Lisette's Cooking Adventures: Beet soup done Goan style...

I am not a great fan of beetroots so I usually work them into some other meal if I can. Today I decided to do a beet soup since my husband and myself have made an effort to stick to green eating and stay away from processed foods over Lent, however we were still craving our Goan flavors so I had to put on my thinking cap!!

I used the ingredients from my "Goan" kitchen and really loved the final product.
This is a fabulous recipe for children, its rich color and pleasantly comforting tastes are also quite endearing. If you like the taste of ginger in your foods, then this is the recipe for you.

I saved the few leaves and stems of the beetroot and made a traditional Goan beetroot leaf Bhaji with them. I then used the bhaji to garnish the soup. ( http://goankhana.blogspot.ca/2016/02/beet-greens-bhaji-goan-style.html?q=bhaji )

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, skinned and chopped finely
1 small red dried chili seeded or 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional to taste)
2 large beetroots chopped roughly ( save the stems and leaves to make a bhaji - see below)
1 level teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
juice of 1/2 fresh lime
1 can coconut milk

Method

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, or a pressure cooker pot. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and chili and cook until the onions are opaque.

Add the beets, salt and pepper and stir well.

Add the broth and cook on the stove top until the beets are cooked and soft. I used an electric pressure cooker and cooked the ingredients under pressure for fifteen minutes.

When the beets are cooked, blend the soup using a hand-held blender or traditional blender. Be careful because the liquid is very hot.

Put the liquids back in the pot (if using a stand up blender). Add the coconut milk and cook for another five minutes. Finally add the lime juice, stir and remove from the heat. Check if you need more salt or lime juice according to your tastes.