Thai coconut pumpkin soup
A can of pumpkin, coconut milk and red curry paste turn into a silky, sweet-spicy soup with chickpeas and lime in about 25 minutes.
- 25 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $1.87 a serving
- 290 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1½ tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 can canned pumpkin, 15 oz
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp pepitas (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Each serving has about 290 calories, 9 g protein, 36 g carbs and 14 g fat, and costs about $1.87 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No pepitas? Sunflower seeds work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, the ginger, and and rinse the chickpeas.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes, until soft.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger and curry paste for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
in the pumpkin, coconut milk, water, bouillon cube, fish sauce and brown sugar until smooth, then add the chickpeas.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Make sure the can says pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.and cook for 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Stir in the lime juice, taste for salt and heat, and serve topped with cilantro and pepitas.
Food safety: Put leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours and eat them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot, 165°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
