Tomato Bisque Soup, my way..

It was a chilling winter evening and I didn't felt like cooking anything at home, but was really feeling like eating some thing hot and spicy. Abhi generally comes back home at around 6:00-6:30 and needs a hot cup of Masala Chai and something to munch, as soon as he arrives...That day it was only 5:00 in the evening, I called him and said, "can you bring something from Wendy's Carry-out??" He was a little surprised to hear that, because its always like he wanna buy stuff from outside bring it home and eat, while relaxing in the sofa and watching 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and I am the opposite of him. The moment he comes back home, I keep myself ready, so that we can go and eat out, no matter how cold it is outside.

In a rush to come back home, he forgot to bring food from Wendy's. He was trying to make it up by giving me so many different options, but...I was very upset. He knows I love soups and won't refuse a nice bowl of soup. We have a 'W.G. Grinders' near to our home, we went there had a nice 'spicy and toasty chicken sub' with a bowl of soup, which I never had before. It was looking like Indian tomato soup and was very yummy! I had the whole bowl.. :)

The other day, some of our friends were coming for dinner and I thought why not to try that soup. I searched a lot of recipes online and finally I made it. It was a big hit among our friends and specially the kids. So, here is my version of Tomato bisque soup, which is a fusion of Indian and Italian flavours...

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (8-10, Large, Red and Juicy)

Carrot (1, Sliced)

Red Bell-Pepper (1/2, Chopped)

Red Onion (1 Large, Finely chopped)

Heavy Whipping Cream (1/4 Cup)

Ginger (2 Tsp, Grated)

Garlic (4-6 Cloves, Grated)

Chicken/Vegetable broth (4 cups)

Dried Methi leaves (1 Tsp)

Mixture of Italian herbs and spices (1 Tsp)

Sugar (2 Tsp)

Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Olive Oil (1 Tbsp)

Red Food color (10 Drops)

Cream (2 Tbsp, for garnishing)

Green Onion (2, Finely chopped, for garnishing)

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, boil all the vegetables, with a little salt and Dried Methi leaves and italian spices along with half of each onion, ginger and garlic in chicken/vegetable broth. After a whistle, put off the gas and let it cook in pressure.
2. Now open the pressure cooker lid and let it cool completely. Then puree it in a blender. Strain and Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the remaining onions, ginger and garlic until golden brown.
4. Now add salt and pepper along with sugar. Cook for 30 seconds.
5. Add the pureed vegetables along with food color and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Put of the gas and add heavy whipping cream.
7. Reheat on low flame and serve garnished with chopped green onions and cream along with some fresh croutons.

Note: Add Beetroot for color instead of food color, it will act as a natural coloring agent. To reduce the calories even more, you can add 1/2 cup of whole milk instead of 1/4 cup of cream, but then you have to cook it more to bring it to a right consistensy.