INDIAN CHICKEN HEALING SOUP

This is a fantastic soup which can be a treat for you, especially when you are down with cold and fever. My mum used to cook it for us when we had flue and she came from a family of Buddhist healers of South Asia. Well, I will go straight into recipe which is actually very simple but extremely delicious when it is cold and gray winter outside. 

You need:

One organic free range chicken

6 to 8 shallots chopped and fried in butter to golden colour

1 inch ginger shredded in long thin pieces

2 carrots cut in chunks

2 potatoes cut in halves

One stick of cinnamon

5-6 cloves

3 cardamoms

3 Bay leaves

One tea spoon of whole coriander seeds (optional)

One tea spoon of turmeric (it has great healing power)

1 teaspoon of whole black peppers

1/2 cup of plain yogurt

Salt to taste

2 table spoon of butter.

Process: cut the chicken in big pieces and wash them thoroughly. You can remove the skin if you like. I usually remove the skin. Take big soup pot or a stock pot and throw the chicken in cover with water and all the ingredients including the yogurt, except the onion. For yogurt make sure you beat the yogurt in a cup of water and mix it thoroughly then pour it in.

Simmer the soup for an hour or so until the chicken is soft. Taste for salt and if you think it need some add some more and that goes for pepper too. Keep the soup on a low heat while you make the onion fry.

In a frying pan fry the shallots in butter in low heat until they are golden brown. Throw the fried shallots in soup and you will see the beautiful fragrance of your chicken soup made you already feel very fresh.

Serving: you can have this soup on its own or with some Nan Bread or white basmati rice. Remember when you are not feeling well, whole grain will take more energy for digest and will remain in your stomach for long. I also serve it with Thai jasmine sticky rice. My children have it with toasted bread and they love to soak them in. Eat in small quantity for the day and I am sure before you go to bed that night you will feel much better. Keep in cold corner of the kitchen for the night and next morning warm it on low heat and you will find the taste has matured a lot and it is even more delicious. 

Ginger, and all those spices have a natural healing power and chicken itself is good for recovering from flue and cold.

Note: I am deployed in a very remote location now and do not have access to make this soup to add a nice photograph of it. If any reader feels interested to make this soup, they may as well take a bit of trouble to take an attractive picture of it and send it to me. Please do not forget to let me know if you were successful in making this soup.