Indian-Spiced Tomato Soup

Submitted by Busters friend

"Summer soups using garden bounty are just the best - especially when they are full of interesting flavors but not heavy with fats & starches that leave one feeling hot & heavy after consuming. This recipe strikes me as a delightful alternative to gazpacho & I plan to use robust & assertive DelMars & Chesapeakes & Old Brooks to make it. Zing, pop, wow - for a light but satisfying summer lunch or supper. From Sunset magazine. Allow at least an hour (up to a day) for the soup to chill & the flavors to marry."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 serrano chili, fresh green, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
• 1 onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (preferably sweet, WallaWalla, Vidalia)
• 1 English cucumber, rinsed and diced (1/8 in.)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 lb tomatoes, firm-ripe
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped fresh
• 1⁄2 cup mint leaf, chopped fresh
• 2 tablespoons ginger, grated fresh
• 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon salad oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (brown OK)
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds (optional)

directions

1. In 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. In a food processor, whirl garlic and chili until minced. Add onion and pulse until minced. Scrape into a large bowl and stir in cucumber and salt.
2. Cut an X in the bottom of each tomato and immerse in boiling water until peel begins curling back, about 30 seconds. Rinse under cold running water until cool. Set a strainer over bowl with onion mixture. Working over strainer, pull peels off tomatoes and cut out and discard cores. Gently squeeze juice and seeds out of tomatoes. Press seeds to extract juice; discard seeds. On a cutting board with a juice well, mince tomatoes; pour any juice that collects into strainer. Add minced tomatoes to bowl with onion mixture.
3. In a small bowl, mix tamarind concentrate with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir into tomato mixture, along with cilantro, mint, and ginger. In a 6- to 8-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat, stir ground cumin until fragrant, 2 minutes; add to soup. Cover and chill until cold, at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day.
4. Ladle soup into bowls; top each serving with about 1/4 cup yogurt. In a 1- to 2-quart nonstick pan that has a tight-fitting lid, combine oil, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and nigella seeds. Set over high heat and stir until spices begin to pop, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Cover and shake vigorously until popping begins to subside, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon hot seeds equally over soup.