I made the pumpkin soup! The hardest part was peeling and cubing the pumpkin. I used Vic Crain’s great advice and microwaved the pumpkin for 4 mins before peeling it, and that helped. Thanks, Vic!
I roasted and pureed the pumpkin, ending up with about 4 cups of puree. In a small skillet, I gently fried 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1,5 teaspoons of fresh chopped ginger. I added a heaping teaspoon of Madras curry, a teaspoon of cinnamon, two tablespoons of brown sugar, a teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cumin.
After adding the spice mix to the puree, I put it on a very slow fire and mixed in about 3 cups of vegetable stock.
Fifteen minutes later, I added a can of unsweetened coconut milk, some baby spinach, and quartered walnuts for texture. Had I been cooking for myself, I would have added some heat but N doesn’t like anything but the gentlest spice. Instead, I will eat the soup with a fresh red chili pepper. I eat these peppers raw, almost like dessert.
The soup is very tasty but I invented it based on what I like. Other people might not be into this spice mix.
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It looks and sounds very tasty, but I’m not sure how much pumpkin flavor can make it through all those other ingredients. Was that the idea?
But kudos for working with a real pumpkin always waaaay too much physical work for me.
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I was afraid it would end up being insipid. But hey, it’s the first try. I will go easier on the spices with the next dish.
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Looks very good — but if you want to find out what actual pumpkin tastes like, why don’t you just buy a pumpkin pie at your local supermarket?
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Or better, eat ’em raw!
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Can you actually eat RAW pumpkin directly?? It’s very fibrous, hard to chew, and hard for humans to digest.
Canned pumpkin puree isn’t really raw — it’s been precooked. (Also usually isn’t pure pumpkin.)
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Looks great. I like the spice combination, too, but for me, maybe a little less cinnamon. I made something similar last night. I think you’d like it.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/03/west-african-inspired-vegan-peanut-sweet-potato-soup-recipe.html
Left in some sweet potato chunks for texture and used red quinoa instead of rice. Perfect fall meal.
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Wow, this looks amazing! I want to make it, too! I have tons of red quinoa on hand.
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red quinoa? I knew quinoa way back before it became trendy (from knowing people from the Andes) but had no idea there were different varieties….
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There is also black quinoa. If something is in fashion, there are bound to be a million varieties in no time. 🙂
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Red quinoa is too nutty for me in some dishes, but for this one it just made sense to use it because of the color contrast with the curry. Black would look awesome too, come to think of it.
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“bound to be a million varieties”
Well only a few varieties of potatoes ever made it out of the Andes to the rest of the world, they still have yellow, black, purple potatoes in all kinds of weird shapes.
It makes sense that quinoa also exists in multiple varieties, I had just never given it much thought…..
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It was really nice! Oh, I forgot, I also didn’t add any sugar to it. The sweetness from sweet potatoes and the coconut milk was enough for me.
I don’t know if you’re the kind of cook who follows recipes exactly as written (I’m definitely not). If you’re the same, I’ll stop including these additional notes because you’d figure them out on your own anyway.
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Sounds – and looks – delicious! I’d like it I’m sure if I could tackle the pumpkin, although I have enough trouble with butternut squash. How do you cut them up without severing fingers? I really enjoy spiced soups and stews, it doesn’t have to mask the taste of the vegetables if not over done. I’ve just finished a chick pea, channa dahl and sweet potato curry with little heat, just lovely flavours of cumin, coriander, fenugrek and fresh ginger. It’s lasted me 3 days, improves each day.
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