soup dinners : cabbage and peas soup with seasonal herbs



Cabbage soup is that perfect one pot meal that I sometimes cook when I want a light meal but loads of vegetables too. One of the soup meals that brings us back to discipline after a bout of festive eating or travel eating. This cabbage and peas soup has always been a comforting warming soup for me as I love the combination of cabbage and peas, a patta-gobhi matar ki subzi (cabbage and peas dry curry) has been a childhood favourite. But this cabbage and peas soup has completely different flavours that the curry I mentioned.

This cabbage soup is my own recipe and I had once made it when I wanted a creamy cabbage soup with the sweetness of the fresh peas in season, a soup to be eaten actually,bits of cabbage and celery and whole peas cooked to perfection. I had fresh aromatic Celery growing in my garden and this soup used it beautifully. Later I tried this cabbage and peas soup with fresh coriander leaves (with stems) and some green garlic shoots too and this soup did not disappoint me. So any herbs of choice can be used in this soup but avoid any dry herbs and fresh seasonal herbs add rich base to this cabbage based soup.

You can use any kind of cabbage for this soup or a mix of cabbages too. The soups tastes great with bok choy as well.


ingredients...
(3-4 meal servings depending on how you serve it)
cabbage 1/2 of one medium sized head (4-5 cups packed)
celery two sticks (1/2 cup chopped)
(or use a mix of coriander greens and green garlic shoots)
fresh green peas 1.5 cup ( tender fresh green peas will be better )
rolled oats 2 tbsp
one small onion or 2 bulbs of spring onions
green chillies 2 nos.
cumin powder 1 tsp
salt and pepper to taste
sugar 1 tsp
ghee (or any oil of your choice) 1 tsp
white butter or cream 2 tsp to serve

preparation....

Chop the cabbage, celery and onions finely . I usually chop the onions, green chillies and celery sticks together in my chopper attachment of hand blender. Or mince the cabbage and other vegetables and herbs really fine.


Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Throw in the chopped onion, celery and green chilly mix. The spring onion, green garlic shoots and coriander stems will be added instead of these if using those.

Stir fry on very low flame as there is less oil and it may stick to the pan.

Add the green peas, cumin powder, salt, pepper and the sugar, stir fry for a while, add the celery or coriander leaves (keeping a few for garnish if you wish) and cook covered till the peas are cooked. Add a spoonful or two of water if needed. I did not need as the peas were fresh and tender. Use boiled peas if using frozen.

Add the chopped cabbage, stir fry for a while till the cabbage collapses a bit. Add water or stock (I usually add water), add the oats and let it come to a gentle boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes till the soup looks creamy in texture due to cooked oats.

Pour into soup bowls and serve right away, topped with some fresh cream or white butter. With home made white butter or fresh cream this soup tastes so good you might forget you are eating a soup made with cabbage.

The cabbage becomes soft and mushy and still retains the freshness as it is not cooked too much. The peas are sweet and tender and make a nice mouthful together. This is one of the few soups both of us love to have apart from the tomato based and sweet corn n basil soups.


See how yummy it is in every spoonful. You could blend the soup smooth if you like creamy kinda soups. I am always for the chunkier soups so this is perfect for me.


Cheers to the warmth of winter nights.....


Comments

  1. YUMMY AND MOUTHWATERING SOUP LOVELY PIC

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  2. Looks awesome.. great one from you as always..

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  3. Dear Sangeeta
    Very nice soup and very new for me. I am off most of the vegetables , so will take some time before I make it.
    Have a nice day.

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  4. so healthy and yummy... u have a wonderful blog...
    Thanks a lot for stopping by my blog and ur encouragement :)

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  5. Great soup, perfect for brrrr evenings.

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  6. Made this for dinner!! Very Filling, loved the kick of pepper!!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Glad you liked it Priya. And thanks for the feedback, it always warms me up :-)

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