Spiced Indian tomato soup (Tamatar shorba)

1. Melt the butter in a pan, add the cumin seeds, then the chopped onion, and fry for 5 minutes until soft. Add the crushed garlic and grated ginger and fry for 1 minute.

2. Add the roughly chopped tomatoes, pepper, sugar and salt and cook for 10 minutes until the tomatoes break down.

3. Pour in the water and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Blend until smooth with a stick blender, then pass through a sieve to remove the skins and seeds: this makes it velvety.

5. Pour back into the pan, bring to the boil and stir in most of the cream; adjust the salt and pepper.

6. Ladle into cups, drizzle a swirl of cream on top and serve sprinkled with fresh coriander.

Tip: Shorba comes from the Persian word "shorba" (soup) and was brought to India by Mughal cooking. Indian restaurants often serve it as a starter in a small cup. It's best made with flavourful, ripe summer tomatoes.