Curried Pumpkin Soup

 This soup, served cold or hot is a favorite of mine.  Especially when you have a really good pumpkin to begin with.  Bob found it lost in the weeds on a property he was inspecting.  It was so gnarly looking on the outside that I neglected to take a picture of the poor thing, supposing it would be too old once opened up.  But not at all, the color was vibrant and the taste intense and delicious.  Since the boy was also quite big, we had lots left after a simple dish of steamed pumpkin with butter and feta.   So, soup was next in line.

Now, I have to remember what all I added to this version of an old stand-by.  I started out by sauteing some curry leaves in ghee, which were removed when crispy and set aside on a paper towel.  An onion, was fried in a bit more of the ghee until soft, then minced ginger and some chili pepper was added, and cooked for a few minutes more before the dry spices went in.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

4 cups cooked pumpkin, skin removed
2 quarts chicken stock
2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
2 clusters curry leaves
1 small onion, chopped
1 thumb ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 green chili pepper, minced (depending on how hot you want it)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can coconut milk or 1 cup cream
chives or cilantro for garnish

After sauteing the vegetables until soft and adding the spices, cook a few more minutes, then put into a blender with part of the pumpkin, curry leaves (wrap them, minus stems, in the paper towel and crush well) and enough stock to emulsify.  Empty blender into your serving bowl, or large pot if you are going to serve hot.  Then you can do another batch.  Add the coconut milk or cream and garnish.

I served the soup with a tossed greens salad and Olive Tapenade Crostini.  Perfect meal for a warm summer evening.  If it's cold where you are, this is equally good served hot.