What Makes Veg Maharashtrian Soup Kalhan A Monsoon Favourite

Monsoon in Maharashtra merits a book of its own. Bringing alive the dry patches of land, making the trees greener and the skies bluer. The nip in the air also intensifies the cravings for all things warm and comforting like soup. The classic chicken soup and sweet corn have their own charm, but did you know Maharashtra also has its own range of monsoon delicacies, including a soup made with a whole gamut of beans and lentils such as moong, matki, masoor kulith, and chawli, etc. 

This multi-bean soup is known as Kalhan. A light, nourishing, and criminally underrated soup, Kalhan is one of the monsoon gems you should try before the season ends. While the beans offer a perfect, earthy base, the soup is also punchy in parts courtesy the spices such as ginger, green chillies, hing, and cumin. 

Together, they offer a medley of flavours that is comforting and tantalising at the same time. One of the best features about the soup is that it is incredibly easy to prepare, and you do not even need an army of exotic ingredients to put it together. Just a bunch of everyday staples.  

Here’s the recipe for Red Chawli Kalhan.

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup of chawali
• 2 tsp ghee
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp hing
• 2 green chillies
• 4-5 curry leaves
• ½ cup of coconut milk
• Sugar, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Water, as required
• 2 kokum  

Method:

• Soak the chawli overnight. Take a pressure cooker and pressure cook it with one cup of water until soft.
• Then transfer the cooked chawli on a big sieve, place a container beneath.
• With the help of a masher, mash the beans on the sieve and let the liquid collect in the container. 
• Add more water if required, and mash it again, extracting from the pulp.
• Remove fibre from the collected broth. It should be smooth.
• Next, in a pot temper ghee with hing, cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves.
• Once it is fragrant, add the broth along with coconut milk and ¼ cup of water.
• Add salt, sugar, and kokum to taste. 
• Add water if you want the consistency to be lighter. 
• Bring to simmer, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Try this soup soon and let us know how you liked it. Do not forget to share the pictures.