A bowl of this chowder on a freezing winter night and you get the cozy feeling…

Yes, you can call me a soup addict. I love to make soups with almost everything and I don’t mind having soups almost everyday. Soups comfort me on a freezing winter day or night, when I am down with flu or when I am feeling low. Having said that, since last night I’ve been on a soup diet as I am down with flu. Just like I love soups, flu loves me too. When there is a flu season I’ll be the first one to get embraced by flu. Yup, we get along really well. I took the day off from work and was trying to take some good rest. I am so weird that when I am sick I feel like doing a lot of things and when I am absolutely alright I want to sit idle. I tried hard to stay cozy inside the blanket, I felt so bored that I woke up and started writing about this chowder.

Last week, I made this chowder with cauliflower and corn. This is a very simple recipe which calls for only basic ingredients. Anyone who loves the combination of cauliflower and corn, would love this soup to the core.

Cauliflower and Corn Chowder

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients

• Olive oil- 2 tsp
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Thyme leaves- of 2 stalks
• Cauliflower florets separated- 1 medium
• Corn kernels- 1 can
• Skim milk or coconut milk- 1 cup
• Water- to thin down soup
• Ground pepper- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Sesame seeds (optional)- to garnish the soup

Preparation:

1. Place a large pot over medium heat, add oil.
2. Add chopped onion, little salt and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add thyme leaves to it.
4. Add cauliflower florets and cook covered till cauliflower has turned tender and slightly mashed up.
5. If it gets dry add little water and cook.
6. If using canned corn kernels, rinse it with water, drain and add to the cooked cauliflower.
7. Cook the corn for sometime.
8. Add 1 cup of milk or coconut milk, sprinkle ground pepper and salt.
9. Let the milk come to a slight boil.
10. Remove the pot from the heat and let the veggies cool down a bit.
11. In a blender, puree half of the veggie mixture to a coarse paste.
12. Add the paste to the remaining veggies in the pot.
13. Place the pot with the soup over medium heat.
14. Add water to thin down the soup and cook for a minute.
15. Taste and add more ground pepper and salt if needed.
16. Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with sesame seeds if needed.

Tips:

• You could replace cauliflower with potato.

Adopted from Dr OZ’s show, so obviously it has to be healthy…

The other day I watched Dr OZ’s show, in that Dr OZ recommended a healthy braised chicken recipe especially for winter. The ingredients used in this recipe are not new to us, but the combination of the aromatic spices used helps to boost our immunity to fight against cold and flu. In the original recipe, they used chicken stock and whole chicken with skin-on. When I started making this dish, as usual I gave my healthy twist. I skipped the chicken stock and used water. I even removed the skin from the chicken, since the chicken was braised in the water for about 40 minutes the chicken flavors will get into the water and hence we can avoid adding store bought chicken stock. The recipe even called for Daikon, I didn’t have it so I skipped that too. If you have daikon which is a famous Japanese white radish, do add that along with the other veggies as it is good for our health.

This dish is absolutely perfect for winter and is a complete meal. You get to enjoy the chicken, veggies and the soup. The aromatic spices added into this dish imparted an unbelievable flavor to the chicken and the soup. Even without the addition of chicken stock, the soup tasted phenomenal. After a huge bowl of this dish, my senses opened up literally and I felt refreshed and amazing. A great dish to have while down with flu/cold, during cold winter or on any day, this dish is guaranteed to make you feel better.

