Turkish yogurt soup

Yogurt is supposedly one of the things you should be eating when you have cough and cold. Since the flu season is going string and 3/4 score of flu at my house, I was looking for some dishes with soup...actually warm yogurt dishes. And I found this recipe "food and wines" website. And it is one of the best dishes I made with yogurt.

Turkish Yogurt Soup (Spicy yogurt soup with chickpeas and rice)

Turkish Yoguet chickpeas soup

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup basmati rice
2. 3 cups water
3. 1 chicken bouillion
4. 1 cup plain yogurt
5. 1 egg yolk
6. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
7. 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
8. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of Salt and freshly ground pepper
10. 1 tablespoons unsalted butter
11. 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
12. 1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic
13. 1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper depending on how hot you can handle your food
14. 3 tablespoons finely chopped mint

in a pan, heat half  the water and add the chicken bouillon add the rice and cook for 5 minutes. 

In a bowl whisk the yogurt with the egg yolk and flour. 

In a pan heat the oil and butter and fry the garlic for 1-2 minutes. Take care not to burn it. Add the chickpeas and stir. Add the yogurt mix and the remaining waterand simmer on a very low heat for 10 minutes. Add the Rice to the pan and stir. Add the lemon pepper and cayenne pepper and simmer for 5 more minutes. Give it a taste test for salt and enjoy.

Make sure you have some napkins by your side, as this soup will make your nose run.

NOTE: You can also make this soup with just chickpeas and skip the rice

Chinese okra soup

Call it the resolution fever or just going with the flow with so many people getting into the diet mode at the beginning of the year, I am deciding to eat/drink more soup . So this is my first soup of the year.

U heard about this soup a long long time ago when I was shopping for Chinese Okra or as it is called in India Ridge gourd. In India most of the recipes with ridge gourd call for cooking it till most/all of the water is evaporated. It is super delicious because of the concentrated flavor, but if you ask me , a bad way to cook a vegetable which has high water content. 

Anyway I made this brothy soup and yum yum even my kids loves it

Ridge gourd soup

Chinese Okra Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 okra peeled and washed. Cut into 1/8 inch thick semi circles
2. 1/2 tablespoon butter or olive oil
3. 1 big or 2 small garlic cloves grated
4. 2 tablespoons finely sliced onion
5. 2 cups chicken broth or water
6. Salt and pepper to taste
7. Cilantro for garnishing

In a pan heat the oil or butter and fry the onions till translucent. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add ridge gourd or chinese okra and fry for about 10 minutes until they lose their raw color. Add the broth/ water salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy hot

NOTE: If you want enhanced flavor add a tablespoon of cooked chicken or lamb or shrimp finely chopped