Saturday 9 May 2009

ANIYA'S TOMATO AND MACRONI SOUP..:)


This soup is very close to my heart the first time I had it I was staying with my aunt( Aniya ma). Its been so many years since than but every time I have make it reminds of the good old days. I've always loved her cooking but this soup is just too good I think. its a whole meal in it self, healthy and great for kids. When I first time saw her making, she was adding cream and for some reason I thought she was adding yogurt and ever since than I've always used cream until recently when I realized it wasn't yogurt. I know its funny but after I found out I have still carried out using yogurt but now I also add cream. Aniya has always been an inspiration in all ways to me and to be able to have a recipe of hers is a privilege and an honor. This also reminds me of the carefree times that I've had nothing much to do all done by the elders and us enjoying life, culture and food. learnt a lot but also had more time to do nothing virtually.
The best thing about this soup is that's its easy to make and requires very little time to make. It takes about an hour or so and the whole meal is ready. We usually have it with bread and butter you can have it just on its own entirely up to your taste buds.
Thank you Aniya ma for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us and giving us the chance to hand this recipe down to our next generations. Also to let us enjoy the joys of life by having something so simple to make yet so so delicious....enjoy:)
INGREDIENTS:-
  • 5-6 Tomatoes ( i like to use more but you can use less tomatoes also like 3-4 also if
    using the beef tomatoes)
  • 2 Chicken Breasts (you can also use whole chicken to make up the stock and make some sandwich spreads or use whole if you like more chicken in the soup)
  • 1/4 Cup yogurt
  • 1/4 Cup single/double cream (some for extra for garnish)
  • 2-3 Tbsp cornflour
  • 1/4 Cup milk
  • 1 Cup macaroni ( I like lots of macaroni therefore I use more about 2 cups.)
  • 1-2 Garlic cloves
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1-2 tsp salt ( or to taste)

METHOD:-

  1. Wash you chicken well.
  2. Add chicken,garlic cloves,salt and pepper to the pan.
  3. Pour water over it this will help everything to mix well without stirring.
  4. Let it boil once and then lower the heat and let it cook covered for 20 Min's.
  5. Cook it till the chicken is well cooked than take out the chicken from the water and place it on the plate to cool a bit.
  6. Once the chicken is cool enough to touch and not burn your
    fingers, shred it and leave it aside covered till needed.
  7. Bring the stock to boil
  8. Now add macaroni to the stock and let lower the heat to medium and let it cook.
  9. Now place some water is a pan and bring to boil
  10. Add tomatoes on at a time with a cut on the side this will help to peel off the skins of the tomatoes more easily once they are half boiled.
  11. After adding the tomatoes to the pan cover and cook for 1-2 Min's on high heat. when you uncover it you'll see the slit has opened and the skins are soft enough to peel.
  12. Peel all the tomatoes and place them in a blender and blend till it becomes juice like consistency.
  13. Place sieve over the chicken stock and pour the tomato juice. make sure before you add the juice the macaroni is completely cooked.
  14. When the it starts to boil ,With a fork beat the yogurt and cream separatelyin different bowls.
  15. Add the cream first mix well then add yogurt and in the end add the chicken that was shredded earlier.
  16. mix well and bring to boil once.
  17. In a 1/4 cup milk add the corn flour and mix well.
  18. Stirring with a wooden spoon continuously add the corn flour and milk mixture stop stirring once its added.
  19. Take the soup off the heat once you see the soup thickening.
  20. Garnish with mint leaves and drizzle cream over it.
  21. The quantities of the cornflour can be adjusted accordingly to how thick you like the soup. Since I like to eat it as a whole meal my soup is very thick and creamy you can keep that to your liking. There is one more thing that I forgot to mention which is if your on a diet and don't want to use cream you can omit it and only use yogurt. It'll still be the same just with less calories. Me and my family has enjoyed this soup now for more than 10 years and I hope yours will too...healthy eating ..enjoy:)