Lemongrass-Aromatic Spices Braised Chicken

• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Carrot, diced- 3 large
• Celery, diced- 3 stalks
• Onion, diced- 2 large
• Lemon grass, stalks smashed- 3 stalks
• Ginger, chopped – 3 inch slice
• Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
• Whole black pepper corns- 1 tsp
• Star Anise- 2 no’s
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp or as required
• Thai red chilly, halved – 2 no’s
• Water- 3 cups
• Chicken leg and thigh piece-  4 no’s (or use any chicken pieces)
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• I used chicken leg and thigh pieces, I removed the skin and the fat on it. You could keep the skin if you prefer.
• Heat a large pan or soup pot, add olive oil.
• Add the veggies: carrots, celery and onions, saute for a minute.
• Dice the white part of the lemon grass at the bottom end.
• Using a rolling pin slightly smash the lemongrass to release the flavor in it.
• Add the lemon grass and ginger to the veggies, saute for a minute.
• Now, add turmeric powder, pepper corns, star anise, chillies and ground pepper, combine well.
• Add water and salt to taste.
• Let the water come to a boil.
• Gently drop the chicken into the water.
• Cover and cook on low heat for about 40  minutes till the chicken has cooked well.
• After 40 minutes, open the lid and check the chicken with a fork, if it’s fork tender it’s cooked well.
• Taste the soup and add salt or ground pepper if needed.
• While serving, ladle the soup along with the veggies into a large bowl plate and place the chicken in the soup.
• Enjoy while it’s warm and experience the magic!

Tips:

• If you have daikon (white radish) add that too.
• You could use chicken stock instead of water, use low sodium stock.
• Make sure to cook in a large pot.

Ukrainian soup and here is the healthy version of borscht…

I admire the color of beetroot and the health benefits of this particular veggie as well. I often make beetroot stir fry, beetroot chutney and beetroot juice. However, the thought of making beetroot soup has never hit me before. Ever since I had borscht at the 360 restaurant at CN tower, I had been wanting to re-create that dish. I searched the internet and came across a lot of recipes, finally ended up making my own healthy version of borscht.

Borscht is a soup of Ukrainian origin in which beetroot is the main ingredient. This soup can be served both hot and chilled. Beetroot imparts the vibrant reddish-purple color which is very appealing to the eyes. After you have a sip of this soup, it appeals your taste buds too. This is one such soup which can be made in many ways and the recipe is quite different in different countries.

This soup was very flavorful and very nutritious too. Also, the earthy flavor of the beetroot wasn’t that intense in this soup.In summer serve this soup chilled and in winter serve it warm…

Beetroot Borscht

• Serves: 4 people
• Preparation: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Celery, chopped- 1 stalk
• Carrot, large chopped- 1
• Beetroot, large chopped- 1
• Potato, large chopped- 1
• Chicken Bouillon cube or chicken stock/vegetable stock/beef stock- I used 1/2 bouillon cube or use 2 1/2 cups stock
• Water, if using bouillon cube- 2 1/2 cups
• Ground pepper- 1/4 or 1/2 tsp
• Sour cream- for topping the soup

Preparation:

1. Heat a large pot, add oil and add onion, saute for a minute.
2. Add celery and saute for a couple of minutes.
3. Add carrot, beetroot and potatoes.
4. Season with ground pepper, saute for a couple of minutes.
5. If using bouillon cube, add 1/2 of the cube and add 2 1/2 cups water to it.
6. Combine well and cook covered till the veggies have turned tender, about 15-20 minutes.
7. If using stock (low sodium) add that to the veggies instead of bouillon cube.
8. After the veggies have turned tender, remove from the heat.
9. Let cool down a bit and puree it into a smooth paste in a blender.
10. Transfer the pureed paste into the pot, cook on low medium heat.
11. You could add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water to thin down the soup.
12. Make sure not to make it watery.
13. Let the soup come to a slight boil.
14. Taste and add ground pepper or salt if needed.
15. Remove from the heat, serve in a soup bowl.
16. You could serve warm or chilled and top with sour cream.

4 basic ingredients + 15 minutes=healthy and yummy tomato soup…

I repeat, you don’t have to have over the top ingredients or recipes to make something delicious. From my experience, it’s not hard at all to whip up a tasty dish using simple ingredients and in less time. During my last grocery shopping, I had bought a huge bag of tomatoes, I’ve no idea why. Every time I opened the refrigerator I stared at the tomatoes, and somehow got distracted by other veggies. It was last weekend, finally I got motivated in emptying those tomatoes. If I want to finish all the tomatoes, there was nothing better than making soup out of it.

As always my requirements were to spend less time in my kitchen and to make a flavorful soup. For making this soup, I used very basic and simple ingredients that are always found in our kitchen. While making this soup, I was little concerned whether this soup would turn out to be blant as I didn’t even add stock to it. Trust me, when I tasted this soup it was hard for me to believe that it only had a very few ingredients. After having a few sips of this soup, my hubby raised his thumps not down but upwards. He didn’t talk much as he was busy enjoying the soup. On a lazy winter day this soup would be perfect.

