I am a soup girl for dinner and you all know that. I love, love, love Thai soups as they are so comforting. The aromas and the fragrance of the soup makes it perfect for winding up after a long day. Thai soups are ambrosial. The distinct flavor that comes from the citrusy ingredients are to die for. The traditional Tom Kha Gai is a soup made with galangal, coconut milk and chicken. We will be doing a veggie version today. Tom Kha Veggie soup with rice makes it a complete meal and will make your dinner a dynamite.
We will be making a very flavorful broth for the soup. Tom Kha literally means galangal soup. So the main flavoring ingredient in the recipe is galangal. Galangal looks like ginger but it has more woody and citrusy notes to it. There aren’t any substitutes that will come close to this ingredient. The other ingredients we will need for the broth are lemon grass and Kaffir lime leaves. Kaffir lime leaves have a very distinctive aroma. The fragrance of each of this ingredient is so unique to Thai food.
First, we will make a broth. The ingredients for the broth needs a little prep. Peel the skin of the galangal and chop them 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 a cup 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.
Remove the cooked ingredients using a tong or strain in a colander. Galangal and lemon grass are very hard and its usually not eaten. Once strained, the aromatic broth for the soup is ready.
Add in the veggies and salt to the strained broth and cook in the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. It took about 5 minutes in the cooker. Remove from heat and manually remove the the pressure using a spoon or a fork.
Add in the coconut milk, spring onion, coriander leaves and simmer for a minute. Coconut milk should not be boiled for a long time. Just a mere simmer is enough. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves and kaffir lime leaves.
Serve hot as a soup or as a side dish with rice.
For the broth
- 2 inch piece Galangal
- 2 stalks Lemon Grass
- 6 - 7 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 1 Cup Water ( 250 ml)
Veggies
- Half a Red Capsicum, diced
- Half a Greed Capsicum, diced
- 5 Thai Red Chillies, chopped
- 5 Spring Onions, chopped, white bottom part only
- 1 cup Cabbage, chopped
- 1 big Carrot, chopped
Other Ingredients
- 150 ml Canned Coconut Milk
- 1 teaspoon Salt
For Garnish
- 5 Spring Onions, green part only
- 3 sprigs Coriander Leaves, chopped
- 2 - 3 Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn to pieces
- Add in the chopped galangal, crushed lemon grass and crushed kaffir lime leaves along with a cup of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
- Remove the cooked ingredients using tongs or strain in a colander.
- Add in the veggies and salt to the strained broth and cook in the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and manually remove the the pressure using a spoon or a fork.
- Add in the coconut milk, spring onion, coriander leaves and simmer for a minute. Coconut milk should not be boiled for a long time. Just a mere simmer is enough. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves and kaffir lime leaves.
- Serve hot as a soup or as a side dish with rice.
Notes
You can add a little chilli paste while serving to up the spice of the dish.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thailand
For the broth
- 2 inch piece Galangal
- 2 stalks Lemon Grass
- 6 - 7 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 1 Cup Water ( 250 ml)
Veggies
- Half a Red Capsicum, diced
- Half a Greed Capsicum, diced
- 5 Thai Red Chillies, chopped
- 5 Spring Onions, chopped, white bottom part only
- 1 cup Cabbage, chopped
- 1 big Carrot, chopped
Other Ingredients
- 150 ml Canned Coconut Milk
- 1 teaspoon Salt
For Garnish
- 5 Spring Onions, green part only
- 3 sprigs Coriander Leaves, chopped
- 2 - 3 Kaffir Lime Leaves, torn to pieces
- Add in the chopped galangal, crushed lemon grass and crushed kaffir lime leaves along with a cup of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
- Remove the cooked ingredients using tongs or strain in a colander.
- Add in the veggies and salt to the strained broth and cook in the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and manually remove the the pressure using a spoon or a fork.
- Add in the coconut milk, spring onion, coriander leaves and simmer for a minute. Coconut milk should not be boiled for a long time. Just a mere simmer is enough. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves and kaffir lime leaves.
- Serve hot as a soup or as a side dish with rice.
Notes
You can add a little chilli paste while serving to up the spice of the dish.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thailand
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/tom-kha-vegetarian-tom-kha-soup/
Kaima Idli was made famous by Saravana Bhavan in Chennai. They took the left over idlies and did a make over by frying the idlies and tossing the fried idlies in a tangy sauce. Its such a hit. The concept of deep frying the idlies is genius. This recipe is good for parties and its a kids favorite. Do try it for your kids. They would love it.
Here is the recipe for idli batter Here is another post of idli batter making – Tips and Tricks
We will be using day old idli for this recipe. Fresh idlies are very soft and does not work well in this recipe. Use idlies that are stored at least over-nite in the refrigerator. They will become a little dry and firm. Cold idlies are easy to handle. Cut each idli into four big pieces. They will shrink a little when fried. Heat oil in a pan until really hot. Hot oil is the key to get crispy idlies and are not very oily. Drop the idlis in oil. Do not try turning the idlies as soon as they hit the oil. They will break. Just leave them for a minute. They will bubble a lot in the beginning.
After a minute, the bubbles would slowly reduce and the idlies will take on a slight golden color on the corners. Do not fry till they are deep golden. They will become very crunchy. You just need the outer part of the idli to be crunchy and the inside to be still a little soft. So remove the idlies when the corners are golden and the surface is starting to take on colour. Its more of a personal preference. If you want a deep golden colour on your idlies, go ahead and fry a little more. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
Now lets make a masala sauce to coat the idlies. Heat oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, crushed ginger and curry leaves. Wait for the curry leaves to become crisp. Add in the diced onions and capsicum. Add in the green chillies. Saute briefly for a minute until the onions are soft. Add in the turmeric powder and the red chilli powder. Add in the salt. Fry for a minute.
Run the tomatoes in a mixie to a puree. Add it to the pan.
Add in a teaspoon of tomato ketchup. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Add in the fried idlies, spring onions and coriander leaves. Toss well to combine. Remove from heat.
Serve with raita.
For fried idlies
- 5 idlies
- 250 ml vegetable / sunflower oil
For the masala
- 2 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 inch piece ginger, minced
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 of a capsicum, diced
- 3 green chillies, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
- 4 spring onions, chopped
- 2 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
- Cut each idli into 4 pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add the idlies to the hot oil. Fry till golden. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, crushed ginger and curry leaves. Wait for the curry leaves to become crisp. Add in the diced onions and capsicum. Add in the green chillies. Saute briefly for a minute until the onions are soft. Add in the turmeric powder and the red chilli powder. Add in the salt. Fry for a minute.
- Run the tomatoes in a mixie to a puree. Add it to the pan.
- Add in a teaspoon of tomato ketchup. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Add in the fried idlies, spring onions and coriander leaves. Toss well to combine.
- Remove from heat and serve hot with raita.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Brunch
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
