Why am I sharing this recipe with you?
I needed an on-the-fly gluten free lunch option for a Medicine Drum Workshop I was running at my home Studio in South Guildford recently, so I put my five years of commercial cookery skills from almost fifteen years ago into action to nourish my busy participants.
The Japanese pumpkin I used was super orange, giving the soup natural sweetness. while Ayam red curry paste added a touch of spice and a tonne of flavour.
Ingredients
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A quarter of a large and very orange Japanese pumpkin. The darker the orange the better the flavour! - peeled, washed, seeded, and cut into approx 1-inch chunks
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2 large potatoes (I used ruby lou) - washed and cut into approx 1.5-inch cunks (not peeled)
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70 gms butter
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1 large brown onion - peeled, washed, and thinly sliced (not diced)
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2 large celery stalks - washed and thinly sliced
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1 large carrot - washed, not peeled, thinly sliced into half moons
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half a teaspoon fennel seeds
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one tablesppon of mixed dried herbs
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4 cloves of garlic - peeled, washed, roughly chopped
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2 inches of ginger - roughly peeled, washed, and chopped
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1500 mls (ish) vegetable stock - or enough to cover pot ingredients
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Ground pink Himalayan Salt
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Ground peppercorn medley
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one teaspoon of brown sugar
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1 can Ayam coconut milk
Method
- Heat your pot on the stove and add the butter. Once foaming, add the onion, celery, carrot, herbs and fennel seeds then sauté on medium for about five minutes or till translucent.
- add the ginger, garlic, and red curry paste and continue to sauté for approx one minute or till fragrant.
- add the potatoes and pumpkin, stir until everything is well mixed, and continue to sauté for approx one more minute.
- add the stock, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to a simmer.
- allow to simmer on a low to medium bubble for about an hour or until everything is soft and the smell is filling the room (or the whole house!).
- remove from the heat, add the coconut milk, blend well, then put back on a low heat to a very gentle simmer.
- check for seasonling then enjoy!
