Scrap Vegetable Stock
Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma's instructions for making a versatile stock with leftover vegetable scraps.
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable trimmings for example: asparagus ends; carrot peels and base; celery, fennel and leek ends; cucumber and apple skins; ginger and garlic peels and bits; green bean and snap pea tails; onion ends (limit to ½ cup due to strong flavour); potato peels
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp peppercorns
Instructions
- Rinse the vegetable trimmings and place them in a big soup pot. Add enough water to cover everything. Note: Some of the water will evaporate during the cooking process, so start with as much as your pot will hold and add more as needed.
- Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the whole spices and continue to simmer for 1½ hours. Turn the heat off.
- After the liquid has cooled, strain the mixture out. Press out every last drop of stock from the bits in the strainer to draw out the flavour and nutritional goodness.
- Use the stock straightaway or refrigerate it for up to a week. You can also freeze it in freezer-friendly glass jars for up to 5 months.
- Thaw and use as needed in risotto, daal, stew, pulao, biryani, soup, etc.
Notes
Variations
Corn stock: Reserve rinsed corn husks and cobs (use organic if available). Skip the other trimmings and aromatics to allow the flavour of the corn to shine.
Chicken stock: Put the leftover carcass of a whole roast chicken in the soup pot, including the bones, cartilage, etc., along with the vegetable trimmings. Simmer for 2 hours, turn the heat off and follow the remaining steps.