On a cold winter day, a hearty bowl of Butternut Squash Soup with some crusty bread is a perfect meal.

Butternut Squash soup is a hearty meal perfect on a cold winter day. Dip some crusty bread in it and its a hearty filling meal.  It is a common flavor during the fall and winter months. Soup is my favorite way to incorporate butternut squash. 

I like to add a few other vegetables to give it more depth of flavor. Carrots, onions, celery is a common pairing for stocks, soups and other flavor starters. In this case, it adds flavor while still allowing the squash to be the star of the dish. Its simple, chop up the ingredients, cook together, blend and enjoy – perfect simple meal for beginners. Its good for lunch, dinner and perfect to pack for lunch at work. 

You can use your Instant Pot, pressure cooker, or just simply make this in a pot on the stove no special appliance needed to cook it.

Lets get started!

Makes: 4-6 servings

Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

• The proportions of the ingredients in this recipe are very flexible, you can add more or less as you have available. Also depends on the size of the squash. 
• You can keep this vegetarian by using vegetable stock. If you eat chicken the chicken both will give it more flavor.
• For a creative idea, boil some pasta and use this as the sauce. Add some vegetables or chicken and you have another meal to repurpose the soup.
• This soup freezes really well, if you have leftovers, put them in an airtight container and freeze for later. Should be good in the freezer for up to 4 months, thaw at room temperature or in the fridge and reheat really well before serving. Its hard to make little as butternut squash are pretty large so making a large batch and freezing the rest is a good option to avoid waste.
• For other simple soup recipes check out the Soup Section

Filling and packed with energy, Raab is a thick creamy comforting soup, especially when you are sick or on a cold winter day!

Raab is a thick soup made which can be made sweet or savory with various different flours. It is packed with energy and nutrition and very filling. 

This recipe is very near and dear to my heart as it is the most comforting dishes. As children, whenever we were sick and down with a cold and did not feel like eating regular food, this is what my mom made for us. Because it was sweet and required no chewing, it was easy to drink. It was thick and filling to give us energy to recover quickly.  When you are sick, typically you don’t feel like eating spicy, oily foods; this is a perfect solution for those times.

Warm, thick, smooth and creamy soup; it is so comforting that I now make it regularly even when I am not sick.  On any cold winter day, this can be a perfect filling meal! 

I like mine sweetened with Gur, some ajwain, made of wheat flour, ground edible gum, and nuts.  Some make it savory with other flours like Raggi, salt and pepper instead; which is also very nutritious.  However, if you have a sweet tooth like me, try this version.

Makes 2 cups worth (for me that’s 1 serving….) 

Time:  15 mins to cook

Tips:

• When you are sick you will not have energy to make it often, so make a bigger batch and enjoy for a couple of days, stores well in the fridge! 
• Ideally the texture should be smooth so there is no chewing needed to make it easy to eat while you are sick. But if you like some crunch top with chopped nuts at the end.
• The trick to frying gum is to start it in cold butter/oil. Then it pops into nice airy bits.  If you add to hot butter/oil it sometimes gets hard as rock and not good for your teeth!
• When using any flour as a thickener, the mixture must come to a complete boil to ensure the flour is cooked through.
• The color of the final dish will depend on what you used for sweetening. Even with Gur some are darker and some are lighter. So the final dish can range from a deep brown to a light beige, don’t worry about the color.

A healthy, creamy and slightly tart Indian soup made with yogurt and chick pea flour

 

Ever heard of a yogurt soup?  Looking for a soup packed with protein or tired of eating plain yogurt cups?  Kadhi (ka dhee), is a popular Indian soup enjoyed alongside any traditional north Indian meal. Its main ingredients are yogurt and chick pea flour and which makes it a healthy and hearty soup. At restaurants, Kadhi is frequently part of north Indian thaali meals.  Whether its enjoyed by itself or with rice, kadhi and most other soups are typically served with the main meal; not by itself as an appetizer. 

There are a few variations like : the Gujarati kadhi which is slightly sweet, light yellow color and often made without onion or garlic, the Panjabi kadhi is a thicker consistency and has pakoras (fritters) in it.  Depending on how much turmeric is used, the color can vary from a light yellow to a darker mustard yellow.  The consistency also varies in different parts of India.  This makes it a flexible dish to make.  Try this basic recipe below the first time, then adjust it to make it your own for next time.

For me, Kadhi is a comfort food and there is nothing like a steaming bowl of kadhi and khichri at the end of a stressful day. I love to gets bits of onion and tomato in my smooth kadhi. Along with khichri, its a perfect simple healthy meal.

Tempering (waghaar) is a very common practice in Indian food, addition of hot oil and spices at the very end.  Some believe that a layer if floating oil on top (tari) of the finished dish must be preset to complete a dish. For health reasons, I am personally not a fan of waghaar or tempering at the end. It is extra oil and calories that I feel can very easily be omitted without sacrificing any flavor.  Most of my cooking starts with very little oil at the beginning  which is like a tempering already so I don’t find it necessary to add oil again at the end.  I prefer to do this at the beginning to allow the flavor to permeate throughout the rest of the cooking process.  This is also why you hardly see any tari in my finished dish, this keeps it healthy.  

Makes approx 4 servings 

Time: 5 mins to prep, 20 mins to cook

Tips:

• Did you know…..Kadhi can be frozen, yes it can! Make extra and freeze a batch. When ready to use, thaw at room temperature. When it defrosts, it will look like it has curdled and separated, but fear not.  Heat in a pot on medium till it comes to a full rolling boil, the consistency will become smooth once again. Do not add coriander leaves as they will discolor, always add them fresh when serving.
• Restaurant tip: add a tablespoon of sour cream with the yogurt mixture at the beginning for a creamier consistency
• Consistency depends on the yogurt. If you use low fat yogurt, you can increase besan to accommodate. If you use Greek yogurt, you will need less besan and more water.  This ratio can be tricky, so I suggest using whole milk plain yogurt as a great in between alternative.
• If you would like to add a tempering: in a small frying pan, heat up 2 tbsp of oil, add  dry red chili, red chili powder, sliced garlic, stir fry for 30 secs till the garlic gets light brown. Immediately add on top of the soup and serve.