Red Beet Borsch Soup

Borsch is a typical Russian winter comfort food - well flavored red beat, pork and cabbage earthy stew. I remember growing up with a Russian family as neighbour's, whose mother would make gallons of borsch on a monthly basis. She would always invite us for a bowl, which we never refused. I remember it being a nightmare for us kids, since we weren't a big fan of cabbage of red beet. Then one year, the family moved out and we never had borsch again (which left only my dad upset).
Ever since I became veggie-friendly I have re-discovered red beet in my cooking. And last Saturday, for the very first time, I managed to re-create that wonderful earthy taste of:

RUSSIAN BORSCH:
(борщ)

• 600 g chopped red beets
• 1 tbsp oil
  
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 400 g chopped root vegetables (traditionally celery root, parsnip, cabbage, carrot)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt, black pepper to taste
• vegetable broth
• chopped fresh parsley leaves
• sour cream (to garnish)
• horseradish (to garnish)
  

Peel the red beets and chop into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a pan and brown sliced onions and garlic. (if you re thinking about the meat version, add the sliced pork/beef cubes at this stage and brown properly). Add the cumin seeds and the chopped vegetables. Coat well and fry over low heat until the veggies are soft, but crispy. Add the broth to cover the vegetables. Bring to boil, cover and let cook until soft. Add the black pepper and salt to taste and squeeze in the lemon juice.
Pure half of the soup (unless there is meat in it) and bring back to the boil. Mix in the parsley leaves and serve.

Shred the horseradish very finely and mix in with the sour cream. Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread and a good dollop of the spicy sour cream dip.

* Note: This soup freezes well, so do not be afraid to make a gallon just like my Russian neighbour.

** Note: This also makes a nice dip for crackers or spread on bread.

This is a contribution to the No Croutons Required challenge event hosted by Lisa of Food And Spice... Her debut theme is Vegetarian Soup. Have a spoonful, Lisa ;-)