I love experimenting with soups. This is a delicious and light soup that takes very little time to make and adds a touch of class to any meal. I served it the other day with dry multigrain toast as a first course before a penne arrabbiata. My guest seemed to enjoy it and it didn’t fill them up before the main course. You could also serve it with salad. As always, use available ingredients and experiment. You could use cilantro instead of parsley and lemon or lime juice in place of tamarind. Hint: Don’t add oil or butter until you plate the soup. Butter, in particular, may make the soup appear a bit cloudy.
Vegetarian (vegan) clear soup with fresh herbs
Ingredients
- Cipollini onions – 6-8
- Garlic clove optional – 1
- Finely sliced carrot – 1/2 cup
- Diced Celery – 1/2 cup
- Cherry or grape tomatoes – 6
- Chopped Italian Parsley – 1/2 cup
- Crimini or button Mushroom Sliced optional – 1/2 cup
- Fresh mint – 1 sprig
- fresh oregano – 1 sprig
- Curry leaves – 6
- Fresh Thyme, leaves picked – 1 sprig
- Salt and pepper – to taste
- Tamarind fruit (cleaned) – 1/2 tsp
- Olive Oil – 2 tbs
- Ground turmeric – 1/4 tsp
- Rasam Powder – 1/4 tsp
- Fresh Ginger ( tender) minced – 1/4 tsp
Directions
Heat 8 cups of water in a large pot and add peeled whole onions and garlic clove and bring to a boil. Add salt, rasam powder, turmeric, and fresh ground pepper. Now add small bits of cleaned tamarind and other vegetables, cover and simmer for ten minutes. Add all the fresh herbs and simmer for another ten minutes. Add salt and a dash of tabasco sauce to taste and drizzle olive oil or add a pat of butter. Serve hot or chilled with toast or crackers and stuffed olives.
