Spiced chicken soup appealing even when one feels fine
CHICKEN soup, a popular home remedy for the cold and flu, is something most of us turn to when feeling under the weather.
Interestingly, while ingredients and spices may vary, there is a chicken soup recipe in just about every country.
Warm and comforting, chicken soup, which is often cooked with vegetables, is said to be a complete food for the nutrients it provides to help with the healing process.
While Chinese-style chicken soup is my favourite, creamy chicken soup as well as spice-filled broths are equally appetising and good, whether you are ill or in the pink of health.
With the flu bug in the air, chicken broth became a topic of conversation between my colleague Kalai Selvi and I.
Hearty soup. - Photos: AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
Kalai, who enjoys making her mum’s chicken soup for some of our colleagues recovering from illness, shared her recipe for me to try.
After perusing through the ingredients, I omitted the curry leaves and asafoetida.
However, the smell of spices such as coriander, fennel, cumin and turmeric lingering in the air is inviting, and a taste later on proved that this recipe is for keeps.
Although Kalai does not use cabbage in her soup, I added in some leaves for a heartier serving.
In fact, when talking about this spiced soup with another colleague, I learnt that her family has a similar recipe, and at times she also includes cabbage leaves.
The taste of the soup deepens after a day. However, I would suggest adding in the cabbage only when it is to be consumed as soggy leaves make the soup appear less appealing.
Spiced chicken soup
Ingredients
1 kg chicken
1tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp pepper
1.5 tbsp fennel
1 tbsp cumin
2 potatoes (330g)
2 red onions (300g)
1 carrot (160g)
1 tomato (160g)
4 or 5 cabbage leaves
35g ginger
20g garlic (5 cloves)
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
2 pods whole star anise
5 pods cardamom
2 tbsp salt
4 tablespoons of oil/ghee
Directions
Cut the chicken into fairly large pieces to prevent them from breaking in the soup.
Slice the onions and set aside.
Use two potatoes and cut them into quarters. Cut the carrots into easy-to-eat pieces (2cm rounds).
Prepare ginger and garlic paste in a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle.
In a bowl, add coriander, cumin, fennel and turmeric with three-quarters of a cup of water to make a slurry.
Heat four tablespoons of vegetable oil or ghee in a deep pot or Dutch oven.
Add cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamon and cloves until fragrant.
Then add the sliced onion and cook until they are translucent and slightly caramelised, followed by the ginger and garlic paste. Let the aromatics mix and mingle.
Pour the spice slurry into the pot and rinse the bowl with some water.
Add one teaspoon of salt. Once the oil rises to the surface, add in the chicken pieces and coat them in the spice mixture.
Cook the chicken for about five minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Next add two cups of water and the potatoes. Simmer for five minutes.
Once the chicken pieces are coated in the spice mix, transfer to a deep pot or dutch oven.
The carrots go in next. Simmer for five minutes.
Cut the other onion lengthwise into four wedges and then cut each wedge into half.Add the onion to the soup. Simmer for five minutes.
Check the potatoes for doneness.
Flavour the soup with one and half tablespoons of salt and two teaspoons of pepper.
Cut the cabbage into fairly large pieces and add to the soup. Simmer for five minutes. Cabbage leaves can be left out of the recipe.
Cut one tomato into quarters and add to the soup. Simmer for two minutes.
Finally, aromatise the soup further by adding fresh coriander sprigs.
The soup is best savoured with rice or on its own.
