Corn Chowder (Vegetarian)

Select corn with fresh, dark-green husks and pump yellow kernels. Boil the corn in unsalted water for exactly 8 minutes, as excessive cooking toughens the corn.

PREPARATION AND COOKING TIME: 30-40 minutes
YIELD: enough for 6 persons

6 cups (1.5 litres) Root Vegetable Stock or water
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into tiny 0.5 cm (1/4-inch) cubs
1 bay leaf
2 cups (500 ml) cooked corn kernels (about 3 medium ears of corn)
50 g (1 3/4 ounces) butter
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) yellow asafoetida powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) black pepper
1/4/teaspoon (1 ml) nutmeg
2 tablespoons (40 ml) plain flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt, or as desired
1/2 cup (125 ml) sour cream
2 tablespoons (40 ml) chopped fresh parsley

1. Boil the stock or water over high heat in a heavy 4-litre/quart saucepan. Add the potatoes and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to moderate and semi-cook the potatoes.
2. Whilst the potatoes are cooking, coarsely mince the cooked corn kernals in a food processor or blender until they are half-pureed. Add the pureed corn to the nearly cooked potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the mixture into a bowl. Cover and keep hot.
3. rinse the saucepan, add the butter and melt over moderate heat. Add the asafoetida, pepper, nutmeg, and the flour. Cook the flour in the butter until it darkens a shade or two. Add the potato-and-corn mixture into the butter and flour whilst stirring with a whisk.
4. Bright the soup to a boil over moderate heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the salt, sour cream, and parsley. Serve in pre-warmed soup bowls with a spoonful of sour cream and garnish with fresh parsley.

(Source: Great Vegetarian Dishes: Over 240 recipes from around the world by Kurma dasa. See more on http://www.kurma.net/)

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Ingrid's Notes on this recipe:

• Watch out for the different kinds of sour cream in the market. Be careful not to purchase the ones with gelatin (extracted from animal tissue or bones). See the definition of gelatin on Wikipedia.
• I have also served the soup with small round french bread and sour dough with the inside hollowed out. Remember to use small breads...people can't finish the whole thing if you picked a regular bowl-sized bread to serve the soup! :P
• Oh, and you might be able to find "asafoetida" powder under the name "hing" in the market. I personally have never seen "asafoetida powder" being sold anywhere in the US. So try "hing".
  

(Keywords: vegetarian, soup, corn)