TOMATO SOUP

TOMATO SOUP

Serves 4.

Preparation and cooking time: 20 mins.

Indian tomato soup is a heavily spiced version of English tomato soup. It is one of the few vegetarian starters in Indian cookery and is a very light and thin soup. Like all soups, it can be served with bread or a roll.

Ingredients

• 450 g (1 lb) ripe tomatoes
• 30 ml (1 fl oz) cooking oil
• 6 whole cloves
• ½ tsp whole rai (black mustard seeds)
• ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 450 ml (15 fl oz) water

Method

1. Wash all the tomatoes and cut them into very small pieces.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and add cloves, whole rai and asafoetida. Fry for a few seconds.

3. Add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder, chili powder and the sugar. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer gently for about 7 minutes.

4. Now add the water, mix well and bring to the boil. Allow it to simmer for a further 10 minutes.

5. Transfer the soup to a soup bowl; remove the cloves with a spoon and serve while hot.