I do realize I haven’t populated the comfort food section in a while. Well, I haven’t blogged in a while , if you could call 12 days ” a while” that is. I suppose it is a long time, for something that warrants “everyday” cooking.
We had our 9 year old nephew visit from India, and while that meant two boisterous boys (including mine), running around the house, it also meant having to come up with some creative ways to feed them both and fuel all that energy. As with most kids, vegetables were challenging, and I was looking for ways to dot the daily menu with some, while sneaking some in other dishes.
Anusuya’s kitchen had the perfect answer, as always. It’s quite obvious from her previous recipes, that she somehow has that perfect balance between scrumptious and healthy. Whole wheat, low fat, low oil are some key words in her kitchen. Of course, there are always “treats” in store, with her desserts and other signature dishes, and I will try to share them all, as and when she chooses to share them with me.
Here’s a sweet corn soup recipe that’s a favorite of her family, and this is what I “tried” on the kids one evening. May sound cliched, but as with all her recipes so far, it was a hit! The kids downed the corn soup with french bread and actually asked for more. What more could I ask for?
Ingredients:
1 pack frozen corn or 3-4 fresh corn, kernels removed and steamed
2 Jalapenos (I retained the seeds, but if you like it less spicy, de-seed them)
1/2 Vidalia onion (chopped into chunks)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
1. Take a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt the butter and oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add the onions along with the jalapenos. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the corn kernels. You may want to reserve a few kernels for later to add some chunky texture to the soup, but that’s optional.
4. Add 2 cups of water to this mixture and let it boil. Remove from the stove and cool.
5. Now take the mixture in a blender and puree it to a paste like consistency.
6. Take the puree in another heavy vessel or a dutch oven. Add the reserved corn, milk, soy sauce and salt to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Serve hot, garnished with scallion leaves (I was out of the leaves, as you can tell from the picture), and with a side of toasted french bread. I added some garlic butter on the bread as well. Or you could just use store bought garlic bread. Enjoy!
so my lack of blender is going to prevent me from making this lovely looking soup, but i have to say it sounds fabulous and soul-warming:) also, excellent photograph. good use of color, i think.
Hi there,
Who IS Anasuya? She begs to be seen, honestly. And sweet corn is my all-time favorite. It is sold as street food now. The first time I had American corn as they call it here in India, was at Prasads’ IMAX theatre years ago. Some treat that – with Italian herbs. Now , as it happens with “bahar ka khana” that hits Indian shores, food gets indianised, from pizzas to noodles… So we have American corn sold in thick paper cups with chaat masala or lime and pepper or butter( don’t even opt for this, makes you want to throw up- the buttered version, I mean. Same goes for buttered popcorn sold at multi-plexes.Ugh!)
Sweet Corn soup with french bread- you’ve got me droolin’ now. Gotta get Anasuya(!!!) to cook for me someday as my ghar-ka-khana over the years has gotten bland and boring…
Thanks for the comments, Sheela. The “masala corn” sold in India also sounds like a good recipe idea. I’ll try that someday and let you know, or better yet, post it as an entry.
Will pass along your compliments to Anusuya as well.
I’m glad to see this valuable recipe on your excellent blog. Thank you. I have enjoyed this soup, steaming-hot, once in Anusuya’s kitchen, and wanted the world to enjoy it. Instead of the french bread, the soup was accompanied by vegetable spring-rolls. Dunking the rolls in and out, I remember savouring every drop of the soup – shamelessly as we say here in India.