Cream of Mushroom Soup

Today we will learn to prepare Cream of Mushroom Soup without the addition of any milk cream, cornflour and refined flour (Maida) for thickening, extremely natural and healthy. Here we are going to use only Mushrooms and some garnishing ingredients, that’s all about it. This method of preparing Cream of Mushroom Soup is very simple and quick. Once you learn it, you will love to make this on a regular basis.

Whenever I have a soup in any restaurant, the first preference is always a Mushroom Soup. As this is such a favourite, I have learnt to prepare a healthy version of it. As we all know that Mushrooms are a good option for those looking for weight loss diet, then why not prepare it completely fat free. That is why, I have not added any milk cream even for garnishing or for taste. If you are lucky, not being obese, then, you may add milk cream for garnishing and for taste, otherwise not.

Without much wait, let us know the list of ingredients required.

INGREDIENTS:

(1) 200 grams of Button Mushrooms
(2) 2 tablespoons of Butter for sautéing Mushrooms
(You may use 4 tablespoons of Olive oil instead of butter)
(3) 3/4 cup minced shallots. If unavailable, use regular Onion
(4) 3 cloves of garlic, minced
(5) Half teaspoon of Pepper powder
(6) Half teaspoon of Black Salt / Common Salt
(7) Chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing. If available, you may use Thyme leaves / Parsley leaves.
(8) Water for cooking Mushrooms and while grinding OR
1 cup (200 ml) chicken stock or vegetable stock for vegetarian option

METHOD :

(1) Wipe all the button mushrooms with a clean wet cloth. I prefer cleaning the mushrooms thoroughly under running tap water. Then allow it to dry. Once dried, chop them into bite sized pieces as shown in the picture.

(2) Keep separate, 50 grams / 1 cup of Mushroom for cooking using boiling method. We will sauté the remaining 150 grams / 2 cups of mushrooms in olive oil or using butter.

(3) Heat 2 tablespoon or a small block of butter (As shown in picture) in a Kadhai / wok.

(4) Add 150 grams / 2 cups of chopped Mushrooms to the melted butter.

(5) Saute for 10 minutes until they are slightly browned. While sautéing, the mushrooms will release water and you may allow the mushrooms to cook and brown till the water dries up.

(6) We will also add minced garlic and shallot onions or regular onions and mix well and sauté.

(7) Now, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in between.

(8) In the meantime, we also cook separately in a utensil the 50 grams of mushrooms kept aside. For that, we take a small utensil and add these mushrooms with 1 glass of water and boil for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked. You may add 2 pinch of salt while cooking.

(9) Once cooked, strain the mushrooms with a perforated ladle and collect in a bowl. We will use the cooked mushrooms for garnishing the soup later.

(10) Now, uncover the kadhai and take the sauteed mushrooms (collect it with a perforated ladle) in a jar of the mixer grinder. If you have, you may use an immersion blender or a standing blender to puree the mushrooms until smooth.

(11) You can use a bit of water remained after boiling mushrooms to add to the puree to adjust the thickness of the puree and help in grinding. Otherwise, you may use regular water.

(12) Add half teaspoon of pepper powder.

(13) Add half teaspoon of Salt.

(14) Add remaining mushroom stock and and pulse the grinder again.

(15) Now put back the puree in the same Kadhai used for sautéing the mushrooms. We will now reheat the mushroom puree. Add regular water or the stock to it to adjust the thickness of the soup. Instead of reheating in a Kadhai, you can reheat in a microwave if you want.

(16) Once the soup is simmered well for about 3-4 minutes, turn off the gas flame.

(17) Transfer the soup in a soup bowl. Garnish the soup with chopped coriander leaves and pepper powder.