters would just not leave my side. From the time I started chopping the carrots, and blanching the almonds, till blending the cooked carrots. They gave me a tough time yesterday. The moment I started cutting the carrots which were just right in quantity for the soup, my elder one, grabbed almost ¼ th of the chopped carrots and simply popped them in her mouth, saying innocently, mom these carrots are so sweet in taste, why don’t you pack some for my snack box, tomorrow”. I really had to get stern with her, to stop munching on them, so that I had some left for the soup.

Next comes my younger one, eyeing the blanched almonds. “Amma! Give me the cashoos, (pointing to the de skinned almonds)”, she did not leave the place, until I had parted with 5 to 6 almonds. Elder one was not behind; in she came demanding her share of badams. Poor me! Had to give in! Finally I did prepare some soup which would have been just enough for 2 adults but was shared by 4 adults and 2 kids! I had to run into my room with my precious preparation and lock it so as to click some pictures. Phew! All done, served both of them their share and they were very happy. Both my kids just loved the soup and were asking for more!

Though I was fretting about it yesterday, but now while writing this post I am all smiles and I think I did really enjoy the session with my kids. Sometimes, I really wish they wouldn’t grow up so fast!

Soups as I have said in my earlier posts are definitely not my cup of tea! But who would say no to such an exotic combination – Carrots, Almonds and Ginger. I definitely love to try out unusual combos such as these. The velvety smooth and creamy texture of the soup was wonderful. The original recipe called for almond milk, but since I did not have that in hand, I blanched the almonds and ground them along with the cooked carrots. So here is another heartwarming soup perfect for a wintery evening.

Recipe loosely adapted from here.

Serves 4

What you'll need

1. Carrots – 4 Medium sized
2. Grated Ginger – 1 tbsp
3. Almonds – 6 to 8 + 4 for garnishing
4. Onion – 1 small
5. Red Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
6. Rasam Powder – 1 tsp
7. Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
8. Butter – 1 tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Fresh coriander leaves – few sprigs

Method

1. Wash, peel and chop the carrots roughly.
2. Blanch the almonds and remove the skin from them.
3. Slice 4 of the blanched almonds and keep aside for garnishing.
4. Heat a pan with butter, add the chopped onions and grated ginger. Saute until the onions turn translucent.
5. Next add the chopped carrots and sauté for a minute.
6. Now add about 2 cups of water and salt to taste. Cook covered till the carrots are done. Cool.
7. Blend this along with the blanched almonds into a smooth paste.
8. Transfer to the pan, add the chilly powder, rasam powder, pepper powder and adjust salt.
9. Adjust consistency by adding more water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Transfer into serving bowls and serve garnished with sliced almonds and a sprig of fresh coriander leaves.

Linking this soup to Magic Mingle - Almonds and Ginger, Healthy Diet Event - Warm Soups and to Show me your HITS and to Soup it Up event by Kalyani hosted by Nupur