There used to be a restaurant in San Diego called Antique Thai. We loved to go there. We would finish weekend chores, shopping and classes and head straight to Antique Thai for lunch on almost every Sunday. My son, a toddler then had a thing with restaurants. He did not like restaurants that were dark and dimly lit(ie in other words, cozy and romantic). So we would go to restaurants that were bright with the sun light. Antique Thai was bright and fit our ergonomic standards. The food was simple but very delicious. This soup came in as a part of their lunch set menu and I loved it so much. Its a simple clear soup with veggies and after a lot of tries, I have come to like this version of mine that comes as close to the original. Here it is.
We will make an aromatic broth with a trio of absolutely essential thai ingredients. We will need galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.
The ingredients for the broth needs a little prep. Crush and chop the galangal roughly. Set aside. Lemon grass needs to be crushed a little to extract the flavors from it. Take the lemon grass stalk and cut into two inch pieces. Crush each of the piece using the back of a knife or a mallet or any heavy object. Next comes the kaffir lime leaves. They need to be bruised a little. Just tear the lime leaves and try crushing them gently in the palm. The ingredients for the broth are ready.
I like to make the broth in a pressure cooker. I used my 3 liter pressure cooker today. Add in the galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves along with two cups of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. It took about 5 minutes in the cooker. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. The kitchen would smell thai-licious now.
Strain the broth and set aside. The Thai elixir is ready!
To this strained broth add a veggie stock cube, steamed veggies and a little salt. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the Tofu.
Serve hot!
- For the broth
- 2 inch piece Galangal
- 2 stalks Lemon Grass
- 10 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 2 Cups Water ( 500 ml)
- Veggies
- 1/2 cup diced steamed carrot
- 1/2 cup steamed green peas
- 1 cup Tofu, diced
- Other Ingredients
- 1 Veggie stock cube
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Crush and roughly chop the ingredients for the broth.
- Pressure cook the broth ingredients in 2 cups of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. Strain the broth and set aside.
- To this strained broth add a stock cube, steamed veggies and a little salt. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the Tofu.
- Serve hot!
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thai
- For the broth
- 2 inch piece Galangal
- 2 stalks Lemon Grass
- 10 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 2 Cups Water ( 500 ml)
- Veggies
- 1/2 cup diced steamed carrot
- 1/2 cup steamed green peas
- 1 cup Tofu, diced
- Other Ingredients
- 1 Veggie stock cube
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Crush and roughly chop the ingredients for the broth.
- Pressure cook the broth ingredients in 2 cups of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. Strain the broth and set aside.
- To this strained broth add a stock cube, steamed veggies and a little salt. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the Tofu.
- Serve hot!
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thai
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/thai-clear-soup-tofu/
Beetroot Chapati – Here is a veggie variation from the traditional chapati . Beetroot Chapati is very colorful and tasty. Beetroot is ground and added to the flour and allowed to rest for sometime and made into chapatis. Here is how to do it.
Take a medium sized beetroot, peel and chop them roughly. Beetroot is such a hearty and earthy vegetable. Whenever I peel beets, I smell the scent of rain on dry earth – petrichor or மண் வாசனை – manvasanai as we call it in Tamil. It just lightens up my mood. Grind the chopped beetroot with half a cup of water to a fine paste. If there are bits and pieces of beetroot, it will become a mess while rolling the dough later on. So take time and make a fine puree of beets. Set aside.
Take a bowl and add in the whole wheat flour / atta. I used 2 cups of wheat flour today. Add in the salt, cracked pepper and a teaspoon of butter. Butter makes the chapati very soft. Add in the beet puree. Mix well and knead for a couple of minutes to form a cohesive dough. If the dough is very wet, add in a bit more flour and mix well.
Apply a teaspoon of oil on the surface and spread it on the surface. The oil will keep the dough from drying out.
Cover the dough with a lid. Allow the dough to rest for a couple of hours. Longer the better. If resting longer than 2 hours, rest in the refrigerator. The dough works very well if rested over nite. Just take the dough 30 minutes in advance from the refrigerator before moving on. Divide the dough into lime size balls. Set an iron pan on medium high heat. Let it become hot. Take a dough ball, flatten a little and generously dust it with flour.
Roll the dough into a 3-4 inch round on a flat smooth surface using a rolling pin. Dust more flour if the dough is sticking to the rolling pin.
Place the chapati on the hot griddle. Let it cook for 10-15 seconds until bubbles start to form on top. Flip the chapati and cook for 30 seconds more.
Flip one more time and press on top. Chapati should beautifully fluff up.
The last flip can be done on fire to make it into phulkas. If making phulkas, just flip on direct flame and it will fluff up.
I made a video on how to cook chapatis, flipping the chapatis etc… See this video for reference. The same 2 flip principle works for this beet chapati too!
Storing chapatis Line a bowl with cotton towel. Place the cooked chapati on the bowl and cover with a lid. Chapati will stay beautifully soft for a long time. The steam from the hot chapatis provide a moist environment that keeps them really soft without drying out. The lid may sweat with moist steam. Try to wipe them off once in a while when transferring the cooked chapatis from the hot pan to the bowl.
Enjoy! This recipe for beetroot chapati goes well with kurma. I served this recipe with my 10 minute no fry – no saute veg kurma.
- 1 medium sized beetroot
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups whole wheat flour / Atta
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour / Atta for dusting
- Take a medium sized beetroot, peel and chop them roughly. Grind the chopped beetroot with half a cup of water to a fine paste.
- Take a bowl and add in the whole wheat flour / atta. Add in the salt, cracked pepper and a teaspoon of butter. Add in the beet puree. Mix well and knead for a couple of minutes to form a cohesive dough.
- Apply a teaspoon of oil on the surface and spread it on the surface.
- Cover the dough with a lid. Allow the dough to rest for a couple of hours or over nite.
- Divide the dough into lime size balls. Set an iron pan on medium high heat. Let it become hot.
- Roll the dough into a 3-4 inch round on a flat smooth surface using a rolling pin.
- Place the chapati on the hot griddle. Let it cook for 10-15 seconds until bubbles start to form on top. Flip the chapati and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Flip one more time and press on top. Chapati should beautifully fluff up.
Notes
Storing chapatis Line a bowl with cotton towel. Place the cooked chapati on the bowl and cover with a lid. Chapati will stay beautifully soft for a long time. The steam from the hot chapatis provide a moist environment that keeps them really soft without drying out. The lid may sweat with moist steam. Try to wipe them off once in a while when transferring the cooked chapatis from the hot pan to the bowl.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: bread
- Cuisine: indian
