Beetroot Shorba

Blogging Marathon # 38 , Week 3 Day : 2

Theme : Soups and Salads
Course : Starters & Appetizers 

My last dish for the Theme Soups and Salads is very hearty and healthy soup Beetroot Shorba aka Soup. This soup so yummy that even those who don't like the taste of beetroot shall enjoy and would ask for more, it is good way to feed your kids as they would relish this vibrant deep pink coloured soup without knowing that it is made from Beetroot.

As a kid even I dislike the beetroot but when I tasted this lovely soup at a restaurant started loving it and then used to make at home and now after many years am going to make for my friend Srivalli's Blogging Marathon. Thanks Srivalli for giving this opportunity to share one of my favorite soup recipe. As you know improvisation of any dish or twist to a dish takes to a new level and my twist to this classic recipe is grapes and chilli vinegar, yes you have read it correctly have added couple of black grapes to give that sweet and sour taste to the soup which made this soup so refreshing and took it whole new level of flavours.

Preparation time : 15 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves: 2

Difficulty Level : Easy

Ingredients :

• 2 medium beetroot
• 1 medium tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1 small potato / 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp jeera
• 8 -10 black pepper corns
• salt to taste
• 4 black seedless grapes
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chilli vinegar
• 2 cups of vegetable stock

For Garnish:

• Basil leaves or Mint leaves
• 2 tbsp curd / fresh cream

Method:

• Wash beetroot and tomatoes.
• Roughly chop onions, beetroot, tomato and potato. Cut grapes into halves.
  
• Heat butter and oil in pan add jeera and saute for a minute. Saute onion till slightly translucent for a min or two.
• Add in rest ingredients expect salt and saute for till vegetables gets caramelized.
• Add vegetable stock and cook till it is cooked.
  
• Allow it to cool. Blend the soup in mixer or with hand blender till smooth consistency.
• Pass the soup through a strainer, transfer to the pan.
• Add salt, vinegar and heat for a couple of minutes. Add water if the soup is too thick.
• Transfer into serving bowl and garnish with mint leaves and curd on top.

Notes:

• Wash the beetroot very nicely or else you might find traces of sand.
• If you want to make it quicker and healthy version just pressure cook the ingredients and skip oil and butter.
• Do not over boil the soup as it tends to loose the flavour and nutrients on prolonged boiling.
• Always taste the soup for seasoning.
• If using corn starch mix in 2 - 3 tbsp of water and add before boiling.
• If your curd is to thick add couple tsp of milk to make it thin and thus it would be easy to use fro garnish

Did you know :

• Beetroot helps to lower your blood pressure
• Boost your stamina
• The beetroot we eat now is Beta vulgaris, which evolved as a cultivated version of the sea beet, Beta maritima.
• The ancient Greeks offered beetroot to the god Apollo on silver platters at his temple at Delphi.
• The 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper said that beetroot juice is good for headaches and afflictions of the brain.
• Martin Chuzzlewit is the only novel by Charles Dickens that mentions beetroot.
• The sugar beet has been the official state historic vegetable of Utah since 2002.
• The ancient Romans considered beetroot to be an aphrodisiac.
• The Lupanare, the official brothel ofPompeii, had its walls decorated with pictures of beetroots.
• One of Alan Sugar’s first jobs at the age of 11 involved boiling beetroot for a local greengrocer.
• When American astronauts on Apollo 18 docked with Russians on Soyuz 19 in 1975, the Russians offered them traditional foods including beetroot and cabbage soup.
• The world’s biggest beetroot was grown in 2005 by Dutchman Piet de Goede weighing156lb 10oz

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post. Please take a minute to share your views and valuable comments.

Regards,

Briju Parthasarathy