pumpkin and coconut milk soup with lemongrass and kafir lime flavors....


Pumpkin and coconut milk soup which is infused with lemongrass and Kafir lime leaf and then topped with lightly fried pumpkin seeds and cashew nuts. This was a yummy dinner last week when the husband wanted a second helping of soup and there was none left. Why a second helping of this soup is worth mentioning, because these soup bowls hold about 400 ml of liquid, moreover, he is not much of a soup loving person. Although he is converting to the soup dinners as they are quite a comfort food during winters otherwise too. You know once you have them, he was judgmental about soups earlier. More judgmental about pumpkin in a soup I would say.

Many of my friends hate pumpkin and wouldn't ever look at it. I find great pleasure in feeding them such soups where they wouldn't imagine such aromas and flavors can be with the humble much hated pumpkin too. I have converted a couple of my friends to pumpkin by letting them know that pumpkin of the deep yellow/orange variety is as good as a fruit, minus the sugar content.

In soups pumpkin can be amazing. Just try and bring some of your favorite flavors together with pumpkin and see how it becomes one of your favorites. I used a mature, ripe pumpkin with tough skin and orange colored flesh for this soup. Grab a slice when you see such a pumpkin for this soup if not anything else.

ingredients...

(2 large dinner servings)
pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes 300 gm
kafir lime leaves 2
lemon grass leaves 3-4 tied into a bunch
salt to taste
paprika powder 1/2 tsp or to taste (use red chilly powder if you wish)
sesame oil 1 tsp
coconut milk 100 ml
lightly fired cashew nuts and pumpkin seeds to garnish
thinly cut kafir lime leaves to garnish
(I used grapefruit leaves that are very similar in taste to Kafir lime leaves)

procedure..

Heat the sesame oil in a pressure cooker pan or any other pan. Tip in the pumpkin cubes and stir fry till a few pinkish brown specks appear. Add the bunch of lemongrass leaves, kafir lime leaves and paprika , salt to taste and toss them all.

Add a cup pf water and pressure cook till the whistle blows, Turn off the flame and let it cool.

Remove the lemongrass and kafir lime leaves and puree the contents of the pan with the help of a hand blender. Or liquidise using any method preferred.

Add the coconut milk and bring to simmer gently for just a couple of minutes.

Pour into mugs or bowls and garnish.

You can also grill the pumpkin slices after smearing them with oil. Make a stock with the leaves and add to the baked pumpkin slices and liquidise. Then add the coconut milk and simmer.

Simple flavors and a very aromatic comforting soup. Good quality fats, good quality soluble fiber, most coveted vitamins and amazing taste.

A quick dinner with minimal chopping and preparations too. I know the pictures are not as bright as the soup looks in reality, but these are night time pictures so please bear with me and believe me that this is one bright sunny soup to have in winter evenings.


We normally don't have breads with our soup, the husband had wanted a good garlic bread always with his soups, not anymore now. Sometimes I bake a sourdough skillet bread freshly for our dinner soups but mostly they are given a miss when the soup is so filling.

What flavors you like in your pumpkin soups? Don't tell me you are a pumpkin hater.

Comments

  1. Wow! this looks delicious and a very unique one.

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  2. you have certainly made me a soup dinner lover wih th your amazing soups, favorite being potato,mushroom and onion soup!!!!!

    Pumpkin is one vegetable i havent yet tried cooking myself but this recipe is something i can start off with :)

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    1. You would love this one too sweetie. Now that I know your taste.

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  3. Sangeeta once upon a time I hated pumpkins. Mum tried to hide it in her delectable melt in the mouth chachoris. But in my late
    teens I started tolerating and now am in complete love with it. In West Bengal I have seen some people tasting it for sweetness before buying it. We also make some delightful stuff with its leaves, stem and flowers and the home grown variety is far better than the commercial one. Ever since I started composting I have a steady supply of saplings and pumpkin is the most common.

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    1. Yes we also make pumpkin flower fritters and a posto bata with it. But i have grown it rarely I wonder why. Need to correct that :-)

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  4. Some times local farmers sell the male flowers in bunches. At times I have bought a whole bunch and we made a stir fry with it.Even bok phool (humming bird flower,agatha keerai in your post) make delightful fritters. But if you have plenty then you can make a stir fry. Few people know they are edible. I once tried to have some mulberries atraight from bushes growing in Lutyens Delhi. Soon I felt like a freak as people were giving me weird looks. Bangalore has lot of bok phool trees but few people have them. I learnt from blog land that the leaves are edible too though I do not know how to have them. I saw plenty of wild figs growing while travelling by local train in Mumbai.
    How ever this ignorance is a world wide phenomena. A family friend posted in Mauritius several years ago found that the islanders did not know banana flowers( growing in very large numbers) were edible and when she asked her helper to pluck some from the garden he thought they were meant for decoration.

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    1. Oh I collect fallen mulberries from the roadsides ALL the time and people get tempted seeing me ;-)

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  5. Btw how to make posto baata with pumpkin flowers. Though i plant lot of pumpkin plants they mostly have male flowers and fritters are not advisable every day. How ever since we get very good quality pumpkin all the year round I am happy with my organic kumro shaak and kumro leaf baata with roasted peanuts.

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    Replies
    1. Here is the recipe...
      http://www.banaraskakhana.com/2012/05/zucchini-flowers-scrambled-with-poppy.html

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