Cream of Spinach Soup - Indian Vegan Recipe

In this post, I have provided a simple and delicious Indian recipe for a creamy spinach soup. Unsweetened almond cream is a fantastic alternative in milk/cream based soups. Most store based almond dairy have sweeteners and are very diluted which makes balancing the soup a very tedious task. With this in mind, I have provided a super easy recipe for fresh unsweetened almond cream in addition to this wonderful spiced Indian inspired spinach soup. If you are wondering, the soup does not smell of almonds as the aroma disappears when cooked with spices and garlic. If you enjoyed this recipe, check out my recipe for a vegan cream of mushroom soup here. You can also follow me on Instagram (thedesivegan1).



COOKING TIME
30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

·      Spinach – 2 large bundles
·      Garlic Cloves – 5-6
·      Bay Leaf – 2
·      Chopped Onion – 1
·      Black Pepper – ½ teaspoon
·      White Pepper – ½ teaspoon
·      Almonds –  ½ cup
·      Olive Oil – 3 tablespoons
·      Salt to taste


METHOD

A)   ALMOND CREAM

1)  Soak almonds in water overnight. Drain the excess water, rinse with fresh water and add to a blender jar.
2) Add a pinch of salt and a little over 1 cup filtered water and blend for 2-3 minutes.
3) Keep a fresh handkerchief, nut-milk bag or muslin bag on a container and pour the contents of the jar into the fabric.
4) Squeeze the liquid out of the fabric completely. The liquid collected in the container is the almond cream that will be used in the recipe.

B)   CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP

1) Add the olive oil to a pan on medium heat. After around 90 seconds, add finely chopped garlic and bay leaves to the pan and stir.
2) Next, stir in the chopped onion, some black pepper and stir till the onions are soft and fragrant.
3) Cut the steams of the spinach and wash well. Add the spinach to the pan and let it cook till the leaves wilt. This will usually take a couple of minutes.
4) Add around 600 ml water and simmer till the water starts to bubble uniformly.
5) Remove the bay leaves and use a hand blender to liquidize the entire soup. There shouldn’t be any large pieces of spinach in the pan.
6) Pour the soup through a fine sieve into a fresh pan and discard the pulp once the liquid has been extracted.
7) Bring the soup back on the heat and season with salt and white pepper powder. Once hot, add the almond cream and stir for a couple of minutes.
8)  Switch off the stove and serve the soup hot.


Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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