Recipes: Curried parsnip soup with parsnip bhajis

John Torode's Indian soup mixes sweet seasonal parsnips with fragrant spices, served with authentic vegetable bhajis

NEED: 

• 1kg parsnips , peeled and cut into chunks
• 600ml milk
• 5 whole curry leaves (optional)
• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 garlic clove , crushed
• 1 tsp ginger , finely grated to a purée
• 4 tbsp double cream

• 200g gram flour
• a handful coriander , chopped
• 1 garlic clove , crushed
• 1 tsp ginger , finely grated to a purée
• 1 tsp curry powder
• oil for deep frying

  

  1. Put the parsnips with the milk and enough water to just cover in a pan. add the curry leaves (if using) then bring to the boil. simmer until the parsnips are tender.
  2. Scoop 200g parsnip out for the bhajis and keep in a separate bowl.
  3. To finish the soup, melt the butter in a pot, add the curry powder and cook for two minutes until fragrant, then add the garlic and ginger and fry for two minutes. Tip in the remaining 800g parsnips and their cooking liquid and stir well. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and then purée using a stick blender or food processor. Reheat and stir in the cream. add a bit more liquid if it needs it.
  4. To make the bhajis, mash the reserved parsnip then add the other bhaji ingredients with some salt and mix. stir in enough water to make a thick batter (approx 250ml).
  5. Heat a pan 1/3 full with oil until a cube of bread browns in a minute. drop teaspoon- sized drops of the batter into hot oil and cook until golden and puffed. drain on kitchen paper and serve with the soup.

  TIP

  Instead of using a ready-made curry powder, you can make it from scratch: toast 1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground fenugreek, mild chilli powder and ½ tsp ground turmeric and ground cardamom in a dry frying pan until fragrant.

  PER SERVING

  461 kcalories, protein 13,6g, carbohydrate 43,4g, fat 27 g, saturated fat 9,4g, fibre 11,9g, salt 0,37 g

  source: bbcgoodfood.com