Slavic-Asian fusion: curried borscht

“Is there curry in this?” Roger DuPuis asked, sounding as if he couldn’t believe his good fortune. “I absolutely love it.”

“It feels like a good winter treat,” added Gabby Lang.

“I’m just sorry Ashley isn’t here today,” said Lyndsay Bartos. “I think she’d really like this.”

By that point I could feel my grin spreading from ear-to-ear.

They liked it! The Times Leader taste testers really liked the red beet soup — some might call it borscht — that I made in the TL test kitchen this week.

My primary impetus had been a call from a reader who left a message that she enjoyed the recipe for Beets With Hazelnuts and Yogurt that we published in February and hoped I’d be able to follow it up with red beet soup.

I tried returning the call to ask about her preferences, because some recipes include meat while others don’t, some call for a rainbow of other vegetables in addition to beets, and there’s plenty of variety among herbs and spices as well.

But I didn’t get to speak to her, so I turned to a tried-and-true recipe for red beet soup that we published in April 2020 and made a batch based on that — with two adjustments.

First, taking a tip from an online food blog, I grated my raw red beets this time rather than slicing them so they would more quickly become tender in the soup pot.

Also, since I’ve realized how nicely cumin and curry powder enhance a certain lentil soup, I’ve started adding that combination to batches of what I would call “regular vegetable soup.”

This week, for the first time, I added cumin and curry powder to borscht. It felt as if I was trying fusion cuisine, since I associate red beet soup with Eastern Europe and the lentil soup with India.

But it seemed to work, especially for Roger, who is our news editor as well as a Times Leader taste tester.

“Beets have a very distinctive, earthy flavor, and it can be polarizing,” he said. “People tend to love them or hate them. Now, I don’t mind them but for people who do, they might still like this soup — because you don’t really taste the beets.”

Lyndsay, who is a newsroom page designer as well as a taste tester, agreed. “It was a little jarring because the soup looked so red, I expected it to really taste like beets. And it didn’t,” she said. “If you close your eyes, it just tastes like a really good soup.”

Reporter Margaret Roarty and advertising paginator Jamie Hartmann, both of whom said they don’t often consume red beets, found the soup palatable enough.

“I really like the carrots,” Margaret said pointing to a very noticeable ingredient.

“I’d add more salt,” Jamie said, nodding thoughtfully. “And I’d serve it over rice.”

So, if you enjoy the taste of red beets, you might want to cut down on the spices in this soup. Or you might want to increase the number of beets.

On the other hand, if you’re not crazy about the taste of beets but know they’re good for you, you might want to follow this recipe as is.

RED BEET SOUP

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 large onion, diced

3 medium carrots, sliced

1 medium potato, sliced

1/3 to 1/2 small head cabbage, sliced

28 ounces (1 large can) diced tomatoes

8 cups vegetable, beef or chicken broth

4 medium red beets, grated

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

2 bay leaves

Clean, peel and cut up the vegetables. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and saute onion and garlic until translucent. Add carrots and potato, stirring so they don’t burn. Add cabbage, tomatoes, broth, red beets, and remaining ingredients. Simmer for half an hour until all vegetables are soft. Remove bay leaves before serving.

This soup will be hearty and chunky. If you prefer it to be smooth, I’d recommend an immersion blender.

It can be served hot or cold, with a dollop of sour cream if desired.