Healthiest white soup

I call it white soup because all ingredients that go in this recipe are white! Also because if I named it bottle gourd or ash gourd soup, my family won’t relish it as much as they do it now.

A very simple recipe that is quick to make and so delicious. In our family, we enjoy this soup with a generous squirt of lemon juice. However, here are some other ways you can make the soup more ‘interesting’

1. Slice the cabbage (again a white ingredient) into superfine strips. And just before you serve, dip those strips in an ice-cold water for few minutes. Remove, drain and garnish it on the hot soup and serve immediately. It is like eating crispy ‘noodles’ on a hot soup.
2. Instead of blending the veggies with the water, use cream or milk for a ‘creamier’ soup
3. You can also use butter garlic noodles as garnish on the soup for a heartier meal. To make butter garlic noodles, cook noodles as instructed on the packet. Then in a pan, heat some butter, toss the noodles with some mashed garlic and salt + pepper. Cook for few minutes and there, you have quick butter garlic noodles to have it with the healthiest soup!

This soup can also be made in instant pot or even on a stove top. It is extremely easy, healthy and delicious.

I have used a combination of white vegetables like bottle gourd (lauki), ash gourd (petha) and chayote (chow chow) with granny smith apples simply because apples not add a lot of flavour to the soup but a bit of a tang as well. Bottle gourd and other vegetables are extremely versatile and adopt to the flavours and therefore in this soup, besides the usual aromatics like onion and garlic, tart apples play a huge role as well.

In case of substitution, I have used snake gourd, pear quite successfully in this recipe. However, other white vegetables like cauliflower make the soup quite chunky so unless you prefer a chunky soup, I would recommend choosing a vegetable that is more ‘watery’ in nature.

If you liked this recipe, you may want to have a look at some of these too.

1. Fada ni khichdi (dalia khichdi)
2. Vegetarian thukpa – noodles in spicy broth
3. Jowar vada (sorghum fritters) with moringa leaves
4. 10 minute bajra-jowar dosa (millet crepes)
5. Creamy and healthy broccoli soup