Cream of sweet corn soup

This cream of sweet corn soup is quick, easy and a definite kid-pleaser. It uses corn, cream (not cream style corn) and a few basic aromatics. Very basic and simple to put together and is best had fresh as soon as it is made. I served this soup alongside vegetable momos, vegetable & corn fried rice for a kid-friendly lunch. My husband’s favourite soups, all contain corn in them. It’s a different thing that he doesn’t order anything beyond sweet corn chicken soup. He’s a rule book, a 180 pages ruled book, but he’s better than the 300 pages hard-bound ruled book that is his family; sorry “our” family. My 180 page ruled book really liked the soup and so did little Lakshmi, my cousin’s little one. My kids don’t eat soup, so they didn’t eat this beyond the first few spoons but I was glad I made it. I hope my kids will eventually move to eating stuff other than idli/dosai.

I enjoyed the soup too. I used the pureed corn and cream as is without straining, but if you prefer a smooth texture, run the puree through a strainer before adding it to the soup. This is an easy soup, one that you can very easily make for a weekday dinner. Serve garnished with a small sprig of parsley or thinly sliced green chillies. If you’d like a thicker chowder type consistency and some added flavour, add a small boiled potato to the corn cream mixture and blend together.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients

Sweet corn kernels – 300 gm steamed (or scraped from 2 whole boiled corn cobs) divided
Fresh Cream – 150 ml
Onion – 1 medium chopped fine
Garlic – 2-3 pods chopped fine
Black pepper powder – 2 tsp (adjust)
Salt to taste
Water – 3-1/2 cups
Corn Flour – 2 tbsp
Water – 2 tbsp
Butter – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

1.      Steam the corn kernels for 5-10 minutes till tender. Set aside. If using whole corn cobs, pressure cook for 15-20 minutes with water and salt. Once cooked, let cool, scrape the corn kernels and set aside.

2.      Take half of the corn kernels in a mixie/blender along with 150 gm of the fresh cream and blend well to a fine puree. Set aside.

3.      In a pot, heat oil and butter together. Throw in the chopped onion and garlic and sauté till the onions turn translucent. Remove from fire. Let cool and grind to a paste.

4.      In the same pot, add 3-1/2 cups water and the ground onion-garlic paste and stir well to mix. Season with salt and pepper and when it comes to a boil, add the remaining corn kernels and the corn-cream puree and let simmer for 5-10 minutes for the flavours to blend.

5.      Dissolve 2 tbsp of corn flour in 2 tbsp of water to make a thin slurry and add this to the simmering soup. The soup should start to thicken. When the soup is your desired consistency, switch off. Serve hot or warm garnished with fresh parsley or thinly sliced green chillies.