Spinach Soup | Palak Soup : Healthy Soup Recipes

I talked about eating healthy in my last post. Also, I am planning to cook soups often this winter. Soup fills your tummy & is very satisfying to sip a hot bowl of soup in the winter.

Some of you already know that we belong to "popeye family". So, I decided to kick off our soup journey with a spinach soup :p

Preparation Time: 
Cooking Time: 
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Source: Monsoonspice

Ingredients: 
Fresh Spinach : About 5-6 cups, loosely packed (stems separated)
Onion: 1/3 cup or 1/2 onion, sliced (I used red onion)
Bay leaf: 1 small or 1/2
Cinnamon: a small stick, about 1/2 inch
Cloves: 2-3 nos
Green chilli : 1 no, slit
Sugar: 1 tsp, a little more or less
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp
Water: About 2-2.5 cups
Salt: As needed

For the white sauce:
Butter: 1 tsp
AP flour/Maida: 2 tsp
Milk: 3/4th cup

For the garnish: 
Croutons (optional). I used some toasted whole wheat bread.

Method: 

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. When oil is hot, add the sliced onions & saute till the onions turn translucent.
• Add the coarsely chopped spinach to the sauteed onions & cook till the spinach turns soft.
• Throw in the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green chilli, lemon juice, salt, and sugar to the sauteed spinach. Add the water & pressure cook the spinach for 1 whistle. Allow the steam to escape & let the spinach cool.
• Meantime, prepare the white sauce. Heat butter in a saucepan. Add the all purpose flour the butter & cook the flour on a low-medium heat until the flour turns light brown in color. Keep stirring the flour to ensure even cooking of the flour. When flour is cooked, add little milk at a time & whisk. Ensure there are no lumps. Cook the white sauce mixture on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Keep stirring to ensure even cooking. Keep the cooked white sauce aside.
• Discard the cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf & green chilli from the cooked spinach. Drain the water & keep the water aside. You will need the water later.
• Make a smooth puree out of the cooked spinach. Add the drained water while making the spinach puree.
• Pour the puree to a sauce pan, adjust the seasoning (if needed) & bring it to a boil. Add the white sauce little at a time & whisk well.
• Allow the soup to boil. Once the soup is hot & boiling, turn off the heat.
• Serve the soup hot with croutons or toasted garlic bread or with a salad.

Notes: 

• You could add a tsp of cream just before serving the soup. 
• You could even add a pinch of pepper powder before serving.