Blogging and especially food blogging pave a way for many interesting and amusing suggestions and requests from the readers.When i was a novice(no i haven’t  graduated yet….it’s just that i am less novice now)to internet and blogging,i started with compiling recipes sans any pics.Then one fine day i got a comment from one reader ,that it would be great if i try to post some pictures.Hmmm..i gave it a second thought,then third,then fourth….but was unable to decide how and which way to proceed.Then finally with help of my hubby and some sweet bloggers  around, i started posting pics. Things were moving smoothly when over a casual talk with SK (my bro-in-law)i came to know about the pathetic food situation at the place where he resides currently.With no pampering mother,sis-in-laws and cheap- on- pocket- real- Indian- food around,things were surely bad for him.I wondered why he can’t cook his food,when there are recipes of almost all of his favourite food on my blog.

After lots of  Formal systematic questioning (interrogation ) ,i got an answer that he is better at following instructions if  he actually views how the food is cooked or at least the step by step pics are provided . Why? coz the terms like salt as per taste, or cook till done ,sounds so vague to the person who is new to all this lingo

Hmmmm….so what i did? I clicked pics at every important stage of cooking(like many wonderful bloggers do) and noted exact measurements of everything that went into making this wonderful Tomato soup,the recipe of which is very close to of Mansi’s Restaurant style tomato soup.

I tried to be as precised as possible(but alas i still couldn’t provide EXACCCCT measurement of salt). Anyways here we go to make this delicious soup

Ingredients

• Tomatoes (red and ripe) 6-8 ( I used 7 medium sized as seen in pic)
• Onion 1 big size or 1 and half medium sized
• 3 cloves (laung)
• 3 whole black pepper(or less than 1/4 small tsp powdered black pepper)
• 1 bay leaf (tejpatta)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 inch of dalchini or even less(optional if you don’t have it)
• 1-2 tsp of butter(depends upon your preference)more the butter,more the flavor and more the calories
• Salt as per taste
• Red chilly powder less than 1/4 tspn(or adjust as per your taste but always add red chilly powder  after whole soup is ready)
• Water 1 and half+ 2 glass (1 1/2 for boiling tomatoes and 2 glass after straining soup)
• Sugar 1 and half tsp (taste and adjust more or less)

Method:

• Wash tomatoes, peel garlic and peel and chop onions and set aside cloves,peppers,tejpata
• Now in a huge pot or pan(if making more than 3 bowls of soup) or in pressure cooker if making less quantity, add butter and let it melt
• Add tejpatta,cloves,black pepper and chopped onion along with cloves of garlic and saute it just for a minute(do not brown it,just pinkish as in pic)

• Add chopped tomatoes

• Add water just above the level of tomatoes(approximately 1 and half glass)

• Cover the lid and let it boil for at least 25 minutes,or if using pressure cooker, close the lid and when first whistle is heard,put it on low flame for about 6-8 minutes
• It will look mushy and you can see the skin of tomatoes getting separated

• Now let it cool ,and then grind it(DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE TEJPATTA BEFORE GRINDING AND IF YOUR BLENDER IS NOT STURDY ONE YOU CAN REMOVE LAUNG,DALCHINI AND BlACK PEPPER TOO BEFORE GRINDING) till smooth paste like consistency is obtained
• Strain it in soup strainer or colander ,directly above the pan or cooker in which you will cook,and rub it and keep squeezing with spoon or palm of your hand since the paste is thick,so this is compulsory,if your soup strainer has thin mesh like the one i have



• Now add approx. 2 glasses of water and let it boil again for about 8 -10 minutes,when you get the desired consistency ,add the salt ,red chilly powder and sugar and mix it well till sugar dissolves.If you find it too thick and still raw smelling,then add half glass of water and let it simmer for some more time

• Keep tasting and seasoning it till u get the right balance of taste.
• You can have it with fried bread pieces or garlic bread or simply roasted bread(butter it first and roast it in MW or on griddle)

And here is how it looked when Sk recreated the same in his Kitchen .Drum rolls plssssss

I must say,Sk u did an splendid job !

Ps:

• IF you find the procedure lengthy, you can simply add all the ingredients except butter,salt and red chilly pwdr, in pressure cooker,add water above the level of tomatoes and close the lid,cook it as told, cool, grind, and after straining, melt butter in pan and add strained soup,mix well for few seconds and then add water and cook for 10 minutes
• If the soup get spicier than what you expect,add some fresh cream(2 tspn) or milk (1/2 cup) and some more sugar if soup gets more diluted ,keep it for boiling for some more time,or add 1-2 spoon of cornflour in half cup water and mix it and add this to boiling soup and let it simmer for about 2 minutes

Since i made this specially for Sk,so obviously it goes to our Just For You event

And this is my humble entry for the magnificent Click January~Red of Jugalbandi