Roasted Pumpkin and Pepper Soup

I always love to try new soup recipes using a varied variety of vegetables. I tried roasted pumpkin and pepper soup this weekend and it was a great comfort during the cold weather week.

Ingredients
2 cups cubed pumpkin or squash
1/2 cup red pepper (use green pepper or capsicum if red pepper is not on hand)chopped into big pieces
1/4 cup onion chopped into large pieces
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves or parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
salt for taste

Method
Roast the cubed pumpkin, pepper and onions on all sides till they slightly caramelize(or get a lighr brown color). They can be roasted in the oven or on a grill or a tava. Grind with milk, chili powder, cumin powder into a smooth paste. Add the chopped coriander leaves or parsley. Get the soup to a boil and serve hot.

Sambar Powder / Kolumbo Pitti

Here is the recipe for the ever versatile sambar powder. Ingredients 1 cup coriander seeds 1 cup red chilies (or as per taste) 1 1/2 teaspoon urad dal 1 1/2 teaspoon chana dal 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon pepper corn 10-12 karipatta leaves 1/2 teaspoon heeng 1/2 teaspoon methi seeds 

1/2 teaspoon jeera seeds 

Method

Dry roast these ingredients one by one on a medium flame till crisp and hot. The ingredients should not burn or blacken in color. Put all the ingredients in a dry grinder (I use a coffee/ spice grinder) and make a fine powder. Store it in an airtight container. I use this powder for rasam, sambar and to make sambar rice. It can also be used with puffed rice.