Easy Tomato Soup

• Makes: 2 large bowls
• Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Garlic, chopped- 3 cloves
• Green onions or scallions, chopped- 2 stalks
• Tomatoes, chopped- 5 no’s
• Ground Cumin- 3/4 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Water- 1 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful

Preparation:

1. Place a large pan over medium heat, add oil to it.
2. Add chopped garlic, saute for a few seconds until aromatic.
3. Add chopped green onions, saute for a minute.
4. Add tomatoes, saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add ground cumin, ground pepper and salt, combine well.
6. Let tomatoes get mashed up, add 1/2 cup water to it.
7. Cook for a minute.
8. Remove from heat and let cool down.
9. Puree the tomatoes in a blender till smooth.
10. Transfer the puree to the pan and turn on the heat to medium.
11. Add 1/2 cup more water to thin down the soup, let it come to a boil.
12. Garnish with chopped cilantro, remove from the heat.
13. Serve in soup bowls and enjoy with your favorite croutons or crackers.

Freezing cold weather=hot soup…

Last weekend, I had spend a few hours digging deep into my closet for sweaters and winter jackets which I had buried last year. As summer arrives I bury it deep and as winter comes I dig deep searching for it, sigh. Well, I am still a snow freak, so I love winter. However, it takes a few weeks to cope up with the summer to winter transition. I just adore the first snow showers of every winter, it’s just magical and enchanting. I am eagerly waiting for the first snow shower of this winter.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends. Yesterday was a very rewarding day for me, I successfully defended my research work that I had been working on for the past 1 year. Well, this doesn’t mean that I am going to have a relaxing time, more research work is awaiting me and tons of other course work.

Couple of days ago, it was freezing cold, after I reached home from work I was desperate to sip a bowl of hot soup to keep myself warm. I felt little sick too so made chicken soup in its healthiest way possible. I didn’t use chicken soup to make this soup, instead cooked the chicken in water. While cooking the chicken added herbs to it which made this soup aromatic and flavorful. It was aromatic, healthy and soothing.

Herb Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts, boneless cut small- 2 breasts
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Onion, diced small-1
• Carrot, halved and diced-2
• Celery, diced small-2 stalks
• Lemon grass, cut small-1 stalk
• Rosemary, fresh or dried- 1 stalk
• Oregano, dried-1 tsp
• Ground Pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Basil, dried- 1 tsp
• Water- 3-  3 1/2 cups
• Salt- to taste
• Soy Sauce- 1 1/2 tbsp
• Scallions, chopped small- 2 stalks
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Pasta or noodles- 1 cup

Preparation

1. Dice the chicken breasts into small size.
2. Place a large soup pot or pan over medium heat.
3. Add olive oil, add onion, carrot, celery to the oil, saute till veggies starts to turn tender.
4. Add lemon grass, rosemary, oregano, basil to it, combine well.
5. Add chicken and season with ground pepper, combine well.
6. Add water and cook covered till chicken has cooked well.
7. Add soy sauce to it, combine.
8. Now, add pasta or noodles to it, let it cook well.
9. If the constituency of the soup is too thick, add some water to it.
10. Taste and add more salt if needed.
11. Let the soup come to a boil, add scallions and cilantro to the soup.
12. Remove from the heat and let stand covered for 2 minutes.
13. Serve in a bowl.

Welcoming Fall with this hot soup…

Any day any time I prefer shrimp over chicken or any other meat. One of my favorite soups has been sweet corn chicken soup, and yes only Ind0-Chinese restaurants serve this soup. This doesn’t mean that you cannot make it in your kitchen. Here is the recipe for Sweet Corn Chicken Soup - one of the most popular recipes on my blog. Go ahead and make it, it tastes delicious. I have made this soup quite a few times, yet not tired of it.

