Spinach Chickpea Soup

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Soup always meant tomato soup for me when I was younger,whether at home or at a restaurant as far as I was concerned that was the only soup of interest.I am not sure whether it was the color or the taste that appealed to me so much.The combined influences of time,my family and knowledge that more vegetables need to be incorporated in our diet for better health has made my fixation with the tomato soup a thing of the past.Hey don't get me wrong I still enjoy a hot bowl of tomato soup,only now I additionally make a variety of soups and prefer those that have some veggies and some protein so that it is more hearty and filling.

This soup was inspired from a vegetarian cookbook I recently purchased and I have altered the recipe and added a few things to the original recipe to make it more healthy.This is a very tasty and filling soup and the presence of chick peas makes it a good source of protein too.

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Ingredients and method to make the Spinach Chickpea soup

3/4 cup chickpea ( soaked overnight with a pinch of soda and cooked in the pressure cooker until slightly soft)
3 cups packed cut spinach
4 medium potatoes peeled and cut into little pieces
1 onion cut into pieces
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cube vegetarian vegetable bouillon or 1 tsp of concentrated vegetable paste (that can be used in place of bouillon)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder(optional)
2 tsp sesame seed powder ( dry roast the sesame and powder it when cool to powder resembling bread crumbs)
2 tsp peanut powder (dry roast the peanut and powder it when cool to powder resembling bread crumbs)
2 tsp corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 cups water
salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pan,add the onions and saute until transparent

Add the ginger paste,garlic paste,cumin powder ,coriander powder and paprika and saute for a minute.

Add the potatoes and the salt and simmer for about ten minutes.Add the chickpeas and simmer for another ten minutes or until both potatoes and chickpeas are reasonably soft.

Add the spinach and simmer for five minutes

Separately add the cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water mix well,then add to that the powdered sesame,peanuts and chili powder.Add this to the soup.Simmer for a few minutes

Add the milk and serve hot.

This serves about 4-5 and takes about an hour to make including the prep work and the cooking time.Some crusty bread works well as an accompaniment with this soup

This is my second entry to Eat Healthy-Protein rich contest hosted by Sangeeth

This is also my entry to Monthly one dish meal event being hosted by Archana