Whey Water Soups

I'd briefly used another platform for food blogging but it let me down and I shall be transferring posts from there on Khana Banana. I chose to post this one first as I recently made a very tasty soup. And the same recipe almost holds good. Only this time I added a small handful of coriander seeds and that made it very delightful!

Carrot-Pumpkin Whey Water Soup

Whey Tomato-Carrot Soup

INGREDIENTS

1/2 litre of whey, leftover from making paneer1 tablespoon homemade butter (any butter will do. It's just that I tend to make mine at home)

1 carrot, chopped
3 tomatoes, with slits cut into them1 or 2 onions, chopped coarsely6 cloves garlic1 or 2 green chilliesA small bunch of cilantro
1 bay leaf or tejpatta
3-4 cloves, optional
Oil for deep frying
Salt and pepper to taste

STEPS

1. Here's what you'll basically need

I've not used flour, as the soup was thick enough

2. Coarsely chop the onions and carrots. Slit the green chillies so they don't explode on heating. Peel the garlic cloves

You can avoid the chillies if hotness is not your cup of tea

3. Gently heat the butter. I've used homemade butter. You can even use store bought butter or olive oil or any other cooking oil that you prefer

Making butter at home is tedious but rewarding

4. Sweat the onions, garlic, chillies, carrots and bay leaf or tejpatta 

Keep the fire fairly low so nothing burns

5. Add the tomatoes 

I've made slits on them, in case I decided to blanch and peel them

6. Add the cilantro 

Folks add coriander seeds too. I didn't as we use too much in our daily cooking

7. Pressure cook for one whistle or boil in whey. I used a pressure cooker, adding part of the whey with the sauteed vegetables

8. Heat oil 

Use a nice, wide, thick bottomed Kadai/wok (pan)

9. Meanwhile chop some stale bread into cubes 

There are many ways to make croutons interesting and to avoid deep frying

10. Deep fry till golden and drain 

I left them on my tawa which I use for draining fried stuff. It conditions the tawa so that one can fry eggs or make dosas more easily

11. Blend the cooled vegetables 

You could strain it after blending if you want to be fancy

12. Add the rest of the whey and give it a boil, stirring continuously 

Keep the fire low and stir so that the whey does not curdle

10. To serve, garnish with cilantro (I used onion leaves from my garden), sprinkle some coarsely ground black pepper and keep a lime half handy for those who crave a tang 

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There's nothing quite like soup on certain days, cold days or hot ones, times when you're tired or sick or just for the heck of it

Very filling!

Notes:

Whey is high in protein which makes this soup very rich and substantial.

I'm a no frills homebody cook and can't find the time to be fancy but you can make this soup as lah di dah as you please by straining out the pulp after pressure cooking. That would be very tedious and you'd need some muslin cloth or such.

Then, you can thicken it by gently sauteing about a tablespoon of plain flour in a dab of butter or olive or any other oil. Just for a minute or two. Switch off the fire and slowly pour in about half a cup of milk, stirring continuously. This will give you a creamy soup.

For further indulgence, garnish with a swirl of beaten cream. Use malai if handy.