Curried Tomato Soup with Hard-Boiled Eggs

Curried Tomato Soup with Hard-Boiled Eggs

My friend Joanne at Eats Well With Others is the host for this week’s The Food Matters Project. Leave it to her to choose an interesting recipe. Curried Tomato Soup with Hard-Boiled Eggs is a delightful soup that offers a balance of coolness and heat, with a rough yet creamy texture. It’s slightly exotic, but also familiar echoes.

According to Mark Bittman, the recipe developer, it’s based on a spicy Indian tomato sauce called makhani, often used for braising eggs. The difference is that he adds lots of vegetables and a bit of coconut milk. And by the way, this soup is full of great anti-oxidants! My family and friends enjoyed this soup very much yesterday. Next time I make it another hot chili may find its way into the pot.

Servings: 4 to 6

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 1-3/4 quarts

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced fresh hot chili (I used a Serrano chili)

1-1/2 tablespoons curry powder (the original recipe calls for 2 T.)

1 teaspoon cumin

Pinch organic cane sugar

2 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, chopped

Salt and black pepper

3 cups vegetable stock, or water

1 cup coconut milk

3 cups chopped tomatoes, chopped (canned are fine: chopped, and including juice)

1 small cauliflower, cored and roughly chopped

4 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped

¼ cup cilantro leaves, for garnish

Procedure:

1) Put the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, cumin, and sugar. Cook and stir until the spices become fragrant, a minute or 2 more.

2) Add the potatoes and carrot and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for a minute or 2, than add the vegetable stock, coconut milk, and tomatoes with their liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the mixture bubbles gently. Cook, stirring once in a while, until the potatoes and carrots a fairly soft, 15 to 20 minutes.

3) Add the cauliflower and adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cook until all the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes more.  (The soup can be made up to this point in advance and refrigerated for several days or frozen for months; gently reheat before proceeding.) Serve garnished with hard-boiled egg and cilantro.

Drop by Joanne’s page to see other foodies variations of the recipes; and see The Food Matter’s Project for the weekly schedule.