Tomato and Pumpkin Soup

Do you think that it is easier to cook a meal than it is to plan? I do, especially a light meal for those 'not so hungry, but I need to have something' days (and nights). Not again the regular fare of upma or noodles, shouts an inner voice and then I have to push myself to think something more appetizing. soups are my to go dish to put on the table.
We started this exercise of having soup one night a week for some months now. That is, I made it an exercise to disguise all those 'resistance meeting' vegetables and make them a welcome dish. Pumpkins might be somewhere in the top of I listed those vegetables, while I like them in some good curry, not always. The other day in the market, I saw that my vendor had some nice looking tender and small in size pumpkins. I just picked one ignoring a pair of rolling eyes.
Back from the market, I thought it out a bit hard and came up with this idea of adding tomatoes and nutritional yeast to the pumpkin and serve a soup. Then it struck me that I could make it vegan friendly and make a cream to top the soup. I happened to have in stock cashews and pumpkin nuts too. Little more thinking and a very flavoursome soup was ready.
I had just joined a group of food photography enthusiasts who are doing weekly themed food photography. It was a coincidence that the theme of that week was soup and I was glad that I had a picture to share.

Tomato Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
Serves 4 hefty servings
For the soup:
6 medium tomatoes (ripe and red)
1 cup of diced pumpkin (skin, inner strands and seeds removed)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon peepramul powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water as required

For the cashew pumpkin cream:
2 tablespoons broken bits of cashew nuts
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Warm water to soak and grind

Garnish:
Basil leaves

Method:
For the cashew pumpkin cream:
Soak the nuts and seeds in warm water for about 30 minute. Drain and grind to a fine paste adding water as required.
Transfer to a bowl and adjust the water to desired consistency. Add the sugar and refrigerate for use later.

For the soup:

Heat one and half tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and toss the pumpkin in the oil.

Cook the pumpkin just about soft not mushy.
Boil some water in a pan and drop the tomatoes. Boil them just enough to remove the peel.
Keep the water simmering while you clean the tomatoes. Put them back in the water and add the pumpkin to it. Cook further until both the vegetables are done.
Allow to cool and blend in a blender to a smooth puree.
Add some water and put the puree back on fire. Mix the nutritional yeast and the peepramul powder in water and pour into the soup. Add salt and pepper adjusting to taste.
Simmer the soup for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Top it with the rest of the olive oil.
Take the soup in individual serving bowls and add the prepared cream. Garnish with basil leaves.

Serve hot and enjoy a warm bowl for yourself.

Mooli Parathas

Just like the paneer parathas, the mooli parathas are very delectable. We were at my cousins place one morning for the music lessons. She was making these for her daughter who had been studying late into night and had left instructions not to wake her up until after 9 AM. So my cousin decided to make these parathas that might replace her breakfast and hold until a late lunch. She invited us to have some with some pickle. Both Niki and I loved them.

Few years on we were again invited to my daughter's friend's place in Singapore. Her mother made mooli parathas. She mixed the grated radish to the flour and kneaded witht the flour for the dough unlike making a filling of them. That was good too.

My gardener and house help in Bahrain lived in a farm where they fed goats with carrots and radishes. The boys used to bring me loads of these veggies whenever they could manage. So I made them often. Later they planted radishes in my small garden patch, which grew like wild and I had to distribute to friends. The day my container was being packed the packers pulled out as many as they can to feast on fresh produce :)

Radishes are low in fat and cholestral, high in fibre, riboflavin, vitamins C and B, magnisium, folate etc. They aid weight loss. Eaten raw or cooked in any dish they are beneficial for good health.
Lately, I have started mixing other flours replacing the wheat flour partly. This one here has a mix of bajra flour ( millet flour) with whole wheat flour. The colour may not look great if you add bajra or jowar flour, but the taste is very good.

Ingredients:(8 parathas)

1 &1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup bajra flour

3 fresh and tender radishes grated finely

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

Salt to taste, separate for the flour and for the filling

1 teaspoon oil for the radish

1 tablespoon oil for mixing the dough

ghee as required to spread on the parathas

Method:

Grate the radishes. Keep this on a flat plate which rests over another small cup or plate slightly inclined at an angle. In a few minutes the juice of the radish will ooze out and collect on the bottom-side of the tilt. This may be used while kneading the dough.

Heat oil in a kadai, add the salt and redchilli powder to the grated radish. Toss for some time. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Sift both flours together. Add the salt and oil. Mix well and using the radish water and more water, knead to a plaint dough. Rest the dough covered for half an hour.

Divide in 16 portions. Roll out each into a circular disc about 4" diameter. Spoon the filling on the top side of 8 such discs. Spread evenly, leaving out a part of the circumference. Dampen the edges and press the empty rolled discs over the filled ones.Seal well and roll the pin over the prepared chappathis.

Heat the tawa and cook the chappatis until well cooked on both sides. Serve them hot.

Usually, I don't bother making a side dish. My husband makes do with tomato ketchup. But if you desire so, a simple dal-tadka will be an excellent combination.
These parathas make an excellent lunch box/ snack box dish for children.
These parathas are sent to,

Food for seven stages of life - Kids' special co-hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna,

and to

Sharmi's Cooking For Kids event, happening this month @ Lakshmi's Kitchen Chronicles inviting Vegetables and Fruits.