North African Spiced Soup

This soup recipe I adapted from the book '400 Best Ever Soups' by Anne Sheasby I bought at Borders for a really really cheap price (USD 4.99, can you believe that?!). The attractive cover, glossy pictures  and tons of vegetarian recipes made this book a great find. I chose to make this North African soup because it was just prefect to use the groceries leftover in my kitchen. You know..... what can you make with one carrot, one potato, one celery? kinda evening. This soup turned out very tasty and the recipe is definitely a keeper.

Place 5 cups of vegetable stock in a large pot on medium heat.

Add 2 chopped onions. Bring to boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, make into a paste with 1 tbsp water- 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cumin powder (my addition), 1 tsp chilli/cayenne powder. Add to the pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 mins.

Now add 2 diced floury potatoes, 2 diced carrots, 2 diced celery, 1 cup of chick peas and 12 oz of canned diced tomatoes (or 2 large fresh diced tomatoes). Also add a few strands of saffron.

Season with salt and if required pepper.

Bring to boil and simmer for 20 mins. * I let my soup simmer on low heat for a good hour from start to finish, slow cooking makes it very tasty*

This last step is not a part of the recipe in the book. But this is what I did as I prefer thick but not chunky soup. I transferred half of the broth along with the veggies and beans into a blender and pureed it. If you have an immersion blender, feel free to use it.

Garnish with cilantro.  Serve hot.

Variations : You could add almost any vegetable or protein (tofu, kidney beans etc) in here. You could serve it clear or blend it to be a thick soup.

Sangeetha
I googled, I saw, I cooked