Spiced pumpkin soup

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A spiced pumpkin soup to lift us from the winter doldrums, this simple recipe from Monica Shaw is bound to warm the cockles. Included here is a recipe for making your very own curry powder to give the perfect blend of spice to the dish.

First published in 2015

Of course, curried pumpkin soup is a classic, but this recipe takes it up a notch by using homemade curry powder which is such a huge step above from the shop-bought stuff. Freshly ground whole spices are intensely more fragrant and flavoursome than pre-ground spices, which quickly go stale while sitting on the shelf.

The soup itself is very simple - you need little more than pumpkin (or other winter squash), onion, oil or butter, water and of course, the curry powder, which itself isn’t spicy so if you’d like a bit more heat in your pumpkin soup, feel free to add some cayenne or a chopped red chilli. I love this soup garnished with Greek yoghurt and toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), but a good vegan standby is coconut milk and chopped coriander.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Spiced pumpkin soup

  • 3 tbsp of butter, coconut oil or a neutral oil like grapeseed
  • 1.4kg pumpkin, or other winter squash (crown prince, butternut, kabocha etc.) peeled and cut into 2-3cm cubes
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of curry powder, (see below)
  • 1.1l vegetable stock, or water

Optional garnishes

Homemade curry powder

Method

1
To make the curry powder, place all of the ingredients (except the fenugreek) to a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly toasted and fragrant. During the last few moments, add the fenugreek
2
Allow everything to cool and then grind to a fine powder (you can use a high-powered blender for this, or a spice or coffee grinder). Store in a well-sealed container. This will keep nicely for a few months
3
To make the soup, place the butter or oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add the pumpkin and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft
4
Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Stir and cook until fragrant for a minute or so. Add the stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the pumpkin is totally soft (for approximately 30 minutes)
5
Blitz the soup with an immersion blender or jug blender. If using a jug blender, allow the soup cool a little as hot liquids can be explosive when blended. Serve hot with garnishes of your choice
First published in 2015
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Monica Shaw's mission is to enable people to feel awesome, through food, life, work and play.

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