Sweet Potato Soup

This post comes a little late as winters are almost over and the best part of winters must be sitting at home in the evenings and having hot soup. Since I have discovered the joys of sweet potato this season, it was but natural to have a sweet potato soup. It is hearty and comforting for a cold wintery evening and you must try it out either immediately before the summers have set in totally or for the next time winters set in. 

Sweet Potato Soup
(Makes 4 Portions)


Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes, - 3-4
Onion, chopped - 1
Leek, chopped - 1/2 Cup
Carrots, peeled and chopped - 1
Celery, chopped - 1/2 Cup
Garlic, chopped - 2 cloves
Red Wine - 1 Cup
Chicken Stock - 2 Cup
Black Pepper, freshly ground - 2 Tsp
Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp
Cream - 1/2 Cup

Method:
1. Prepare the Sweet Potatoes - Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add 2 Tsp of salt and put on flame. Bring to a boil and simmer till they are soft. Take off flame and drain the water. Allow to cool. Once they are cool, peel them and cut them into quarters.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add onions, celery, leek, garlic and carrots. Cook them till they are cooked.
3. Add in the red wine and cook till the wine evaporates. Scrape any brown bits stuck to the pan.
4.  Add in the sweet potatoes to the pot and then the stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low flame for another 20 minutes.
5. Take off flame and allow to cool. Put into a processor and Puree until smooth. Pass through a strainer.
6. Return the pureed soup back to the flame. Add in the cream and seasoning.
7. Serve hot garnished with sweet potato chips or straws.

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Sweet Potato Chips

Come the winter months, you can find roadside vendors in Delhi hawking their sweet potato fare ...shakarkandi chaat. Shakarakandi or Kachaloo is the hindi name for Sweet Potato and the Shakarkandi Chaat is an ideal in between meals snack. Frankly, I had never tasted Sweet Potatoes and was not a big fan of trying them out. I don't think anyone in my household also liked sweet potatoes, so I never stumbled upon them in the kitchen. A chance encounter with some wonderful looking sweet potatoes got me thinking that I just had to pick them up and get them home. So there they were ...sweet potatoes...on my kitchen counter and none of us with a clue as to what will become of them. After some thinking, we decided it was going to be some chips ...I mean who hates chips (even the calorie conscious do)...they were just going to be the perfect introduction to sweet potatoes. The entire family loved the chips, they didn't even last an hour. We have since moved on to trying other recipes with the sweet potato and I'm sure you will shortly catch me visiting one of the roadside vendors for my own portion of the Shakarkandi Chaat.

Sweet Potato Wafers (Chips)

(Makes 4 generous portions)

Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes - 4 in number

Water - To parboil

Oil - To Deep Fry

Salt - Optional

Method:

1. Wash & Peel the sweet potatoes.

2. Cut into fine round slices (preferably using a mandolin) 

Note: If they are too hard and you are finding it hard to take out slices, parboil them in hot water to soften a little bit. Take care not to turn them mashy.

3. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the Chips till they turn golden brown.

4. Remove from the wok and drain on absorbent paper.

5. Season if you wish. I have found them perfect even without salt and other seasonings. I have tried tossing them with chili flakes and I love the sweet spicy combination..maybe you could try that.

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