Last Friday being a rainy day, as soon as I came home I got into the kitchen to make a soup. I had shrimp, cream of corn and I wasn’t reluctant to combine them into a soup. One bowl of this hot soup and I felt so good. Honestly, this tasted better than the chicken version of the soup and my hubby agreed with this.  If you are a shrimp lover like me, you will turn into a die hard fan of this soup.

Happy Fall everyone!

Shrimp Sweet Corn Soup

• Serves: 4 people
• Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Shrimp small, cooked- 20-25 no’s
• Chicken stock (low sodium) or Bouillon cube- 2 1/2 cups stock or 1 bouillon cube
• Cream of corn, canned- use 3/4 th of 14 oz can
• Corn starch-  1tbsp
• Rice Vinegar- 1/2 tbsp
• Soy Sauce, low sodium- 1 tbsp
• Ground Pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Egg beaten- 1

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, heat the chicken stock.
2. If you are using bouillon cube, put the cube in 2 1/2 cups water and heat it stirring to dissolve the cube.
3. Add cream of corn into the chicken stock and combine it well.
4. If you only have whole kernel corn (canned), puree this in little water to make it into a cream.
5. Use only 3/4 of the 14 oz can, if you use too much cream of corn the soup will have a sweet taste.
6. Now, add the cooked shrimp into the pot and cook it for 3 minutes.
7. In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch in 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar.
8. Add the dissolved corn starch into the soup and keep stirring.
9. Add the soy sauce and ground pepper to it.
10. Taste and add salt if needed.
11. Add cilantro to the soup, combine.
12. In a bowl, beat the egg well.
13. Increase the heat to medium high and let the soup come to a boil.
14. Slowly add the beaten egg and keep stirring the soup till the egg forms into threads.
15. If you don’t stir the soup while adding the egg, you won’t get the thread shape instead lumps of cooked egg will form.
16. Combine well and remove from the heat.
17. Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy it when it is still warm.
18. If you want more spice, sprinkle ground pepper while having it.

A bowl of soup to keep yourself cozy…

It rained almost every day last week and was quite chilly. Summer has definitely lost its vigor and fall is gearing up. Without a doubt, I love fall colors, the part that I hate the most is when I have to click the fall colors wearing fleece and sneakers. How I wish I could wear flip flops even in winter, wouldn’t it be just awesome? However, this weekend was sunny and bright, we had a fantastic time.

When it gets chilly, only a bowl of hot soup can put a smile on my face. Last week, I made a soup with broccoli and added yogurt instead of cream or milk to make it rich and creamy. I wanted to give the soup a little facelift, if you will, so I topped the soup with bean sprouts and green onions sauteed in butter. The soup tasted delicious with a hint of sour from the yogurt and the topping gave a crunchy bite to the soup. A bowl of this soup, I felt warmed up and refreshed.

Broccoli Yogurt Soup

• Serving: 4 people
• Preparation time: less than 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Broccoli, florets- 1 small broccoli
• Potato, cubed- 2 no’s
• Onion, red or white- 1
• Water- 1/2 cup
• Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
• Garlic, chopped- 2 cloves
• Turmeric powder- 1/8 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Chicken stock or vegetable stock, low sodium- 3 cups (or use 1 bouillon cube combined in 3 cups water)
• Yogurt, non-fat and not sour- 1 cup

For making topping (optional)

• Butter, unsalted- 1/2 tbsp
• Bean sprouts- 1 cup
• Green onion, chopped- 2 stalks
• Ground pepper- 1/8 tsp

Preparation:

1. Separate the broccoli florets, cube the potatoes, chop the onions, chop the ginger and garlic, have all the other ingredients ready.
2. Heat a large soup pot or pan, cook the broccoli, potatoes, onion, ginger and garlic in water till the veggies turns tender.
3. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, ground pepper, saute for a minute.
4. Add the chicken stock or vegetable stock to the veggies.
5. Let the stock come to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat and let cool down a bit.
7. Puree the veggies along with the stock in the blender.
8. Return the pureed soup to the pot.
9. Place on low heat, add yogurt and combine well.
10. Heat it for a couple of minutes and not let it boil.
11. Remove from the heat and keep covered.

