From jweller@ssimicro.com Mon Nov 5 16:55:41 2001 Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 19:42:02 -0700 From: Jim Weller Newsgroups: alt.food.asian Subject: Spiced pumpkin soup Last night's supper: This was the first course for an Indian style (but by no means authentic) dinner. It went over quite well with everybody. A great way to use up surplus pumpkin after Halloween! (We followed it with chicken drumsticks baked in a coating of Patak's tandoori paste, pan fried potatoes with a dusting of cumin and garam masala and home made Naan. Honey dew melon and sherbet for dessert.) ---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05 Title: Spiced Pumpkin Soup, adapted Categories: Soups, Indian, Jw, Tnt Yield: 4 Servings 1 1/2 lb Pumpkin or Hubbard squash 1 Piece ginger root; (1-inch) minced 1 tb Butter or margarine; may -be doubled 1 lg Spanish onion; chopped 1/4 ts Garam masala 1 tb All-purpose flour 2 1/2 c Vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste 1 tb Chopped chives 1 tb Chopped fresh cilantro 1/4 c Half and half or Equivalent Fresh cilantro sprigs; -to garnish PUMPKIN; small to mid-sized winter squash, such as: Red kuri, Hubbard, Mini-pumpkin, Acorn, Kaboche, etc. (I used part of a Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin.) GARAM MASALA; mix of finely ground cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and black pepper. (Mine also had nutmeg, cayenne and powder dried orange peel in it.) Cut unpeeled pumpkin into wedges; remove seeds. Place pumpkin in a steamer, cover and steam about 30 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly, then scrape away pulp from skin and mash well or puree. Peel gingerroot and chop very finely. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and fry gently 3 minutes. Stir in ginger root and garam masala and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in stock (I used a McCormick All-Vegetable "Beef" flavoured bouillon cube and no added salt) and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, then add the pumpkin and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer gently about 20 minutes. (I pureed the soup including the onions in a blender at this point.) Stir in herbs (I had no chives or cilantro on hand so I used dried parsley and stinging nettle leaves) and half and half. (I used soy milk just for the heck of it.) Remove from heat and adjust seasonings. Serve hot, garnish with cilantro sprigs or flatleaf parsley. Makes 4 servings: about 3/4 cup each: with half and half: 216 cals, 7.4 g fat (29.5% cff); with soy milk, 201 cals, 5.9 g fat (25.4% cff). *To Microwave: half, core and remove seeds. Place cut side down on cooking tray and microwave on high for 7 minutes. Test for doneness. Continue cooking until tender (up to 15 minutes.) Let cool and proceed with the above recipe. *Vary the garnish: toasted pumpkin seeds; spicy pumpkin seeds; finely shredded white cheddar cheese; croutons. Recipe By: Vegetable Book by Louise Steele (1990) From: Kitpath Adapted by Jim Weller The result was a smooth, mildly spiced but very fragrant and quite delicious soup. -JW ----- -- Cheers, YK Jim