Curried Pumpkin Soup

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 2 (15 ounce) cans solid-pack pumpkin (3 1/2 cups, not pie filling)
• 7 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (12 fl oz)
• 1 (14 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (not low-fat)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
• 8 fresh curry leaves

Recipe

• 1 cook onions in butter in a wide 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
• 2 add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• 3 add cumin, coriander, and cardamom and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• 4 stir in salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, water, broth, and coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.
• 5 purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), transferring to a large bowl, and return soup to pot.
• 6 keep soup warm over low heat.
• 7 heat oil in a small heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook mustard seeds until they begin to pop, about 15 seconds.
• 8 add curry leaves and cook 5 seconds, then pour mixture into pumpkin soup.
• 9 stir until combined well and season soup with salt.
• 10 soup can be thinned with additional water.
• 11 note: can be made up to one day in advance. i use the food processor for the chopping of onions, garlic & the immersible blending to puree the soup.