Green Soup

Louise, Gary and Bill up the Hill came for dinner last night. I was in the mood for fiery food so I decided to make Indian. I started with this delicate, utterly delicious Green Soup (Hara Shorva) followed by Chicken Rogan Josh, Gujerati beans and a turmeric blushed cauliflower with tomatoes. We had cool and creamy pineapple coconut ice cream with strong coffee for dessert. Yum-a-la. I want you to try this soup. It was awesome. It is from Madhur Jaffrey's book on Indian Cooking (2002).

4 oz potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
3 oz onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 pints chicken stock
3/4 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
5 Tblsp. chopped cilantro
1/2 fresh hot green chili (I used jalapeño)
10 oz peas, fresh or frozen (I used frozen)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice ( I used juice of 1/2 a lemon)
1/2 tsp. ground roasted cumin seeds
5 fl oz. heavy cream

Combine the potatoes, onions, chicken stock, ginger, ground coriander and ground cumin in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low, simmer for 30 minutes. Fish out the cube of ginger and discard it. Add the cilantro, green chili, peas, salt, lemon juice and ground roasted cumin seeds. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered for 2-3 minutes or until the peas are just tender. Empty the soup into the container of an electric blender in 2-3 batches and blend until it is smooth. Put the soup into a clean pot. Add the cream and bring to a simmer to heat through. Serves 5.