Spiced beetroot and tomato soup

I had two more large beetroot left, so I made this soup, adapted slightly from Madhur Jaffrey’s Eastern Vegetarian Cooking, which I bought in 1983s. The link is to a subsequent edition.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large beetroot, peeled and diced
• 500ml water
• butter
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, or a 2cm stick of cinnamon
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 level tsp ground black pepper
• Sour cream or double cream

METHOD:

• Cook the chopped beetroot in the water. Simmer for about an hour, to make sure the beetroot is really soft.
• Drain the beetroot, and make the liquid up to 450ml if necessary.
• Add the beetroot back to the liquor, along with the tin of chopped tomatoes and use the soup wand to liquidise
• In a saucepan, fry the spices in butter, and then add the beetroot and tomatoes, and bring to a simmer.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Strain the soup through a coarse sieve to remove the whole spices, and then add the cream, and reheat.