Tlalpeño Soup

From A Taste of Mexico, Kippy Nigh, Book Publishing Co., 1996.

I was going to have enchiladas for dinner so thought a Mexican soup might make a good starter.

I took 100g chickpeas and poured boiling water over them. They went into the microwave for 5 minutes and were then left for an hour to soak. I now drained them and placed them into a large saucepan with a litre of water and four unpeeled garlic cloves. The water was brought to the boil and then simmered until the chickpeas had softened—about an hour.

In a frying pan I sautéed for about 5 minutes 2 garlic cloves, an onion and a large carrot, all chopped. 

The unpeeled garlic cloves were removed from the chickpea water and the sautéed vegetables were added as well as 120g shiitake and button mushrooms cut into small pieces, a couple of canned chipotles sliced thinly, a tablespoon chopped coriander and half a teaspoon salt. These were all simmered for 20 minutes.

The soup was served over some cubed avocado and topped with a little chopped coriander. A slice of lime was included on the plate as well as some chopped small red chillies to use as desired.

This was a pleasant mix of Mexican flavours, especially the smoky heat of the chipotles, always a winner for me.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