Vegetable Soup with Corn Cob

Soups are inherently comforting dishes. Load them up with vegetables and you have a filling and fulfilling meal in a bowl. I had an unused packet of Fava beans lying around at home and decided to use it in a soup. I had planned a photography birthday party and wanted to serve this soup as a starter. Thus the idea of using corn cobs came into play as they reminded me of the big lenses used in DSLRs. As the soup is dairy and fat-free, the flavours of the vegetables and beans really shine. Do try it as it is oil-free, wholesome and healthy.

Recipe Details :
Serves: 4-5 pax
Time: 40 mins
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients :

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced into medium cubes
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into medium cubes
• 1.5 cups of canned fava beans (or raw fava beans soaked overnight and cooked separately)
• 1 cup frozen or fresh green peas
• 1 large corn cut into 4 pieces
• 5 cups of vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup of freshly ground pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped coriander

• Combine potatoes, carrot, cut corn, half the fava beans, half the green peas and vegetable stock in a pressure cooker. Bring it to high pressure and cook for 15 mins on low flame. If you are not using the pressure cooker method, you can also boil these contents in the vegetable stock on a stove top but it will take much more time for the vegetables to lose their rawness.
• Transfer the liquid from the cooker to a pot and place it on the stove top. Bring the soup to a simmer. Using a masher, mash the vegetables such that the soup thickens. Ensure that you only partially mash the vegetables so that large pieces remain.
• Add remaining green peas and fava beans and let it cook through for another 7 mins on low flame. Add salt at this stage and finally sprinkle the ground pepper.
• Switch off the flame. Place one piece of the corn cob in every bowl in the center, ladle in the soup and garnish with coriander on the sides before serving. This will be one delicious bowl of soup that you will enjoy!

Tips:

• If you are using the “whistle” method for pressure cooking, let it sound 3 whistles.
• Do not mash the vegetables evenly. There should be pieces of different sizes to give texture to the soup.