Hungarian Mushroom Soup

We are now moving to Hungary in our Culinary journey across the globe.After the heavy breakfast from Guyana, we have a simple soup from the Hungarian cuisine.But before going to the recipe, here is something from the country I chose…

• Hungary is a land locked country in Central Europe.
• It is one of the oldest countries in Europe. It was founded in
  896, before France and Germany became separate entities, and before the
  unification of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
• Danube and Tisza flow through this country along with the other rivers.
• Hungarians have won Nobel prize in all categories except for peace.
• The word ‘coach’ derives from the name of the Hungarian town Kocs, where
  multi-passenger wheeled vehicles first appeared around 1500.
• There are 500 place in Hungary where thermal water occurs!
• Herendi porcelain is famous and quite expensive as well.
• Several other inventions were made by Hungarians who fled the
  country prior to World War II, including holography, the
  ballpoint pen , the theory of the hydrogen bomb,the BASIC programming language,Rubik’s cube and krypton electric bulb.

The Hungarian Cuisine:

•  Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, fresh bread, dairy products and cheeses.
• Mixing of various meats in a single dish is a characteristic of this cuisine.
• A lot of spices are used in this cuisine the main being paprika.
• The dishes are a bit on the higher side ,not only on the calories and fat but also heavy in aroma, flavor and texture.
• From the ancient days to the modern days, soup is one of the main dishes in a meal.

Some of the popular dishes from this cuisine are

• Langos – Fried Doug 
• Gulyas – Goulash – A soup with beef potato, vegetables, paprika and other spices.
• Porkolt- A meat stew
• Halaszle – Fisherman’s soup
• Chicken paprikash
• Palacsinta- Crepes
•  Besztenyepure – Chestnut puree
•  Kurtoskalacs – Transylvanian Chimney Cakes –
• Dobos cake
• Stuffed cabbage
• Fried cheese etc

 I made a simple yet flavorful soup from this cuisine.This is prepared by caramelizing the onion and mushroom, preparing a roux and then adding it to the cooked mushroom. The potato added to this soup is optional but it gives a nice texture and makes the soup filling.

Behind the scene:

 Lil Angel loves mushroom so I took a small break from the lentil soup routine and made this for her. She and Lil dude enjoyed the soup. This soup will be featured in our menu quite often henceforth as we all loved it so much..

I used:

Mushrooms- 10, washed, cleaned and chopped
Onion-1, chopped
Garlic-2 pods,sliced
Potato-1, peeled and cubed
Coriander leaves- a handful
Red chili powder-1 teaspoon
Pepper powder-1/2 teaspoon
Butter- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the roux

All purpose flour-2 tablespoons
Butter- 2 tablespoons
Milk-2 cups

Melt butter in a pan and saute the onion and garlic till onion turns soft. Add the potato and saute for a minute. Then in goes the chopped mushroom and coriander leaves.

Add the red chili powder, pepper powder and salt. Cook for a while. The mushrooms will sweat. Keep cooking till the moisture has evaporated and the mixture is dry. Remove from heat and keep aside.

For the roux:

Melt butter in a pan and add the flour. Cook on low flaming mixing well it, till it turns golden brown.Add milk and whisk well so that there are no lumps.[I used the same pan in which I cooked the veggie.That why you see a few specs of coriander leaves in the roux]. Also I removed the mixture from the pan into a small bowl and whisked the mixture after adding milk and then returned it to the pan.

Once the mixture in the pan comes to a boil, add the mushroom and simmer ,covered till the potato is cooked. Stir a couple of times in between. Add more milk / water if the soup is too thick.

Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Note:

• Dill leaves are generally used. I could not find them here so used coriander leaves.
• The color was pale while the soup cooked and later turned nice and brown.