Pineapple Rasam/Soup

Pineapple...
It is neither a pine nor an apple, and it is not native to Hawaii.
This is one fruit that no one can hate – juicy , sweet ,sour and fleshy. Smell a freshly cut pineapple – it is divine! Botanists call it Ananas comosus.
I am indeed a big fan of this tropical fruit and incorporate it in many of my sweet sour preparations.
Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493, although the fruit had long been grown in South America. The association with Hawaii is more recent and because of the fact that pineapples were first canned in Hawaii.
Sometimes I wonder – Plants make their own food by just using minimal resources – sunlight , water and soil, within their body – Kitchen in the leaf - , how is it that during the course of evolution somehow the animal race forgot how to make food on its own? Having said that, I surely do not like to make my own food. I would think it will be quite boring. If I look at this a little more deeply , life would lose its meaning, as most of the things that we do are directly or indirectly related to feeding ourselves! I vote against a progressive evolution of mankind in specific and animal kind in general towards making their own food. But I also strongly believe that the probability of such evolution is extremely low as I see no signs of an internal kitchen in me or around me!
So let’s get back to our external kitchen and experiment with plant foods – Pineapple Rasam.

Ingredients
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1 Cup chopped Pineapple (You can even use a slightly sour one that you cannot possibly eat as a fruit)
1 Tb Spoon Grated fresh coconut
5 Green chillies( suit your taste)
1 inch ginger
2 Tsp Jeera
2 Cups Dilute Dal (The watery top portion of cooked and well settled tur dal)
1 Tbsp Corainder chopped
Salt to Taste
For Seasoning
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1 twig Curry leaves
1 tsp oil Pinch of hing, haldi, some mustard seeds and jeera

Method
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Cook the pineapple with coconut, chillies till soft (quite a fast process)
Cool it and blend it with ginger and jeera.
Bring this mixture to a boil and add the dilute dal to it . Add water to get the desired consistency. Boil it with some salt for 5 minutes and add the seasoning.
Garnish it with coriander leaves.

You can relish this with hot steamed rice or serve it as a soup.

Sweet corn Macaroni Soup

This is one of the dishes I demonstrated on the cookery show on TV (etv-kannada).
Of late, I have developed a great weakness for sweet corn. In all the three shows I have done so far there was at least one sweet corn dish!
Ingredients
1/2 cup sweet corn
½ cup boiled and cooled macaroni
½ cup mixed veg chopped (carrot, capsicum, cauliflower florets)

2 cups milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp maida
1 tsp white pepper powder
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Oregano (optional)

Method

Melt the butter and add the maida
After a minute add the milk little by little stirring continuously
Add the salt and pepper
If you want to make it more creamy – this is when you add some cheese spread (1 tbsp)
So this is your white sauce.
Meanwhile bring 1.5 cups of water to boil and add al the veggies and sweet corn in it.
Cook it for 5-7 minutes else they become too soft – we need them crunchy
Add the white sauce and macaroni slowly into this and bring to a boil.
You can add a dash of oregano for additional flavour if you wish.
I give it to my kids with dinner rolls or garlic bread
It is very wholesome indeed!