Indian Spiced Carrot Soup

My garden produced a good crop of carrots this year, and it’s cooled down enough now that the idea of carrot soup was appealing. So I went looking for a recipe, and found one on epicurious.com for a soup with Indian spices. I like Indian food, and I didn’t want a recipe that was too sweet, so this sounded like a good idea.

Okay, so I made some changes to the spices. I’m out of curry powder, so used Garam Masala powder instead. I also used powdered ginger rather than fresh. Since I don’t have a spice mill or coffee grinder, I used ground coriander seeds and unground mustard seed. But I did use fresh limes. I know better than to mess with that.

The recipe’s intention, apparently, was that you should blend everything to a fine puree. It was getting late and I was in kind of a hurry, so I didn’t blend it that finely. I liked this; it gave an interesting texture to the soup.

As for the color – I grew purple carrots in my garden this year, and one or two of them made it into the soup. I was alarmed at first, when the cooking liquid turned an unappealing brown color (the purple compounds are water-soluble, so they leach out during cooking). But then when I added the lime juice, the acidity turned the soup reddish. The final result was a light tomato-y color. Definitely better than muddy brown. I wonder what it would look like if I used all purple carrots…

As for the flavor – it’s interesting, but I didn’t care for it. Some of the people who posted comments on the original website said they doubled the amounts of the spices. I’m not sure that would help. It’s not that the flavor was weak, just that I didn’t like it all that much. I used the juice of two fresh limes, and maybe that was a bit much.

So, I’ll continue searching for a good carrot soup recipe…

Verdict: Not bad, but I don't think I'll be making it again.

Indian Spiced Carrot Soup with Ginger
(source: www.epicurious.com)

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
5 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Plain yogurt (for garnish)

Grind coriander and mustard seeds in spice mill to fine powder. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add ground seeds and curry powder; stir 1 minute. Add ginger; stir 1 minute. Add next 3 ingredients. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 5 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if too thick. Stir in lime juice; season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before serving.

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with yogurt and serve.

Recycle: oil bottle, broth can, yogurt tub

Compost: ginger, onion, and carrot peels