About:

A dash of extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground spices makes this simple tomato and bottle gourd soup recipe oh-so special.

An excellent source of vitamins and minerals, tomatoes score points for healthy eating in this quick, very easy recipe for fresh tomato soup.

Health benefits:

Bottle gourd, sometimes called the white-flowered or calabash gourd, is an ancient gourd, with a delicate nutty flavor. Bottle gourd is believed to help the liver function in a balanced fashion. It reduces fatigue and keeps you fresh, especially during summer. It helps fight constipation, because of its fiber and low fat content, Ayurveda highly recommends this food for diabetic patients and young children.

Serves-2-3
Preparation time-15 minutes
Cooking time-35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

• Grated bottle gourd/doodhi-1cup
• Tomatoes-3medium
• Garlic-3cloves
• Pepper-6-7corns
• Cumin seeds-1tsp
• Lemon juice-to taste
• Salt- to taste
• Olive oil-2tsp
• Vegetable stock/water-2cups
• Coriander stems-2-3
• Chopped coriander-1tbsp

Procedure:

• Dry roast cumin seeds, pepper corns, garlic cloves in a sauce pan on a medium high flame for 2-3 minutes and allow it to cool down.
• Blanch tomatoes peel the skin, combine blanched tomatoes, roasted pepper corns, cumin seeds, garlic, coriander stems in a food processor/blender and blend to smooth puree by adding some water if required while blending.
• Heat oil in the sauce pan add grated bottle gourd and saute for 5-6minutes/until soft and tender.
• Add ground puree and allow it to cook on a medium high flame for 5-7minutes.
• Then add stock/water, salt and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
• Turn off the flame drizzle some lemon juice mix well.

Note:

• Coconut milk/cream can be included for creamy texture.