Quatres épis et une tomate – Soupe de maïs et tomates au curry 

cornsoup4web

Creamy soups are great for a light dinner…I had bought this fresh sweet corn on the cob a while ago. Needless to say Americans love corn, you find cobs everywhere in any supermarket, so no need to buy corn in cans, the fresh one is so much better. Summer is almost here, and it means Barbeque season, and corn and BBQ are inseparable. I am talking about summer but not really in San Francisco but outside the city it is, summer mainly means non stop fog in the city…that’s why most of the time, I go back home in July or August . Who wants to be fogged out for two months when you’re supposed to lay on the beach and eat ice cream?

Being a true Libra and faithful to myself, I could not decide if I wanted a corn soup with curry or a tomato corn soup with basil, so after many thoughts, I decided to combine both, except for the basil. I served this soup with the traditional Indian “tarka“, which is a mixture of onions and spices, served with Dahl, but I made my own mixture which is a little different from the traditional tarka.

The interesting and pretty thing about this soup is its color, it has a very bright orange color (I remember from my wheel of color that yellow and red make a nice orange) and it is beautiful to look at. I don’t know you, but I want to eat pretty food, if the food is not pretty, I don’t enjoy it as much, so the more color, the more exciting and the better. 

Ingredients for 4

For the soup

  • 4 corns on the cob
  • 3 large tomatoes
  • 1 leek
  • 2 tbs curry powder
  • vegetable broth
  • olive oil
  • 1 onion

For the tarka

  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed in a mortar
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tbs coriander, chopped
  • salt 

Remove corn from its cob. Heat up some olive oil in a large pot, add corn and leeks, cook until leek is soft. Add curry powder. Stir well, cook for a few minutes and add tomatoes. Add broth, salt and pepper. Cook until the soup has reduced, and vegetables are soft. Mix in a blender but do not blend into a purée, leave some pieces to get a texture.

For the tarka, brown onions in olive oil, add mustard seeds, coriander seeds and jalapeno pepper, stir well. Add tomatoes and salt. Stir for a few minutes. Remove from stove and add cilantro. Serve a tbs of this mixture on top of the soup.