Thai Tomato Soup

I love tomato soup any which way, especially the way they serve it in Rajdhaani Express or most of the other trains. Hardcore "fleshetarian" that I am, when it comes to soups, tomato soup has always been my favourite. There is absolutely no necessity to complicate a humble, neat and otherwise uncontroversial tomato soup.

Why then this sudden urge to give it a twist, you ask? Well, because if there's something that parallels my love for tomato soup, it is my love for Thai food. So I thought of giving this humble, regular, good ol' tomato soup a makeover and see how it tastes infused with Thai flavours. So if you are a lover of Thai food, scroll down. If not, feel free to move on to other posts.

This Thai Tomato Soup takes minutes to make, it's a delight to your tastebuds and it combines that subtle flavour of tomato soup with that strong Thai zing which almost takes you to Thai heaven.

One cheat's step that you might be tempted to fall for is to use packaged tomato soup powder instead of real tomatoes. Don't do that, please. Otherwise the only taste you'll be getting is that of Maggi/Knorr soup. And when you're trying to recreate a Thai delight in something as simple as an everyday tomato soup, you certainly don't want that, do you? So just labour a little, peel the skins off those tomatoes, chop them roughly and make them the star of your soup.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Tomatoes: 6
Thai red curry paste: 2 tsp
Coconut milk: 150 ml
Chicken stock/broth: 1 1/2 cups
Olive oil: 1 tsp
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to season
Sugar, a pinch
Cream (optional), for garnish

Method:

1. In a large pan, heat some water and put the tomatoes to simmer. When the skin shows a crack transfer them one by one to a bowl full of cold water. This will help you to peel off the skins easily. Roughly chop the peeled tomatoes and set aside.

2. In a deep-bottomed non-stick pan, add olive oil and the red curry paste and stir for 2 minutes. Now add the tomatoes, cover and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft and liquidy.

3. Add the chicken stock, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. You can use vegetable stock as well if you are a vegetarian.

4. Finally add the coconut milk, stir well, and adjust salt, pepper and sugar. Taste the soup before you add the salt because curry pastes mostly tend to have a high salt content.

5. Pour the soup in a blender and pulse till smooth and luscious.

6. Garnish with a dollop of cream and serve with crusty bread. Oh Thailand!