Buckwheat Barley Soup
A hearty soup filled with the goodness of vegetables and whole grains and delicately flavored with digestive spices that add to the taste and healthfulness of this dish. A no frills one dish meal that can be enjoyed with a fresh salad or light sandwich on a spring day.
Ingredients (serves 4):
- Buckwheat (1/4 cup)
- Pearl Barley (1/4 cup)
- Zucchini, carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans (2 cups) (chopped into 1 inch sized pieces)
- Garlic paste (1 tsp) (optional)
- Spring Onions (2-3) (chopped finely)
- Tomato (1 medium sized or 2 small)
- Ghee/Butter (1 tbsp)
- Black pepper seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Cumin (jeera) seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Coriander (dhaniya) powder (1/2 tsp)
- Turmeric (haldi) powder (1 tsp)
- Italian seasoning (1 tsp)
- Sugar (1/2 tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Coriander leaves/Parsley leaves (finely chopped)
Method:
- Pressure cook the grains (buckwheat and barley) with enough water and some salt until soft and completely well cooked.
- Dry roast the cumin, coriander seeds and pepper corns for a few minutes on medium heat. Wait for the seeds to cool down a bit and crush it using a mortar and pestle to make a coarse or fine powder, depending on your preference.
- Blanch the tomatoes, cool it and blend it. Keep the tomato paste aside.
- Saute some ghee/butter on medium heat in a wide pan that is big enough to hold the contents of the soup. Add the minced garlic, spring onion whites and keep stirring until the onions get cooked and the raw smell of the garlic goes away.
- Add the Italian seasoning, cumin-coriander-pepper powder, turmeric. Apart from the health benefits of the turmeric, it gives the dish a lovely color.
- Add the vegetables, salt and sugar and cook covered with a little water, until the vegetables are almost done.
- Add the tomato paste and simmer for a couple minutes.
- Add the cooked grains and sufficient quantity of water (depending on the consistency of the soup you desire) and bring to a boil.
- Adjust the tastes as necessary and garnish with coriander or parsley leaves.
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (grains, carrots, sugar, ghee), sour (tomatoes), salty (salt), bitter (leaves, cumin, coriander, turmeric), pungent (pepper, cumin), astringent (turmeric, Italian seasoning).
Doshic Influence:
Barley is cooling and light and is good for pitta and kapha constitutions. Buckwheat is light, dry and heating and is good for kapha and can be pitta and vata aggravating in excess. Pepper and turmeric are good for kapha. Cumin is very good for vata constitutions and stimulates digestion as well. Coriander is good for pitta. Ghee is tridoshic.