Tomato Soup (No Corn Flour Added)

Years ago, and by that, I mean about two decades ago, I used to make a tomato soup recipe with added corn flour. (For the life of me, I cannot recollect where I had sourced it from). One fine day I suddenly decided to make tomato soup without any thickening agent (haan, hateli Bawi hu, aise jhatke kabhi kabhi lag jaate hai. :P ). This is the recipe that emerged from that ‘jhatka’. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 kilo red, ripe tomatoes

1 carrot; peeled and diced

2 stalks celery

2 cloves garlic; peeled

2 cups water

Salt; to taste

Black pepper powder; to taste

Sugar; to taste

2 slices bread; cut into cubes

2 teaspoons oil

Method:

1. Wash the tomatoes. Cut a slit or two into each tomato.
2. Put the tomatoes in a pressure cooker, add 2 cups water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. 
3. Remove cooker from heat and allow the pressure to release by itself. 
4. Remove tomatoes from the cooker, peel the skin.
5. Remove carrots, garlic and celery; keep aside.
6. Strain the water from the cooker; keep aside.
7. When the tomatoes are cool enough, put them in a grinder with carrots, garlic and celery and whiz to a smooth pulp.
8. Strain the pulp in a sieve to ensure the pulp is devoid of seeds and is of a velvety texture.
9. Heat the pulp; add half to three-fourth cup of the strained soupy water. (Add more or less depending on the consistency you desire; I prefer a thick, hearty soup).
10. Add seasonings to taste. (I added 1¼ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon and a wee bit more of pepper powder and 2 tablespoons sugar).  
11. Simmer for a few minutes and take the pot off the heat. 
12. Heat oil in a small non-stick pan. Add the bread cubes and on very gentle heat keep tossing the bread cubes until they beautifully crisp up on all sides. 
13. Pour the soup into soup bowl and garnish with the bread croutons. 

Chef Notes: 

1. All three seasonings (salt, pepper and sugar) added by me have been mentioned in exact quantities but please adjust these three seasonings according to taste. My family prefers a sweetish tomato soup with a hard backlash of black pepper.
2. I prefer not to deep-fry the croutons but if you prefer deep fried ones go right ahead and do that. Those will work too.
3. If you aren’t fond of soggy croutons, serve them on the side instead of adding them as garnish to the soup.
4. You may, of course, use olive oil or butter to fry the croutons. 
5. This quantity makes 3 small, or 2 large, bowls of soup.
6. You may share the direct link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.