Jalapeño Soup

Jalapeño Soup is a creamy, hot, slightly tangy soup, perfect for a cold winter/rainy night. I love the flavor of this chili pepper. The soup is so easy to make that you can whip it up in a jiffy. The other ingredient in the soup just enhance the flavor of jalapeños and add more volume to the soup.

Jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper. The name jalapeño is Spanish for "from Xalapa" (also spelled Jalapa), a town in Veracruz, Mexico, where the pepper was traditionally cultivated. It is commonly picked and consumed while still green, but occasionally it is allowed to fully ripen and turn crimson red.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients	Quantity
Garlic chopped	2 cloves
Onion chopped	1 medium
Tomato chopped	1 big
Jalapeños	4
Coriander springs(optional)	4-5
Green Capsicum chopped	1
Vegetable stock	2 cubes
Whipping cream	1tbsp
Cornflour	1tbsp
Cold Water	1 cup
Salt	to taste
Sour cream or vinegar of jalapeño	to taste
Butter	1tbsp
Cumin powder	1/4 tsp

Method

Finely chop 2 jalapeños and slice 2 jalapenos.

Heat butter in a pan and saute onion and garlic for 30 seconds.

Add onion, tomato, sliced jalapeño, coriander leaves, cumin powder, salt, capsicum and fry for 30 seconds.

Add 1/2 cup water, crumble vegetable stock cubes and boil till vegetables are soft. Add water if the pan is too dry. Cool and grind to a smooth paste.

Pour into the pan, add corn flour dissolved in cold water and boil for 3 minutes.

Boil till the desired consistency of soup is achieved. Check for salt. Add chopped jalapeños, sour cream and just heat till cream dissolves. Do not boil.

Garnish with coriander springs. Serve hot with garlic bread.

Points to remember:

• Check for salt in the vegetable stock cubes.
• If using the vinegar from canned jalapeño please check for sourness of soup and the heat of jalapeños. 
• If you feel the coriander sprigs does not go with the soup you can omit it.
• Sometimes, I garnish the soup with some dried parsley.

Garlic Bread

Refer to my other recipe for garlic bread.