While I do enjoy the monsoon, it does put a bit of a damper on getting out and about. Even prowling around the market for fresh veggies seems an effort. So when the mood to cook hit and rains didn’t abate, decided to make a soup with whatever was handy in the kitchen.

Must say, the results were so yummy, just had to share!

Key ingredient is the handy every day item common to Indian kitchens – a pressure cooker. In Canada, we had a huge old one that would come out annually when fresh corn on the cob was in season and that was about it. However since I started cooking deshi khanna, can’t survive without one!

This ‘monsoon soup’ is super simple to make, hearty and tasty. It’s a variation on a recipe shared by a friend here in Mumbai (naturally while we eating dinner!). She calls this her healthy easy cook comfort food and you can put just about any vegetable in, experiment with different beans, lentils, barley, etc.

Here is what I made today:

Most of the soup was already gobbled up before this pic was taken!

2-3 small potatoes
1 carrot
About 6 – 8 beans
1 drumstick
1 onion
1/3 cup of lentil (in this case masoor dal)
Dill weed (or any herb handy)
Veggie broth cube, dissolved in a small cup of warm water
Lots of ground black pepper
Pinch or two of salt
Italian seasoning (left over packet from the last time we ordered pizza!)

Everything goes into a pressure cooker:
– Peel & chop the onion, potatoes and carrots into chunky cubes
– After removing the ends of the beans, cut into small diagonal bits
– For the drumstick, I cut it into 4 inch sticks – easy then to pick up and suck out all its goodness before discarding the outer shell
– Use scissors to ‘chop’ the dill weed
– Add the broth, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt

Pressure cook for about 15-20 mins and then yum!

PS I accompanied it with a mixed green salad with pomegranate seeds and crunchy whole-wheat garlic bread

Bon appetite!