SPICY CHICKEN SOUP

Chicken Soup is the best remedy for cold. Sipping the hot soup and breathing in the steam helps clear up congestion. Amino acid released from the chicken during cooking chemically resembles the drug acetylcysteine, prescribed for bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Spices that are added to chicken soup like garlic and pepper work the same way as modern cough medicines, thinning mucus and making breathing easier. Now lets know how to make a spicy chicken soup, an apt soup for this climate.

Spicy Chicken Soup

Ingredients

Chicken-1/4 kg

Onion-1

Tomato-1

Green chilly-2

Bay leaf-1

Turmeric powder-1 tspn

Salt-as required

Oil-as required

To Grind

Pepper-2 tbsp

Garlic pods-5

Cumin seeds-1tspn

Fennel seeds-1/2 tspn

Method

Cut the chicken into small pieces. Clean and drain the water. Grind the mixtures given under "to grind" coarsely. Slice the onions lengthwise. Chop the tomatoes. Slit the green chillies. In a pressure cooker add the chicken, half of the onion, tomatoes, green chillies, ground mixture, turmeric powder, a tspn of oil,salt and 3 cups of water. Let it cook for 5 or 6 whistles.

Now heat a pan add some oil and saute the bay leaf and the remaining onions. Add this to the soup mixture and heat it again for a minute. Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Tips

Gingelly oil enhances the taste of the soup.

Chicken with bones makes this soup taste the best.