For making the topping:

1. Heat a small pan, melt the butter.
2. Add bean sprouts and green onions, saute for a couple of minutes.
3. Add ground pepper to it and saute for a minute.
4. Bean sprouts should have a crunchy texture, so don’t over cook it.
5. Remove from the heat.

Serving the soup:

1. Serve the soup in a bowl, top the soup with bean sprouts.
2. Serve hot.

I’ve never dined in a Burmese restaurant nor had a chance to taste any of their dishes, this explains my ignorance about Burmese cuisine all these years. The other day, while surfing the net I happened to read about Burmese cuisine and my curiosity led me to try a popular Burmese chicken noodle dish in my kitchen. The ingredients for this dish, the style of cooking and finally the taste of the food confirmed me that this cuisine has been influenced by Indian, Thai and Chinese cuisines. So anyone who loves these cuisines would definitely fall head over heels for Burmese food as well.

Khow Suey, is a soup meal made of noodles and curried chicken in coconut milk and is served with a variety of condiments. It’s rich, flavorful and aromatic, I can tell you one thing, you won’t be able to stop with just one bowl of this.

Khow Suey

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil- 2 tbsp
• Chicken, boneless cubed- 1 pound
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Cinnamon- 3 inch stick broken
• Bay leaves- 3 no’s
• Green pepper, diced- 1
• Ground Cumin- 1 tsp
• Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
• Water- 1 cup
• Fish sauce- 2 tsp
• Coconut milk- 1 cup
• Green Onions, chopped- 2 stalks
• Rice Noodles or Egg Noodles- 1/2 packet

Preparation:

• Cook the rice or egg noodles in boiling water along with a dash of salt till it’s soft, drain water and keep aside.
• Heat a pan over medium heat, add oil, when it turns hot add turmeric powder and saute without burning it.
• Add onions, and salt saute till tender.
• Add minced ginger and garlic, saute for a few minutes.
• Add cinnamon and bay leaves.
• Add chicken along with ground cumin, chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala.
• Combine everything well.
• Add water and cook the chicken covered.
• When the chicken is half done, add green pepper and cook covered till chicken is well done.
• Uncover the pan, add fish sauce, combine well.
• Now, add coconut milk and let it come to a boil.
• Sprinkle chopped green onions and give it a stir.
• Remove from the heat.
• While serving, place some cooked rice noodles or egg noodles in a bowl and add the chicken along with the gravy over the noodles.
• Serve warm along with other condiments like fried onions, cilantro, boiled eggs, lemon wedges etc.

Tips:

• Vegetarians can make this with mixed veggies like carrot, beans, green pepper, corn etc.

Happy Mother’s day! Hope all the mom’s out there had a wonderful Mother’s day and a great weekend as well. It was indeed a beautiful weekend for me, weather cooperated so well giving us enough sunshine and warmth. My husband and I did some outdoor activities like motorcycle riding and biking. Now, looking forward to a great week, hopefully it won’t rain much this week.

Yesterday, I went to the Asian store. That store never ceases to amaze me with the exotic fruits, veggies and sea food they carry. They literally got everything under the sun, some of the veggies/fruits that are common in my hometown are found in that store. I am so glad that it’s only a few minutes drive away from my house.

Making tom yum soup had been in my mind for so long, however it took a while for me to try it. This evening I was determined enough to try it in my kitchen and I already stacked up all the ingredients for making the soup. I have had this soup a few times at Thai restaurants, I couldn’t resist thinking about it often. This soup is just my kind of soup, spicy, aromatic and flavorful. The intense aroma from the lemon grass, kaffir leaves and galanga refreshes me and at the same time opens up all my senses.

I came across fresh crabs and so I bought a huge bag of those too, so decided to make tom yum soup with crab. It came out pretty delicious and yes it was packed with intense flavor and aroma.

Go ahead and use shrimp, chicken or just veggies instead of crab.

