I love anything pumpkin. I've actually never carved a pumpkin in my life but I love cooking with them. Usually I end up making pumpkin scones or pumpkin chocolate chip squares but this time I decided to go the savoury route with a Jamie Oliver recipe for Indian Pumpkin Laksa Soup. It is for a thick soup with coconut milk, lime, cilantro, pumpkin and basmati rice. Yum.
First I started off with the onions. I think practically every recipe I do starts with onions. That or bacon.
Let's not forget the chilies. I always keep a stash of fresh chilies in the fridge and I always leave the seeds in for heat. The Husband thinks I have managed to sear my taste buds which is why I always require lots and lots of chilies in order for dishes to be hot enough.
Lemongrass. I couldn't find it fresh so I bought the stuff in the bottle. It was a little sad tasting and not very strong. I think next time I will just add lime zest.
The chilies and the lemon grass went to join the onions and hang out for a little while.
Let me just say that peeling, cutting and seeding a pumpkin is a special kind of pain. Usually I use canned pumpkin for baking but since I wanted more texture in my soup and I didn't want the pumpkin to be completely pureed I decided to be hardcore and get a whole pumpkin. I am actually impressed that I didn't cut myself during this process. I really should have used my biggest knife, instead of my second biggest knife.
The pumpkin got tossed in the pot along with enough chicken stock to cover everything.
Once the pumpkin softened a bit I added some rice.
While waiting for that to cook I sauteed some chicken breast. It wasn't in the recipe but I need my protein or else I am still hungry even after I have finished eating.
Once the rice was finally cooked...
I added a can of coconut milk. Oh how I love this stuff and always make sure to keep some in the house.
I stirred in the chicken at the end along with a generous amount of fresh cilantro and a large splash of lime juice.
Lunch was served.
This was a great meal. I loved the creaminess of the pumpkin and the silkiness of the coconut milk. The rice made it hearty and the freshness of the cilantro and the lime juice helped to bring out all the flavours. I need to add a lot more chilies next time, the heat was good but it could have used more. This recipe made a ton of leftovers and warmed up really well. This is definitely a repeat.
