Sweet Potato, Coconut and Cardamom Soup

 Pulsa aquí para la VERSIÓN en ESPAÑOL   

Apologies to anyone who has been missing my posts. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking – I’ve been cooking more than ever –  it’s just that I haven’t been posting. 

Winter has really set in and with it a need for warm satisfying food like thick soups and stews. I’m always on the look out for a new favourite soup, an alternative to my go-to carrot and ginger soup, and I was really happy to discover this one. It may sound like more of the same but actually, the addition of cardamom, the lovely velvety texture contrasted with the crunch of the roasted coriander topping really hits the spot. Try it and see what you think. 

Sweet Potato, Coconut and Cardamom Soup.

Adaptation of recipe by Alice Hart (Jamie Magazine) 

Ingredients

• 3 green cardamom pods
• 1 onion
• 600 g sweet potato
• 4cm piece of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons groundnut oil
• 1 x 400 ml tin of  coconut milk
• 800 ml stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 lemon

     Topping

• 1 tablespoon groundnut or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (calculate at least 1/4 tsp per person) 
• 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes (or more if you like it hot)
• 2 jarred roasted peppers 
• 100 g baby spinach
• 2 tbs coconut flakes (If you can get them!) 

(I’ve made this with just the ground coriander seeds, chilli and spinach and it’s still great)

Method

• Bash the cardamom pods and shake out the seeds, then roughly crush them with a pestle and mortar.
• Peel and chop the onion and sweet potato, peel and finely grate the ginger, then peel and crush the garlic.
• Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the onion and a small pinch of sea salt and cook for 10 minutes, or until soft and sweet, stirring often.
• Stir in the sweet potato, ginger, garlic and crushed cardamom seeds. Cook for 2 minutes, before adding the coconut milk.
• Let it simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, then pour in the stock and stir. Cover with a lid, and leave to simmer gently for at least 15 minutes.
• Liquidise the soup with a stick blender until smooth, then season to taste with a pinch of salt and black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

Topping – make just before serving

• Heat the oil in a frying pan, then roughly crush the coriander seeds add to the pan with the chilli flakes. Cook on medium high heat for 1 minute, or until lovely and fragrant.
• In a dry pan, toast the coconut flakes (if using).
• Rinse and finely slice the peppers, then add to the spices with the spinach. Continue cooking until the spinach has wilted down, then season and stir in the toasted coconut flakes.
• Pour the soup into small bowls (this soup is rich)  and finish with a dollop of the crunchy topping.,

 

I think this is a lovely satisfying soup, warm and filling. There’s a new star rating thing below. Make it and let me know what you think!