Indian-Spiced Potato & Leek Soup
Milk and Cardamom
Photo by Julia Gartland
- Serves
- 6
- Prep Time
- 10 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 Minutes
This is a mashup of a cozy, potato and leek soup and all the spices typically found in Gujarati dal, a lentil soup. Gently spiced with cumin, coriander, curry leaves, and more, this flavorful soup works best, in my experience, with dairy milk. It makes the soup creamy without being heavy, and its flavor enhances the warm Indian spices.
The soup is finished with a tempered spice oil, or tadka (also called vaghar). Serve with crusty bread, and warm yourself up!
Ingredients
- For the potato leek soup:
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 large leeks (about 358 grams), white and light green parts only, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 large (about 1 pound) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, 1-inch dice
- 3 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
- Kosher salt, to taste
- —
- For the vaghar:
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 curry leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch turmeric
Featured Video
Indian-Spiced Potato & Leek Soup
This recipe is shared in partnership with GonnaNeedMilk.
Directions
- Step 1
Make the soup: Into a saucepan over medium-high heat, add butter. Once the butter has melted, add leeks and a pinch of salt and stir well. Sauté the leeks for 10 minutes, stirring often. The leeks should be soft and broken down. Add coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir and sauté for 1 minute. Add chopped potatoes and stir until well combined. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes while covered, until the potatoes are tender. Add in the whole milk. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it’s smooth. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste and remove from heat.
- Step 2
Make the vaghar: Add oil Into a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to pop, stir in the curry leaves. Once the curry leaves stop sputtering, remove the pan from the heat and add cayenne and turmeric. Stir well and immediately pour the hot oil over the soup and serve.