orema

Last week when we went to buy a laptop which we were planning for a very long time, we finished our shopping and after that we wanted to install some additional things to it and the shopkeeper told that it will take one hour and as the time was around 7 pm kids started feeling hungry and we went to a nearby cafe. Unfortunately nothing was there for vegetarians. Finally we thought we will have some juice but the choice which the kiddos opted for was not there. Then finally they told they have a choice of a vegetarian soup and we ordered one and told the waiter that we will order one more if the kids like the soup. We all loved the soup and it was quite filling too. While we were having the soup the chef visited the dining area(it was a very small cafe). When he asked the feed back about the soup i casually asked him the recipe and he immediately told the recipe of the bread soup in detail and i made this 2 days back. My kids enjoyed and the taste was so close to the soup which we tasted in the cafe.

This soup is made with the bread crust(sides of the bread) which we usually discard. So whenever you cut the edges of the bread keep it in the freezer and try out this soup.

INGREDIENTS: SERVES 2-3

METHOD:

• Take out the the edges of the bread and chop them roughly.
• Chop the onions and garlic finely.
• In a deep pan, add butter and add the chopped and saute them till the onions becomes translucent.
• Add the bread crust and saute till it emits a nice aroma. Do it in a lower flame.

• When it is done, add 2 cups of water,tomato based pasta sauce and cover the pan and cook till the bread becomes tender and the flavours are infused into it.
• Let this cook for 7-9 minutes.

• Allow this to cool and blend this smoothly in a blender.
• Add the blended soup to the pan and bring it to a nice boil.
• Add oregano ,pepper powder and salt to this.

• Add water to reach the right consistency. If you want to have a creamy soup add 1/2 cup of full cream milk in the last.
• Serve hot.

Parrupu Urundai Kuzhambhu, my mom makes during our childhood days, but i never used to eat it and she makes rasam for me but my sister used to love it like anything. Even after marriage in my in laws place they never used to make it but i remember once my mil made this with morkuzhambhu. When i wanted to make this last week, I asked my mom for the recipe and i tried it and somehow i enjoyed it and told my mom that i liked the paruppu urundai kulambhu very much.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR URUNDAIS:(YIELDS 10 SMALL BALLS)

FOR THE GRAVY

Method:

• Wash and soak the dals together for 45 minutes.
• Drain the water completely and grind it into a slightly coarse paste by adding red chilli , salt and asafoetida to this.
• Peel the skin of the shallots (if using)and finely chop them and mix it to the ground dal mix.

• Grease your hands and make small tight balls.
• Grease the idli plate and arrange the urundais on it and steam it for 12 to 15 minutes on medium flame.
• Insert a tooth pick to check out whether it is done.

• In a pan, add sesame oil and throw in the mustard seeds and when it splutters add the tamarind extract and add the turmeric powder, salt,sambar powder ,curry leaves and asafoetida.

• When it starts boiling simmer the flame and add the steamed paruppu urundais carefully to the boiling gravy one by one.

• Let this boil till it reaches a kulambhu (gravy) consistency.
• It should be slightly thicker than the sambar.

• Serve with hot rice. Normally we mix  the gravy with hot rice and keep he urundais as accompaniment.
• We had with avarakkai(broad beans) curry and Vazhakkai chips.

Note:

• Adding onions is totally optional. My mom told adding onions makes it soft.
• Some people add fennel seeds while grinding ,but since i don’t like it much i didn’t add.
• You  also add a tsp of cumin seed while grinding.
• Some people may add coconut to the gravy, if you want to add just grind 2-3 tblsp of coconut with little water and add it to the gravy in the last.
• Always ensure that the balls should be tight and while grinding do not add water. If it is loose they may tend to break after putting it into the gravy.