Beetroot Almond Soup

I suddenly realized after finishing yesterday's post that I had made a soup day before yesterday for my daughter who loves her soup-mammam, and did not post it as an entry to EasyCraft's WYF: Salad/ Starter/ Soups event. Today is the last day, and I am just in time!



Beetroot is a vegetable I love primarily for its colour, or because of the colour it imparts to any dish made with it. I do not enjoy it in salads, and prefer it cooked and spiced. I have posted only one other recipe on this blog, which features this vegetable. Beetroot rasam is something I make often, but for want of a different soup, I decided to make it into a soup this time around.

Another thing I have recently started doing in order to ensure that my daughter's diet includes almonds, is to use them in her favourite dishes. A trick, because if she feels a piece of the almond in her mouthful, she spits it immeditely. I soak the almonds overnight, and grind them into a fine paste after peeling them. This way, it gets mixed well in her bhindi subji, sambar, rasam, soup, etc. Which is exactly why this beet soup has almonds in it.

To make the Beetroot Almond soup seen in the picture, you will need:

Beetroot - 2 medium sized - cut into cubes
Almonds - 8-10 - soaked overnight, peeled, and ground into paste
Tomatoes - 2 - chopped OR Lime juice - 1/2 a lime (optional)
Onion - 1 - chopped
Ginger - 1 tbsp - peeled and pounded
Green chilly - 1 - sliced
Coriander leaves - chopped (optional)
Jeera/cumin powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Methi/ fenugreek seeds powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste


Method:

• Pressure cook the beetroot, onion, tomatoes (if using lime, it is to be added later), green chilly, ginger for 4-5 whistles and keep aside to cool
• Take a mixer and blend this well after it is cool along with salt, pepper, jeera, methi, and coriander powders, and the almond paste
• Transfer this into a heavy bottomed saucepan, add water to adjust the consistency, and bring to boil while stirring continuously on low flame
• Serve with ladle into bowls, and garnish with coriander

R and I had this with bread, with a lot more pepper. For my daughter, I served it with a spoonful of melted Amul butter on top.

You may also be interested in another soup with bottlegourd.

Note: You can use almond powder if you have it ready-to-use at home. Tomato or lime juice is used only for giving a sour/tangy flavour. If you do not wish to use it, you can follow the recipe without it.