Belinda’s Bounty

SPICY PUMPKIN, GINGER AND COCONUT SOUP
This recipe makes rather a lot of soup, however it freezes wonderfully well and I love knowing that I have it on hand for something quick and good to eat on those days when I forget to think about what we’re going to have for dinner (and, as a cook, they’re more frequent than I care to admit!).
By the way, if you’re wondering what the flowers are on the soup – both my tarragon and Thai basil were flowering when we took the photograph and I couldn’t resist scattering a few blossoms over the top to finish it off (I love being able to use herbs in this way, it is one of the great joys of growing them.)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 small red chillies, finely chopped
3 heaped teaspoons ground cumin
2 heaped teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 heaped tablespoon of your favourite curry paste (I use Pataks Tikka Masala paste)
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto (or regular tomato paste)
2.5 kg pumpkin (preferably butternut or Kent), peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
400g can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon white sugar
2-3 teaspoons salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 ¼ litres water (filtered)
270ml light coconut cream
Juice ½ -1 lemon, to taste
To serve: coconut cream, freshly ground black pepper, coriander sprigs or leaves, optional

Warm the olive oil in a very large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook them, stirring them often, for 10 minutes. Now add the garlic, ginger and chilies and cook the mixture, stirring it occasionally, for 2 minutes.  Scoop in the spices, curry paste and tomato pesto and cook them, stirring all the while, for another minute or so to release their fragrance. I love doing this as the warm aroma of the spices smells brilliant.
Tumble in the pumpkin and give it a good swizzle around so it is coated in the spicy mixture (you will need a bit of elbow grease to do this as there is rather a lot of pumpkin.) Finally, add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper and water. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat to low so it bubbles gently. Partly cover the pan and cook the soup for 35-40 minutes, or until the pumpkin is very tender.
Allow it to cool slightly then puree the soup in batches in a blender, or if you have an immersion blender, use this to puree it in the pan. Gently re-heat it then stir in the coconut cream (keeping a little bit back for serving.) Taste the soup and add more salt or lemon juice if necessary.
To serve the soup, ladle it into warm bowls. Dribble a little of the reserved coconut cream over the top, along with a good grinding of black pepper and a few coriander leaves (or herb flowers.) Serves eight.

The good grind

Spices always taste best if freshly ground – you really can notice the flavour difference. A mortar and pestle is a great way to grind them but it takes quite a bit of arm work. If, like me, you often use them in your cooking it may be worth investing in a small, electric coffee grinder. They’re fantastic for grinding whole spices to a powder in no time (just don’t use the grinder for coffee beans afterwards or you’ll have a very interesting brew!)

Comments

comments