← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Bay leaves
• 2 cm piece cinnamon stick
• 2 Cloves
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 cm piece Ginger, chopped
• 1 tbsp gram flour (besan)
• 750 g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped (optional)
• ¼ tsp Ground turmeric
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ½ tsp Ground coriander
• 750 ml Water
• ½ tsp Black pepper, coarsely crushed
• 1 tsp Sugar
• ¾ tsp salt, or to taste
• 2 tbsp Coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin and let them sizzle for 30 seconds.
2. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 min until soft. Stir in the gram flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring, until it smells nutty.
3. Add the tomatoes, carrot, turmeric, chilli and ground coriander. Cook for 5 min until the tomatoes start to break down, then pour in the water and simmer for 12–15 min.
4. Fish out the whole spices, blend the soup until smooth and strain it through a sieve back into the pan for a silky finish.
5. Season with the pepper, sugar and salt and simmer for 2 min. Serve piping hot, scattered with coriander.

Tips

• Shorba should be thin and sippable rather than thick like a cream soup; add a little more hot water if needed.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hebbar's Kitchen Archana's Kitchen