marsha-tbay
Well-known member
Thai-flavoured Sweet Potato Soup
1 1/2 pounds pink-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (regular
sweet potatoes work fine)
6 cups rich vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon yellow asafetida powder
13 fluid ounces coconut milk (about 1 can. Use the lite)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons red curry paste (recipe follows)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup coriander leaves for garnish
Boil the sweet potatoes in lightly salted for about 20 minutes, or
until tender. Remove the sweet potatoes from their cooking water, set
the cooking water aside, and rinse and dry the saucepan.
Process the sweet potatoes in a food processor or blender with
sufficient rich vegetable stock to make a smooth puree.
Warm the oil in the saucepan over moderate heat, sprinkle in the
yellow asafetida powder and saute briefly.
Pour in the sweet potato puree. Add the rest of the rich vegetable
stock, the coconut milk, lime juice, red curry paste, salt and pepper.
If the soup is too thick, add some reserved cooking liquid. Warm
through until almost boiling.
Serve: ladle the soup into warm soup bowls and serve hot with a
garnish of fresh coriander leaves.
Red Curry Paste
7 dried red chilies
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons chopped galangal
2 teaspoons chopped lemongrass
1 tablespoon kaffir lime peel
1 teaspoon yellow asafetida powder
1 teaspoon salt
Pound together the dried chilies and coriander seeds in a stone mortar
until completely pulverised.
Add the galangal, grind to a paste, then add and grind the lemongrass,
then the kaffir lime peel, asafetida and salt. Use the required
quantity in the soup, and refrigerate the remainder until needed.
Source: "Vegetarian World Food" by Kurma Dasa, Chakra Press
Formatted by Chupa Babi in MC: 03.11.07
KurmaNote: Creamy coconut milk, tart lime juice, and spicy red curry
paste blend beautifully with the mildness of the sweet potatoes. The
bold colour of pink fleshed sweet potatoes round out the sensory
experience.
The aromatic resin from the root of the giant fennel, Ferula
asafoetida. Asafetida, also known as hing, is extracted from the stems
of these giant perennial plants that grow wild in Central Asia,
especially Northern Iran and Afghanistan. In the spring, when the
plant is about to bloom, the stems and roots are cut. Milky resin
exudes from the cut surface and is scraped off. The gummy resin is sun-
dried into a solid mass that is then sold in solid, wax-like pieces.
Most raw asafetida is sent to India for further processing and sale,
mostly in the convenient powdered form.
Asafetida has been held in great esteem among indigenous medicines
from the earliest times in India. It is highly reputed as a drug to
expel wind from the stomach and to counteract spasmodic disorders.
Asafetida is also a digestive agent and is used, among other things,
for alleviating toothache and as an antidote for opium.
In the days of Moghul aristocracy in India, the court singers of Agra
and Delhi would wake before dawn and eat a spoonful of asafetida with
butter to enhance their singing voice before practicing on the banks
of the Yamuna river.
Asafetida is also excellent for settling flatulence and is prescribed
by Indian herbalists for respiratory problems like whooping cough and
asthma.
Due to the presence of sulphur compounds, raw asafetida has a
distinctive pungent aroma. To cook with asafetida, small quantities of
the powdered form are sauteed in a little slightly hot oil or ghee,
before adding to a variety of savoury dishes, adding a delicious
flavour reminiscent of a mixture of shallots and garlic.
Kurma always uses the mild yellow asafetida powder and not the grey
variety. All Kurma's recipes calling for asafetida were tested using
this yellow variety. If using other types, reduce the quantity to
between a quarter and a half of the suggested amount. Asafetida is
available at Indian grocers and specialty stores.
offered by Chupababy-gourmetgardenofspicyveg
1 1/2 pounds pink-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (regular
sweet potatoes work fine)
6 cups rich vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon yellow asafetida powder
13 fluid ounces coconut milk (about 1 can. Use the lite)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons red curry paste (recipe follows)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup coriander leaves for garnish
Boil the sweet potatoes in lightly salted for about 20 minutes, or
until tender. Remove the sweet potatoes from their cooking water, set
the cooking water aside, and rinse and dry the saucepan.
Process the sweet potatoes in a food processor or blender with
sufficient rich vegetable stock to make a smooth puree.
Warm the oil in the saucepan over moderate heat, sprinkle in the
yellow asafetida powder and saute briefly.
Pour in the sweet potato puree. Add the rest of the rich vegetable
stock, the coconut milk, lime juice, red curry paste, salt and pepper.
If the soup is too thick, add some reserved cooking liquid. Warm
through until almost boiling.
Serve: ladle the soup into warm soup bowls and serve hot with a
garnish of fresh coriander leaves.
Red Curry Paste
7 dried red chilies
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons chopped galangal
2 teaspoons chopped lemongrass
1 tablespoon kaffir lime peel
1 teaspoon yellow asafetida powder
1 teaspoon salt
Pound together the dried chilies and coriander seeds in a stone mortar
until completely pulverised.
Add the galangal, grind to a paste, then add and grind the lemongrass,
then the kaffir lime peel, asafetida and salt. Use the required
quantity in the soup, and refrigerate the remainder until needed.
Source: "Vegetarian World Food" by Kurma Dasa, Chakra Press
Formatted by Chupa Babi in MC: 03.11.07
KurmaNote: Creamy coconut milk, tart lime juice, and spicy red curry
paste blend beautifully with the mildness of the sweet potatoes. The
bold colour of pink fleshed sweet potatoes round out the sensory
experience.
The aromatic resin from the root of the giant fennel, Ferula
asafoetida. Asafetida, also known as hing, is extracted from the stems
of these giant perennial plants that grow wild in Central Asia,
especially Northern Iran and Afghanistan. In the spring, when the
plant is about to bloom, the stems and roots are cut. Milky resin
exudes from the cut surface and is scraped off. The gummy resin is sun-
dried into a solid mass that is then sold in solid, wax-like pieces.
Most raw asafetida is sent to India for further processing and sale,
mostly in the convenient powdered form.
Asafetida has been held in great esteem among indigenous medicines
from the earliest times in India. It is highly reputed as a drug to
expel wind from the stomach and to counteract spasmodic disorders.
Asafetida is also a digestive agent and is used, among other things,
for alleviating toothache and as an antidote for opium.
In the days of Moghul aristocracy in India, the court singers of Agra
and Delhi would wake before dawn and eat a spoonful of asafetida with
butter to enhance their singing voice before practicing on the banks
of the Yamuna river.
Asafetida is also excellent for settling flatulence and is prescribed
by Indian herbalists for respiratory problems like whooping cough and
asthma.
Due to the presence of sulphur compounds, raw asafetida has a
distinctive pungent aroma. To cook with asafetida, small quantities of
the powdered form are sauteed in a little slightly hot oil or ghee,
before adding to a variety of savoury dishes, adding a delicious
flavour reminiscent of a mixture of shallots and garlic.
Kurma always uses the mild yellow asafetida powder and not the grey
variety. All Kurma's recipes calling for asafetida were tested using
this yellow variety. If using other types, reduce the quantity to
between a quarter and a half of the suggested amount. Asafetida is
available at Indian grocers and specialty stores.
offered by Chupababy-gourmetgardenofspicyveg