Monday, December 15, 2008

Indian Curry Soup



Kimkins member, Singing Lass, was kind enough to share one of her favorite low carb Indian soup recipes. The heat from the curry and the hint of sweetness from the lite coconut milk and sweetener make a perfect combo!

Ingredients
  • chopped chicken, turkey, beef or shrimp
Add spices according to personal preference
  • white pepper
  • curry powder (read label for carb count)
  • ground cumin
  • ground cinnamon
  • minced garlic
  • splash lite coconut milk
Add veggies according to your carb preference
  • chopped baby spinach
  • sliced mushrooms
  • sliced red pepper
  • sliced yellow squash
  • sliced green onion
This is a casual recipe, so start with a can of chicken broth and mix/match the curry powder, cumin, cinnamon and white pepper. Let simmer, taste and adjust spices if needed.

Add 1-2 oz of lite coconut milk, veggies and chicken or turkey. Simmer an additional 10-15 minutes or until tender. Serve and enjoy!



Singing Lass (105+ pounds lost!)

Read her original post with more variations here:

Sure! I have to warn, I am not an " exact" cook...it kind of is a cooking _style_ that runs in my family. I vary things a lot, add a bit of this and that...kind of like I have a palette of my low carb " green light" foods and spices and I go with what I have on hand. I also typically cook in 1-2 serving portions because I am single.

The curry soup is really easy, here are different ways to make it and various ingredients you can add in.

*Chicken broth---a can will work, or I often will use like half a carton of the organic free-range kind that I think has a bit more flavor.

* curry----this can be a curry powder, or paste. Make sure to read carb contents--powders are *usually* safe, pastes have a bit more carbs...there are all kinds of curries out there, yellow, red, green etc....what I keep on hand is a standard yellow curry powder, and a jar of red curry paste that is pretty low in carb.

* lite coconut milk---you can buy this canned, make sure to get the light kind, and read the labels because carb counts vary between brands. ( " A taste of Thai" brand in my cupboard says 2 carbs per 1/3 cup--and I think another brand is even lower but was not at the store I last bought this at).

* garlic
* Asian seasoning or Chinese 5 spice
* cumin
* cinnamon
* Splenda
* optional veggies -- green onion, celery, spinach, yellow squash etc ...
* meat---can add pre-cooked chicken, steak etc....as well.

Now, the basic broth is just the chicken broth, and a couple spoons worth of curry. I think this is the kind of soup the individual has to make a bit according to their taste and degree of "spice" I personally like it a bit spicy sweet, not too hot. You then can add other spices in what combo you like...I add in garlic, Chinese 5 spice, a little cumin and cinnamon for the touch of sweet to compliment the curry. I also add 1-2 spoons worth of Splenda for this reason as well. Coconut milk, I tend to add about 1/4 of a cup to it, which gives a touch of creaminess to the broth as well.

The broth alone can be a tasty snack or drink on it's own, and tastes much like the soup served in an Indian restaurant here I love ....BUT, if you want to make it a meal, you can simmer various veggies in it ( see list above). I sometimes will throw like two chicken tenders in a pan and cook up with similar seasonings...garlic, a little curry etc...and then break up and put it into the soup and let it simmer in it for a while.

For those on k/e [Kimmer Experiment] ...you can make the broth and just add a meat, or maybe a little green onion and celery just for a little flavor and texture. The restaurant that makes this typically just has onion, carrot slices and celery in it.

So, it really is easy to make, typically I only spend like 5 minutes prep on it, and about 15 minutes on the stove. A little more if I add meat---you can also toss in left-over meat too though. Typically it makes two servings I find.

oh! I also sometimes add shirataki noodles as well. I par boil them separately for a little while, then add them into the curry mix to simmer for 5-10 minutes to absorb the flavor.

Hope this was not too confusing---there just is not only one way to make it, and everyone has different 'spice" preferences when it comes to curry.