Tomato Soup with home made Croutons

       My Readers would have been puzzled ,why I am not posting non - veg recipes for the past 1 month .The reason is we are on a fast for the past 1 month as it is the holy month of "Purattasi" . We will not take non -veg in this month. This month is very special for " Lord Venkatesa ".And it is celebrated elaborately in his temple at Tirupathi - a holy hill in Andhra Pradesh.Rohith was asking me "Mom can't we take just chicken nuggets ? " .I cannot control my laughter hearing this.Even he was in a fast with us ,sacrifising his chucken nuggets and egg omlett. 

         Coming to the recipe,Rohith was asking me to prepare tomato soup for long. I got time now only. We can prepare tomato soup in two ways,either we can prepare it only with tomatoes or with tomato and some veges.I would love to sneak in some veges in my soup to make it more healthy.So I have added carrot and capsicum.Adding capsicum will enhance the flavour.Adding basil leaves will bring the restaurant touch to the soup.Since I did not have croutons,prepared it at home wasily.Will post the plain tomato soup soon.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For the Soup:

1.Tomatoes                 -       2 (big)

2.Onion                       -       1/2

3.Carrot                       -       1/2

4.Capsicum                 -        1/2

5.Butter                       -         2 tbsp

6.All purpose flour      -         1 tbsp

7.Basil leaves               -         1/2 tsp

8.Cumin seeds              -         1/4 tsp

9.Salt                            -          to taste

10.Pepper pwdr            -          to taste

11.Heavy Cream           -         1/4 cup

 

For the Croutons:

1.Bread slices                -         2

2.Olive oil                      -         2 tbsp

3.Garlic powder              -         1 tsp

 

Method :

Making the  Crouton:

* Take ths bread slices and cut into cubes.

* Let the bread slices be kept in the counter top for half an hour,this helps the bread to dry partly .This helps the croutons to be fried quickly with less oil.

* Take a pan,add olive oil and ,when it is hot,dump in the bread slices and toss it in medium flame .

* The bread slices will be fried evenly in all sides.

* Now add the garlic powder ,basil leaves and mix well.

If you dont have garlic powder handy,no issues.When the olive oil is hot,add some crushed garlic pods.When the garlic pods are fried well ,remove the garlic pods.As the olive oilw ould have taken the garlic flavour from the pods. And toss the bread cubes to the oil and fry.

 

 

Making the Soup :

* Take a wide pan,a tabsp of butter,add cumin seeds and chopped onion.

* When the onion turns translucent,add the cubed carrot and capsicum.

* Sprinkle some salt and toss it.

* Cover and cook it ,in medium low heat.

* When the veges are cooked partly,add the cubed tomatoes.

* Let the tomatoes get mashed well.

* When the veges are fully cooked, transfer it to a blender . Let it cool completley

*. Grind the mixture well and filter it.

 

 

 

* Now take another pan ,add butter .When the butter is hot,add the flour and saute it till it turns golden brown.Take care not to blacken the flour.This step is essential to make the soup a bit thicker..

* Now pour the grinded puree to the pan and bring it to boil.

* Add salt ,pepper to your taste.

* Turn off the stove and add heavy cream to the soup. Finally drizzle some basil leaves.

* Serve with croutons on the top.

 

Notes:

* We can also fry the bread slices in ghee for a richer aroma and taste.

* We can also saute the veges in butter,which I have avoided ,as I am a weight watcher :)

* Adding basil leaves brings out the restaurant taste to the soup.

* If you want your soup to be so colourfull ,we can also add some edible red colour to it.

* Add the croutons to the soup,while serving,if not it will be soggy.

* We can also keep the bread cubes on the counter for overnight ,so it becomes dry.