Soup takes me back to the piping hot tomato soup in paper cups that used to be served during our 3 day long train journey to Bombay. My uncles lived there and we used to be so excited, waiting for the train to reach the destination yet enjoying every bit of the journey too. Me and my brother would sit close to the window seat, watching trees, fields and mountains pass by, counting the number of bogies in goods trains while waiting for food hawkers to come, to buy their snacks. 😍

Among them, tomato soup used to be sold early in the morning and I specially would wake up early for it (sacrificing my precious sleep for that delicious soup 😅). As soon as they started calling out, soup.. soup.. I would wake up my father asking him to buy one for me (spoiling his sleep too 😬). But the feel of drinking that tasty hot soup while looking outside the window of the train, enjoying nature come alive early in the morning with the background music of birds chirping, is something which can’t be replicated at all. Which is why even after so many years, it is as fresh in my memory. ❤️

After that, if there is any soup I loved, it is my mother’s tomato soup. I can never forget how lovingly she made it and we used to enjoy it together in small steel bowls with mickey mouse spoons (😍) sitting together chatting away (major missing 😭).

It is the same recipe that I am sharing today but have included barley in it too. Barley was brought home by my husband as he wanted me to taste it after eating it in his company “canteen” (as he calls it but it is no less than a restaurant which offers so many delicious options in the buffet). He said soup and salad with it tastes delicious and I looked through few recipes on how to cook it and combined it with Amma’s soup recipe.

It tasted really good and I loved the soft texture of Barley. Funniest part is when I made the soup for the first time and was serving my son, he asked me what was in the other bowl too. I said salad. He asked me to mix both in his bowl. I told him that’s not the way to eat it but he still was confident he wanted to eat it that way. 😅 So I gave in and served him exactly that way. (Tip to survive motherhood: Give in if it’s safe to do before tantrums start. 🤣)

And he could not stop saying “Amma, yummy!!” with every bite while I was very surprised at this weird combo. 🙄 Then, when we tried it, it was delicious for real. 😄 The bite of cucumber, carrots and onion gave a great texture as well as flavour to the soup. Since then, we have been eating this soup the same way. 😀 Huge credits to my two year old boy for showing us the right way to enjoy this soup. 😍

Sorry for the super long write up. Did not realise how lengthy this turned out to be but don’t feel like cutting it short too. You can always skip if it bores you. 😁 Hope you all try this healthy, filling and tasty soup. Happy and healthy cooking!! Happy winters too. The best time to enjoy soup! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Serves 4 }

1/2 Cup Barley (I make both soup and salad using this measure)

1/2 a large Carrot (about 1/2 Cup chopped)

1 medium sized Tomato

1 small sized Onion

Red chilli powder to taste

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash barley well and soak in about three times water overnight or for 6 to 8 hours. This makes barley soft and aids in digestion too.

2. Then drain water from it and add to a pressure cooker. Add water a little above the level of barley (about 2 cm) and pressure cook till soft. It takes me 1 whistle on high flame and then reduce to medium flame and keeping for 10 mins. It gives me perfectly cooked barley.

3. At this point, I remove 1/2 Cup of this cooked barley and add to my salad (will share the recipe of that in the notes towards the end of the recipe.) It leaves me with 1 Cup of cooked barley. Just add chopped carrot, onion and tomato along with 1/2 Cup water.

4. Pressure cook for about 3 whistles on high flame or cook till the carrots turns soft. Allow it to cool.

5. After it cools down, puree it in a mixer. Leave some cooked barley without pureeing as it gives a wonderful bite to the soup. I leave about 1/2 Cup of cooked barley.

6. Now add the blended puree back into the pressure cooker and add red chilli powder and salt. Also add water to make it into your desired consistency. Bring to a boil and cook for about two mins. Soup is ready! Garnish with Coriander leaves. Serve with croutons or bread sticks.

Notes:

* You can garnish with butter, cream or pepper or anything you like. I make it very basic as my kids love it this way.

* My son enjoys this soup along with salad in one bowl. It makes for a tasty and filling snack or a meal in itself.

* For the barley salad, add finely chopped cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, coriander leaves and green chillies (optional) in a bowl. Add cooked barley with salt, pepper powder and lemon juice. Mix well.

* Barley absorbs a lot of water when pressure cooked. So add atleast about 2 cm level of water more while pressure cooking it.

* I soak Barley when I remember. Drain the water after 8 hours and refrigerate. This lasts well for couple of days. So when I need to make it, I already have the soaked barley. So can make both the soup and salad instantly.

* Adding more carrot or onions can make the soup very thick and sweet. So if you are not a fan of sweet soups, you can reduce the amount of both.

* Don’t add all the barley while pureeing. Save half of it as it gives a good bite to the soup.

* The soup thickens as you keep it. So if you are making ahead, you might need to add little water to bring it to desired consistency.

* These are the other soups that I make regularly.

# Narangi Shorba (Orange flavoured Pumpkin soup )

# Easy Cream of Mushroom soup