Lemon Coriander Soup With Chicken (Optional)

Lemon Coriander Soup
(Printable Recipe)
Serves 3-4
You Need:

• 2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 bulbs of spring onion
• 1 inch ginger chopped
• 5 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 medium onion cut into small cubes
• 5 cups of vegetable stock or 2 vegetable stock cubes dissolved in 5 cups of warm water
• 8-10 peppercorns crushed
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped – reserve the stalks – about 5-6 and chop them fine
• 5-6 stalks of coriander – chopped
• 2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
• salt to taste
• oil for frying
• 100gm boneless Chicken – cut into bite size pieces (optional – only if you wish to transform this soup into a non vegetarian one)

Method:
1. If you prefer a non vegetarian soup, then heat some oil in a pan and on slow fire saute the boneless chicken. Toss in a couple of garlic cloves as it lends a really nice flavour to the chicken.
2. In a pan, heat some oil and add the chopped onion, spring onion, ginger and garlic and saute till translucent.
3. Toss in the gram flour and lightly roast it till you get a nice aroma. Add the precooked chicken at this point. If you wish you can shred the chicken further, otherwise the bite size pieces are just fine.
4. Add the vegetable stock, coriander stalks, cabbage, carrot and powdered peppercorns and bring it to a boil. Add a few coriander leaves and cook for 5-10minutes
5. At this point you can either strain the cooked vegetables and keep them aside and to the strained liquid add salt, lime/lemon juice and boil again. Since my family is a fan of eating the veggies in the soup I didn’t strain my soup and didn’t overcook them either.
6. Garnish the soup with the remaining chopped coriander leaves before serving. Enjoy with garlic bread or just plain, wholesome, piping hot soup!