Sipping on a bowl of hot soup can be such a delight to the senses. The warmth of
the bowl in your hand. The comforting feeling of warm liquid trickling down your throat. The creamy texture , the play of sweet , sour , hot flavors on your tongue. The aromas.. It transports you to another world. Well if you were talking while I took my first sip sorry I wasn’t listening 🙂 . Traditionally food and eating was such a significant and spiritual activity meant to be done in a comfortable seated position , making a connection to your food , being thankful for its nourishment , enjoying the pleasure of it on your senses quietly. Although in today’s date we may not always eat as mindfully but some foods still make us stop and take us to that blissful state. For me soups always do it 🙂
This soup is a complete meal in itself. Combined with millets it gives you a serving of carbs along with protein and fiber which are also boosted with the broccoli and vegetables in it. In all it makes for a filling and soul satisfying meal. The amount of millets you like with it can be adjusted as per liking. It is also a healthier replacement for noodle/wanton soups for people avoiding gluten.
I served this soup to my non vegan friends and they all enjoyed its non dairy richness. There are various ways to get the same flavors , textures using different techniques of cooking which we can apply and remove dairy from our lives. Dairy consumption as we know now is unhealthy , fatty, high in sugar , cholesterol & hormone ridden, cruel to cows & calves and bad for mother earth. Sometimes all it needs is an attitude shift to change our habits and a sincere attempt at learning new ways of cooking.
Lets see the recipe now 🙂
Serves – 2-3 people
Ingredients
3 Cups Broccoli florets
1 medium Onion finely chopped
1 medium Carrot chopped
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped/minced
1/3 tsp Chili powder
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 Tbs Coconut Oil
1/2 – 1 Cup Cooked Foxtail Millet (Navane)
Salt & Pepper as per taste
lemon juice
Coriander for garnish
Steps
1. Break a Broccoli into medium size florets. Wash thoroughly to remove dirt & insects. Soak in mildly salted hot water for proper cleansing. Steam few broccoli florets so that they remain crunchy. Once done dip these in cold water to stop further cooking.
2. Soak the millets in water for 20 minutes and wash thoroughly before cooking them
to remove the bitterness and any residue.
3. Heat oil in a kadai or thick saucepan and add a bay leaf to flavor the oil. Saute till you smell the aroma of the spice.
4. Add onion and garlic to the oil and cook till onion becomes translucent.
5. Add broccoli and carrots and cover and cook for few minutes till they are soft not mushy. They should have some bite to them. Season with salt and add chilli powder. Take
off heat and allow this mixture to cool down a bit. Remove the bay leaf.
6. Meanwhile cook the millets with little salt. 2:1 proportion works for me. Cook till fluffy. They should not be watery or overcooked. I prefer cooking in open vessel as foxtail millet doesn’t take long.
7. Transfer two thirds of the vegetable mixture into a blender and blend into a smooth and creamy paste. At this stage you can add nutritional yeast for additional flavor if desired.
8. Add the above paste back into the vessel and switch on the heat. Let all the vegetables get coated nicely in this paste. To this add least required water to get a thick consistency of soup. Let this mixture simmer.
9. Adjust salt as required. Add pepper powder as per taste.
10. Now add the cooked millets in the quantity desired. Add less if you want a more
liquid soup.
11. Mix finely chopped coriander to the soup.
12. Pour into your serving bowls and garnish with steamed broccoli florets, coriander leaf and squeeze lemon juice on top before serving 🙂
This soup has no additional cream in it but trust me is tastes heavenly creamy.
THE VEGAN BIRDIE 