an unlikely crush

So remember when I confessed to you my most recent infatuation?  With cilantro?  Honestly, I simply can't seem to get it out of my head.  I crave the sight, taste, smell, and feel of the herb (can you feel an herb?) more times a day than I care to admit.  I find it mildly amusing that, at this very moment, I have a laundry list of to-dos that seems to multiply by the minute, including a large stack of unopened mail, a full basket of dirty laundry, a lonely old camera that I've been meaning to learn how to use, thank you notes to write, weekly Sunday phone calls to make, and yet all I want to do is gush about cilantro. 

To you. 

Will you indulge me just this once?

I would send you a pot of this gorgeously spiced soup to show my gratitude if I could.  Truly I would!  Since I cannot (or at least not until edible teleportation is a reality), you'll have to take my word that it is divine, so easy to pull together, and the best part about it is that it tastes like it's been simmering away all day on the stove, but it only takes about thirty or forty minutes.  I love those kinds of soups.  Don't you?  Not to mention this is a year-round kind, and by that I mean you can of course use fresh peas when they're available but during all other months when peas are not in season you can use frozen.  They work beautifully.   

Spiced Pea Soup
adapted from Complete Indian Cooking

you'll need:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (the recipe calls for gheem which I had never heard of- vegetable oil was suggested as a substitute so this is what I used)
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups frozen green peas
1 Tablespoon or more fresh cilantro, chopped plus a few extra leaves for garnish
1 fresh green chile, seeded and diced
1 1/4 cups cream (or half milk, half cream)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic and saute over low heat until golden brown and soft, about five minutes or so.

Add the potato, ginger, cumin, and coriander and stir well, making sure the spices coat the potato nicely.  Continue cooking over low heat for two to three minutes.

Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let gently simmer for fifteen minutes.  Add the peas and green chile, and add salt and pepper to taste (1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper was right on for me).  Continue to simmer for five minutes.

The next step is to blend.  I used a food processor, which worked fine, but if ever there was a time when I wished I owned an immersion blender, this was it.  I blended the liquid mixture in four different batches.  Twice.  Save yourself some time and blend each batch long enough to achieve a silky smooth consistency. 

Return the soup back to the pan, add the cream, and heat through.  Serve hot with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro leaves. 

*If you have a food processor I'm sure you already know how to use it, but I must mention that you should obey the liquid capacity rule and do not fill the container above the printed line.  I tell you this as someone who has scoffed at the line, done it my own way, and made a huge mess as a result.  Let me make the mistakes first and save you the trouble by sharing them and advising you to do the exact opposite.  Sound good?  Good.  Now hop to it and make this soup.  Your cilantro begs of you.