vegetable barley soup with the taste of little india {ffwd}
I love a good bowl of soup. It warms me from the inside out. This first week of spring has been particularly cold, so this week’s recipe selection for French Fridays with Dorie, Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India, was quite welcome.
As the name suggests, this soup is a root vegetable barley soup dressed up with Indian flavors: ginger, garam masala, and turmeric. We’re getting to the bottom of the barrel with the winter vegetables stashed in the makeshift root cellar in my basement, but I found carrots and a parsnip in there. The rest of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen. I reduced the chicken stock to one quart, as I usually do with Dorie’s soup recipes. This was very easy to throw together. And fast. A pot of hearty soup was ready in an hour, from start to finish.
However… I would say I’d have preferred the basic version of the soup. I love Indian food, so, in principle, it wasn’t that I don’t like the spices used. I just didn’t love it in the soup. And I did love the vegetable and barley combination. I particularly enjoyed the parsnip. It always adds a unique flavor to any dish. Next time, it’s plain vegetable barley soup for me.
On an exciting note, I’m having dinner with Mardi of Eat.Live.Travel.Write. tonight. It’s a mini-Dorista meetup, on a Friday, of course.
To see what the other Doristas thought of their Indian-flavored soups, check their links here. The recipe can be found in Bill Daley’s recent article in the Chicago Tribute about French Fridays and other online cooking groups. He interviewed me for the article, so you can also read a few quotes of mine. Of course, the recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
Posted on 28 March 2014, in French Fridays with Dorie, Soup and tagged barley, French Fridays with Dorie, root vegetables, soup. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
YAY I can’t wait to meet you! Who would haev thought that we would we welcoming soup at the end of March?? I agree that this soup would do well with different spices too!
I wish I had a root cellar but out here with everything so available I’d probably just use it for shoes. I hope you had fun on your meet and greet! Can’t wait to hear about it.
I think I would like just the veggies and barley soup too. Hubby really like this so that
made it all worth it. Enjoy your visit with Mardi.
As I told Mardi – jealous :-) Enjoy your dinner!
That was a great article – so exciting to see Dorista quotes.
My cellar is half dirt, so i would be really afraid if I had a root cellar (actual roots might be involved…)
How fun that you are meeting Mardi. Have a great time. We have a root cellar but stock it with wine ha ha.
Have fun with Mardi! Sorry the soup wasn’t your favorite. Onward!
I felt the same way about this soup…I would have liked it better with out the spice! I am also jealous of your meet up…wish we could all be there. You still have to give me a call the next time you’re in Jersey. I was thinking that maybe our north-east Doristas would be interested in an overnighter in NYC this spring or summer. And of course any one else who wants to join us!
Happy weekend, Betsy! Have fun with Mardi!
Hi Betsy, have fun at your FFWD catchup. I liked the kick that the spices gave to this soup.
How exciting!! Your photos with Mardi & dinner were fab! Have a good weekend! There will be a soup you like better in the near future, I’m sure! :)
Betsy, how wonderful that you will be able to meet Mardy – although now is already Saturday, so you met already and I do hope that you had a smashing time together!
Your soup looks delightful and colorful and very appropriate for a cold spring day! The spices in the soup were quite an interesting taste experience for us as well!
Have a great weekend!
I could tell by the pictures you and Mardi had a wonderful time! I liked the soup but didn’t love it. I am eager to try the barley in other soups though. I hope your winter is about over! Its wind season here in Oklahoma!
It’s Monday night and I am commenting late (I actually thought I left you a comment but cannot see it) so I already knew this wasn’t your favorite. I doubled the barley which made it a more substantial soup but think it needed more spice and flavoring. I obviously dropped the ball on that. Are the veggies in your root cellar from a garden you have in the Summer? I am so glad that you and Mardi had an opportunity to get together and have a nice dinner. And, I happy that it was the same experience that we all had in Seattle. It is a common bond, this blog thing, isn’t it?
So cool that you met Mardi! Sounds like you had a wonderful dinner together. I enjoyed the soup and Kevin liked it well enough, but I think he would have liked it more with a little less spice and a lot less parsnip.