Friday, July 16, 2010

Red Pumpkin Soup


Cool breezy evenings, the sky overcast with dark clouds, promising welcome showers. Can there be anything which can compare with the smell of the wet earth?  We scurry indoors, with the kids in tow, and yeah, the laundry on the washing lines too:-)). When it starts pouring, it is so cozy to be indoors with a bowl of piping hot soup and warm garlic bread. The chatter of the kids punctuated by the slurr...ps and 'Yumm..can I have some more??' is such music to the ears of the person who has made the soup. Now, in my case, the soup-maker being me, as always, I can't let Knorr or Maggi take the credit and the satisfaction. Can I;-)??  The soup making season has just about begun, though showers are few and far between in Bangalore. Sigh!! Wish the rain Gods would smile on us more frequently. Seduced by scores of soup pictures floating around the blogosphere and to make the most of the season, I tried Red Pumpkin Soup.

I have honestly never attempted to cook red pumpkin at home, though I do use the good old white pumpkin  a good number of times. So I tried out this recipe with some hesitation as I was not sure about having a soup which would be quite sweet. But the peppery soup tasted creamy, sweetish, spicy and quite good. Try this soup if you do not abhor sweetness in anything other than a dessert. And do serve in small quantities, probably in shot glasses as this is not something you can have a bowlful.

Recipe from, yes, Sanjeev Kapoor!! With a little bit of modification.

Ingredients:
1 kg red pumpkin, diced
1 tablespoon butter(I have used vegetable oil)
3 bay leaves
15-20 peppercorns
3 large onions,sliced
4 cups vegetable stock
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper powder(I did not use any)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup cream(optional)
1 cup low fat milk( My addition)

Method: Heat the butter in a pressure cooker. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Add the onions and saute for two minutes. Add the diced pumpkin and saute for half a minute. Add four cups of stock and pressure cook for one whistle. Cool. Strain and reserve the stock. Puree the vegetables. Add the reserved stock and salt and bring to a boil. Add the milk and boil again. Take off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice.

Serve hot garnished with cream. 

Please Note: If you are adding milk, be careful to add the lemon juice only after you take the soup off the fire. Or the milk may curdle.

Looking forward to more 'soupy' days!!!






16 comments:

Srikanth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Srikanth said...

Pumpkin soup? Cant imagine!

Anonymous said...

Looks goodie good Suma. Im doing a lot of soup nights these days, and I will def try this one next week and let you know how I liked it. I must remember to make less, since it'll be only me having it :)

Anonymous said...

Oh and btw, yellow/red pumpkin is very good for health. I normally steam them and make a palya, but soup sounds good for a change.

I recently read that they draw some particular juice from pumpkin seeds which is used to make insulin for diabetics. So this should be good for everyone despite it being sweet :)

ann low said...

I love pumpkin soup. Mind to share some? ;DD

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a beautiful cup of comforting soup...yummy..

Unknown said...

Suma, that looks beautiful. I can drink that cup happily !!!

RV said...

Perfect soup for the Indian monsoon.. Slurpp..

Sushma Mallya said...

lovely colour and unique one too..

PranisKitchen said...

pumpkin soup really interesting recipe.. sure taste yum and healthy one

Padmajha said...

Soup looks lovely.I tried this soup once and it was too sweet for words inspite of adding loads of pepper powder.That's when I realized the pumpkin from my area are extra sweet so stopped making this soup..Yours is truly a feast to the senses!!

Padhu Sankar said...

Soup out of pumpkin -Sounds interesting!!

Indian Khana said...

Nice soup and cool pic...looks too gud

Parita said...

I love pumpkin stir fry's and i m sure i will love this soup also! Looks yumm!

Divya Kudua said...

Pumpkin soup..now that is something new!!

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

looks yummy and healthy