Creamy Pistachio Soup
I have yet to be disappointed by any of Roopa Gulati's recipes in The Soup Book and today's effort was no exception. It's been an erratic day weather-wise on this May bank holiday - heavy rain interspersed with lovely sunshine. We had most of the ingredients in the house: pistachio nuts, cardamon pods, mace, coriander seeds and leaves, garlic, spring onions, root ginger, garam masala, vegetable stock and cream. All I had to do was dash out between showers to buy a green chilli from Young Stephen.
This was not a soup to be hurried as there was a lot of preparation involved. I got the younger offspring to to shell the nuts for me - he only really got into when I handed him the meat tenderiser so that he could bash open the more reticent shells. I then cooked the shelled pistachios in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then spent more time than anticipated removing the skins. Sensing fiddliness, the spouse volunteered his skinning skills. The coriander seeds had to be roasted then ground together with the cardamon seeds (extracted from the pods) and mace; the garlic, ginger and spring onions had to be peeled and finely chopped; and the pistachio paste had to made from the nuts, water and chilli.
Then the easy part began. I fried the garlic, ginger and spring onions in butter (one of the best aromas in the world), then added the ground spices, and then the pistachio paste and stock. This mixture was left to simmer: it didn't look promising. A quick whizz with the stick blender and the addition of cream and chopped coriander leaves were the final magical steps. There wasn't a huge quantity - just about enough for three. It was delicious: creamy, spicy, more-ish. All three of us liked it. It is time-consuming so if I make it again I would make at least twice as much for a winter's day lunch. Gorgeous. Thank you, Roopa.
Minnie
I have yet to be disappointed by any of Roopa Gulati's recipes in The Soup Book and today's effort was no exception. It's been an erratic day weather-wise on this May bank holiday - heavy rain interspersed with lovely sunshine. We had most of the ingredients in the house: pistachio nuts, cardamon pods, mace, coriander seeds and leaves, garlic, spring onions, root ginger, garam masala, vegetable stock and cream. All I had to do was dash out between showers to buy a green chilli from Young Stephen.
This was not a soup to be hurried as there was a lot of preparation involved. I got the younger offspring to to shell the nuts for me - he only really got into when I handed him the meat tenderiser so that he could bash open the more reticent shells. I then cooked the shelled pistachios in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then spent more time than anticipated removing the skins. Sensing fiddliness, the spouse volunteered his skinning skills. The coriander seeds had to be roasted then ground together with the cardamon seeds (extracted from the pods) and mace; the garlic, ginger and spring onions had to be peeled and finely chopped; and the pistachio paste had to made from the nuts, water and chilli.
Then the easy part began. I fried the garlic, ginger and spring onions in butter (one of the best aromas in the world), then added the ground spices, and then the pistachio paste and stock. This mixture was left to simmer: it didn't look promising. A quick whizz with the stick blender and the addition of cream and chopped coriander leaves were the final magical steps. There wasn't a huge quantity - just about enough for three. It was delicious: creamy, spicy, more-ish. All three of us liked it. It is time-consuming so if I make it again I would make at least twice as much for a winter's day lunch. Gorgeous. Thank you, Roopa.
Minnie
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