This is Indian 'chicken soup'. It will cure what ails you.
Adrak ke Ras
Ginger Soup
Rating: easy
Preparation time: 10-20 minutes
Serves: about 6
Ingredients:
3 inches fresh, plump ginger root
1/2 half teaspoon cumin powder
1 heaping teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon (or so) of butter
pinch (1/8 of a tea. or less) of asafetida
lemon juice to taste (always added just before serving)
Procedure:
Peel and chop the ginger root into small pieces (1/4"-1/2").
Put into a blender with the cumin, salt and water. Puree.
Place the puree in a strainer suspended over a large bowl.
Pour another 3 cups of water over the pulp. Squeeze the
pulp dry and discard.
To cook, melt one pat of butter into a pan set at medium to low heat.
When the butter melts, add a pinch of heeng (asafetida). Remove from
heat and cover for 2 minutes.
Add the ginger water and return to heat, bringing to a boil.
Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Pour into mugs, add a bit of lemon juice (try about a teaspoon at
first).
Serve piping hot.
One would have this as we, in North America, would hot chocolate. It is tremendously comforting
and warming. Try this instead of hot tea when those winter chills, colds,
and flu bite at you. Its better than penicillin.
This will keep in the frig for up to a week. Just mix up the settled
ginger, pour a mugfull, zap it in the microwave, add a squirt of lemon
and sip.
This is a deceptively simple recipe, however it takes a bit of practice
to figure out the water to ginger ratio. You should be able to taste
everything but the cumin strongly, the sharp bite of the ginger, tang
from the lemon, yet smooth and rich because of the butter and just a
bit salty. Feel free to experiment with this until it tastes 'just
right' to you.
Tip: Use really plump, fresh ginger. Look for fat roots with thin
skins. Also use a real lemon for the juice. The taste of fresh lemon
juice is so far from the bottled stuff that I have no words to
describe the difference.
It really is worth tinkering with. I can't say often enough how
soothing this drink is.