Crab Tom Yum Soup

Ingredients:

• Crab, cleaned small – 7 no’s (or use shrimp, large-12 no’s)
• Chicken stock, low sodium- 4 cups
• Lemon grass, cut small- 1 stalk
• Galanga, cut small- 2 pieces (or use ginger, 3 inch slice)
• Kaffir leaves- 3 no’s (or use lemon peel of 1 lemon)
• Garlic, cut small- 4 cloves
• Fish sauce- 3 tsp
• Lemon juice- juice of 1/2 lemon
• Soy sauce- 2 tbsp
• Chili paste or Sambal Oelek- 1 tsp
• Basil leaves- 2 no’s
• Mushrooms, oyster, enoki or straw- 1 box
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Spring onion, chopped- 1 stalk
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp (depending on your spice level)

Preparation:

• Clean the crab thoroughly  under running water, remove the crab butter that is found inside and the intestine.
• Read my old post on how to clean crab.
• Keep aside the middle part and twist the legs from the crabs.
• In a large pot or soup pot, pour the chicken stock, add lemon grass, galanga, kaffir leaves or lemon peel, garlic to it.
• Let the stock come to a rolling boil.
• Add the cleaned crab into it.
• Add mushroom, tomatoes, fish sauce, chili paste, lemon juice, basil leaves and soy sauce.
• Cover the pot and lower the heat, let the crab cook in the stock for about 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes of simmering, open the lid and have a taste of the soup.
• Adjust the spice and salt level according to your needs. If needed add more of chili paste and fish sauce.
• Add cilantro, green onions and ground pepper to the soup.
• Cook the soup for 10 more minutes.
• Ladle the soup on a bowl along with the crab and enjoy when it is hot.

Tips:

• Please make sure to adjust the spice level according to your needs, if it’s too spicy for you add little brown sugar to adjust.
• Use low sodium chicken stock.
• You could add shrimp, chicken or just veggies instead of crab.
• If you don’t have galanga use ginger instead.
• If you don’t have kaffir leaves, use lemon peel instead.

If you love Thai, Vietnamese or Indian cuisine, then you are definitely going to go crazy for this dish. Even though the spices used for making this curry are mostly Indian, I got a feeling that I am enjoying Thai/Vietnamese dish. This curry is spicy with slightly tangy flavors swimming around and is strongly aromatic. And the fresh tail on shrimp in it made this curry taste even more delightful. You have two choices, either serve this curry along with plain rice/Jasmine rice/rice noodles or enjoy it as a soup. I tried both ways and found both of them are equally good.

I adopted this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor and tweaked quite a bit to suit my taste. I also added green pepper along with shrimp. Vegetarians can make this using a mix of green pepper, red pepper, carrots, beans etc, it’s going to taste great this way too.

Green Curry Shrimp

Ingredients:

To make into a paste:

• Garlic- 5 cloves
• Ginger, fresh- 2 inch slice
• Cloves, whole- 4
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch slice
• Whole pepper corns- 5 no’s
• Cilantro, chopped- 3 stalks 0r 1/4 cup chopped
• Green chilly, chopped- 1

For making curry:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Large Shrimp, deveined tail on- 15 no’s
• Onion, chopped small- 1
• Garlic, minced- 3 cloves
• Salt- to taste
• Green pepper, diced- 1
• Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
• Chill powder- 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind paste- small gooseberry sized soaked in 3 tbsp warm water
• Lemon grass, dried (optional)- 1 inch slice ( 3 no’s)
• Water- 1 cup
• Coconut milk, thick- 1/2 cup

Preparation:

• In a blender, grind the above mentioned “to make a paste” ingredients till it’s smooth.
• Devein and clean the shrimp under running water, if possible keep the tail.
• Heat a large pan and add oil, add minced garlic, fry it till it starts to turn golden in color.
• Add the chopped onion, salt and saute for a while.
• Add the ground paste and cook for a few minutes.
• Add green pepper, turmeric powder and chilly powder, combine well.
• If you are using lemon grass add that too.
• Now, pour the soaked tamarind juice without any seeds in it.
• Add water, let it come to a boil.
• Add the shrimp and cook covered till shrimp gets cooked well.
• Open the lid and let the curry gets thickened.
• Add coconut milk and heat for some more time.
• Serve hot with rice or enjoy as a soup.
• You could adjust the spice level by adding more of coconut milk or by not adding chilly powder.

Tips:

• Vegetarians can add veggies like diced carrots, green pepper, red pepper, beans etc.