Saturday, December 15, 2007

Hot and sour - very mild version

When we were in India, high up in the Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh, we ate a hot and sour soup that I have tried to emulate ever since. Especially with chicken, my wife loves it. My kids, I know from experience, love sour soup, but less so, hot food. Hence I tend to make milder versions of my hot recipes these days. Here is the hot and sour soup with chicken and less hot and sour.

1 onion
1 red paprika (bell pepper)
1 green paprika
1 carrot (grated)
1 tea spoon ginger
juice of 1 lemon
2 table spoons olive oil
1 tea spoon sweet paprika
2 tea spoons ground caraway
1 tea spoon ground cumin
1 table spoon ground fenegreek
2 tea spoons soy sauce
10 drum sticks
1 tea spoon rock salt

Heat the oil with the sweet paprika, caraway and cumin. Simmer in it the onion (finely cut) and the grated carrot. Grate the ginger and finely cut the paprikas and add them to the soup. Heat well and add the drumsticks. Keep stirring; the vegetables and spices should not scorch. When the meat turns white, add garlic, salt, soy sauce, lemon juice and fenegreek and cover. After a couple of minutes add 1.5 liter of boiling water. Turn the fire low and let the soup boil slowly for 15 minutes. If you like, you can take out the chicken and mash the vegetables further with a hand blender.