Curried Pumpkin Soup
My world looks like this:
Yes, that's a collie next to one of the snow mounds in front of the garage. A seventy-pound collie. Happy as can be. Fur coat and all.
Me? Not so much. Oh, I'm not too bad. Yet. Winter is what it is. It's like your crazy great aunt, the one with the Wurlitzer. It's a cold day and you can't go out to play so she demands you play a concert while she vacuums. (Perhaps I had an odd childhood.) Anyway, winter won't be denied.
But it can be combatted. You can crank out show tunes on the organ when she wants hymns. Or you can make a curried soup. Your choice really. But a winter vegetarian chaser seems just the thing for these chilly days. And without going over the top, it's a pretty fine meal all around.
Start by cooking 1 chopped, large yellow onion, 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger, 2 minced medium garlic cloves, and 1 hot red chile in about 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a Dutch oven or a soup pot. Stir it over the heat--but watch out for those chile oils. They can get air-borne and burn your eyes. Use a long-handled wooden spoon.
Add 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 tablespoon curry powder, and 1 kefir lime leaf. Don't have the esoteric last bit? Use a bay leaf instead. Stir it over the heat until the spices are really fragrant, about 20 seconds.
Add 1 small pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chopped; 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks; 4 cups (or 1 quart) reduced-sodium vegetable broth; and 2 cups dry white wine or dry vermouth. Stir it all over the heat to make sure you get any browned bits up and into the soup.
Don't have a pumpkin? A butternut or buttercup squash will work just as well.
Bring to a full simmer; then cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the pumpkin and carrots are really tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
Finally, puree the soup with 1 cup plain yogurt. We used fat-free. Pick your own poison. And Bruce put all the veggies and about half the soup in a big blender, added the yogurt, and gave it a whir--then poured that back into the remaining soup in the pot. Or you could use an immersion blender in the pot itself.
One note: some pumpkins, particularly if they've sat around a while, aren't all that sweet. Taste the soup at this point and add up to 1 tablespoon honey if you'd like it a little sweeter. Also figure out the salt and pepper issues--probably about a teaspoon of salt and several grinds of black pepper.
Set it back over medium heat just to make sure its warm, on the edge of the bubble, stirring all the while. And you're done. Winter on the run. And no organ concert required.
curry, garam masala, pumpkin, soup, vegan, vegetarian 
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (6)
Oh yes -- we are definitely going to try this recipe this week. We don't have quite as much snow as you do, but we have enough to be grateful for that soup. Thanks for the recipe!
Hey, Terry. Definitely do. And let us know how it goes. If you want to go crazy and make your own curry powder, check out the one for Shrimp Rogan Josh here under that entry on the blog.
I actually just tried curry powder for the first time not too long ago - love it! And I love this soup - I make a lot of soups for my lunches - hubby? Not so much. After we first met, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup and homemade bread with herbed butter. He oohed and ahhed. I cleared the table, cleaned the kitchen came back to the living room and started searching for a movie for us to watch.
His response?? What's for dinner! I've since learned that there needs to be a side of beef when I make soup for dinner :D
Biz: To quote Phyllis Diller, "HA!" And now a confession: I feel that way about cold sandwiches. I'm such an old-fashioned guy, I want a hot dinner. Now mind you, it can be soup. But don't give me a sandwich for dinner. I feel I've been gypped.
You'll laugh, but we think it's been kind of cold here too! No snow, but we did have frost, and you don't have large lizards falling dead out of your trees. I'm going to try this recipe with canistel instead of pumpkin or squash - it's a local fruit, aka "eggfruit" - with flesh the consistency of hardboiled egg yolk, tastes a lot like cooked butternut squash - makes a good "pumpkin-ish" pie, so should work for this. So -- about how much in cups of the pumpkin did you use, do you think? Maybe 4?
Karen:
More than 4. I'd guess it at 6, maybe even up to 8. Somewhere in between. Sorry I can't be more accurate, but Bruce didn't measure. If it's too thick when you puree it, add a little extra broth.
Hope that helps.
Mark