Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Tortilla Soup

This tortilla soup I that have been making for quite some time now is inspired by this great recipe on Nupur's OneHot Stove. Every time I make tortilla soup, I twist the recipe some way or another. We have had it totally blended, partially blended and last night - un-blended. Here's how I made it last night.

Ingredients:
1 Cup frozen corn
0.5 Cup chopped tomatoes
0.5 Cup chopped onions
1 pepper (Anaheim/Serrano/Jalapeno/Habanero depending on how much heat you can take!)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp any red chili powder
Salt to taste
Some cilantro (with stalks)
2 tsp lime juice
A handful (or more) of tortilla chips (Chili-lime flavored chips from Trader Joe's work just great!)
1 cup mixed veggies (optional) - I used green bell pepper and zucchini last night (was just trying to clear my fridge). I don't think I would like to use any vegetable that has an overpowering flavor. Zucchini and bell pepper blended well in the soup. I have used tomatillos once, the soup turned out tangy but really delicious.
2 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. Heat olive oil. Add onions, corn and pepper. Saute for a few minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, zucchini, bell pepper and saute again. Add red chili, cumin powders and salt.
3. I remove the green pepper at this point as we like soups mild. You can keep it till the simmering stage if you prefer.
4. Add about 4 cups of water and let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, use a pressure cooker (about 3 whistles). If you use the latter option your soup will come out very watery but the corn will be cooked well. You will still have to simmer for 10 mins or so.
5. When almost done, add a handful of crushed tortilla chips. Simmer and simmer till the chips dissolve too. Somewhere in this time frame add the cilantro (I didn't remove the stalks as I wanted just the flavor, not the leaves in my soup).
6. Blend the soup if you prefer.
7. Add lime juice and more tortilla chips/strips (we skipped the latter - just a calorie cutting measure, they taste wonderful though!).

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I love this soup! Its fills you with a sense of warm satisfaction :) It makes a meal in itself, but when making it for dinner, quesedillas almost always follow the soup. Recipe for quesedillas follows in the next post.

5 comments:

Nupur said...

Thanks for trying this recipe, Shweta! It reminds me that I have not made this soup in ages...should do so now that cold weather is creeping close.
I love your addition of more vegetables to this soup...especially tomatillo! very creative.

Shweta said...

Yea, we should see more 'soupy' activity on the blogosphere now with winters coming closer... thanks for the wonderful recipe, we just love this soup! :)

Neha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Neha said...

Bond hoti jaa rahi hei tu to yaar!! Achachha one stupid question. As tortilla chips same as nachos ot it is something different? And how to make sour cream too??

Shweta said...

Neha, Tortilla chips are same as nachos. The stuff they serve in Mexican retaurants with Salsa. I tried to search for ways to make sour cream. Most of them called for mixing cream with buttermilk, and let it stand for 8-24 hrs or so. I am not sure how well that would work out. I think shayad India mein mil jaye sour cream. I am going to try making it and will let you know how it turns out! Quesedillas are pretty good without it too, if you can manage to get avocados for guacamole. Avocados have a very creamy texture, so they will compensate for the lack of sour cream.