Potato Based Tomato Soup

Ingredients
Tomato - 2 medium sized, quartered
potato - 1 large, peeled and cubed
carrot - 3 medium sized cut into bite size pieces
onion - 1 large, chopped into large pieces (finely chop 1/4 of the onion for frying in butter)
garlic - 2 flakes
ginger - 1/2 inch piece
cloves - 1
pepper - 1/2 tbsp
cornflour - 2 tsp
corriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Butter - 1 tsp

Method:
1. Pressure cook the onions carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, ginger, garlic and cloves  along with 2 cups of water for 4-5 whistles. Don't forget to retain 1/4 of the onion for frying in butter.



2. Put the vegetables minus the stock (water used to cook the vegetables) in a blender and blend to a fine paste. Retain the stock.



3. Mix cornflour in 1 cup of water and keep aside.



Here is the blended vegetable paste.

3. Wash the cooker and dry the inside with a clean towel. We are done with the basic preparations. Let's start cooking the soup.  When the cooker is warm enough but not too hot, add the butter. We don't want the butter turning brown. Added the finely chopped 1/4 onion we retained. Saute till the onions are transparent or if you prefer, until they turn a crisp and brown. Take care not to burn it.

4. Add the stock.  Note that I am not adding the cornflour mixture first. Some recipes fry the cornflour first and then add the stock while continuously stirring.  But I prefer to stir in the cornflour mixture after I add the stock; chiefly because, I invariably get a call or someone is always at the door at this crucial step and I end up with lumpy soup. Hence the improvisation.

5.Okay, now it's quite a while since I mixed the cornflour in water.  This means the cornflour has settled at the bottom. So, it has to be stirred thoroughly adding to the stock in the cooker. Keep stirring to prevent lumps just until the cornflour mixture has blended with the stock. Simmer.

6. Now add the blended vegetables, salt and 1-2 cups of water (depends on what consistency you want). Mix well. Return the flame to high and bring the soup to a boil. Add chopped corriander and pounded pepper. (Mostly I prefer to pressure cook the pepper along with the vegetables. But I wanted to show off my new pestle.)

7. The soup is now ready. This serves 4-5 middle-aged adults. I say middle - aged adults because this is bird feed to young adults. This is really good with toast or plain wheat or whole grain bread. If you want to load it with artery cloggers, by all means add generous amounts of grated cheese or fresh cream. 

Note:- The potatoes are starchy enough to provide the right texture to the soup. So, I think we can do away with the cornflour mixture.