On a chilly evening, or on days when you’re tired and don’t feel like cooking an elaborate meal, a bowl of hot soup does the trick. This garlic soup needs just four ingredients that are almost always in an Indian kitchen: garlic, oil or ghee, water and salt. The flavour is surprisingly gentle. When garlic is cooked slowly, the sharp bite melts away and turns soft, sweet and mellow, and the whole kitchen starts smelling wonderful. It takes under half an hour, and there’s hardly any chopping involved. Here’s how to make it, step by step.
Because it’s going to be cooked until soft and then, if you like, blended, you don’t need to chop the garlic finely,. Because browned garlic turns bitter and takes over the whole soup, you want it to turn soft, translucent and fragrant, not golden or brown,. For two generous bowls, you’ll need about fifteen to twenty peeled garlic cloves, which is roughly one and a half heads. Along with that, keep one and a half tablespoons of olive oil or ghee, three to four cups of water and salt to taste. That’s all. Black pepper is a lovely optional extra, but the soup is perfectly good without it. Since garlic is the star, choose firm, fresh bulbs, and avoid any that have gone soft or started to sprout. Peeling this much garlic sounds tedious, but there’s an easy trick. Press each clove lightly under the flat side of a knife, and the skin slips right off. Then cut the cloves in half lengthwise. If you see a green shoot running through the centre, remove it, since it can taste sharper and slightly bitter. Put a pot on low heat and add the oil or ghee. When it warms up, add the garlic and let it cook very gently, stirring now and then, for about ten minutes. If it starts to colour too quickly, lower the flame. Taking your time at this stage is what gives the soup its mellow, sweet flavour. Pour in the water, add a pinch of salt, and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover partly and let it simmer for about twenty minutes, until the garlic is very tender and can be mashed easily against the side of the pot. For a rustic soup, you can simply mash some of the cloves with the back of a ladle. For a smooth, creamy soup, blend it with a hand blender, taking care since the liquid is hot. Taste the soup and add more salt and a pinch of black pepper if you’d like some warmth. Ladle it into bowls while it’s hot, and serve it with toast or bread on the side. A squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil or a few chilli flakes can lift it even more. Leftover soup keeps in the fridge for two to three days, and it’s best reheated gently on the stove.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice. Garlic soup is a simple meal and not a treatment for any illness. Garlic can cause heartburn or stomach upset in some people, so if you have digestive problems, take blood-thinning medication or have any health condition, consult a doctor before eating large amounts.