I first made this soup at Fairyhouse Cookery School a few years ago and was mad about it. It has since become a regular feature both at home and at cookery lessons where the punters always love it! It is a really hearty and filling soup and perfect for lunch or even as a lighter evening meal. It is particularly suitable for wet & windy days like today!I really like to make my own curry paste for this as it really gives wow factor to this soup. I have given you a simple recipe below for it and it keeps well in the fridge for weeks as long as it is covered with a little oil and a lid. It also freezes well so if you do go to the effort, you can use it over and over. If you are buying the curry paste, try and get a more authentic type such as Mae Ploy.
Ingredients:
- Vegetable/groundnut oil for cooking
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 butternut squash (cubed, not too big)
- 1 small sweet potato, cubed (same size as squash)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons curry paste (homemade recipe below/shop bought or if not available, add grated ginger, chilli, lemongrass or lemon zest)
- 400 ml vegetable/chicken stock
- 200 ml coconut milk (the rest of the tin can be frozen)
- Bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
Method:
- Heat a large saucepan.
- When good and hot, add oil & sweat onion with a pinch of salt for 5 mins
- Add garlic for 1 minute
- Add butternut squash and sweet potato and sauté for 5 mins with lid on
- Stir through curry paste to coat all veg
- Pour over the stock and cover
- Simmer for at least 10 mins
- Check veg is soft by inserting a knife
- Blend with either a stick blender or in a food processor
- Return to pot, whisk in the coconut milk and fresh coriander
- Check for seasoning & serve
Homemade Thai Curry Paste
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 5 fresh red chillies, chopped coarsely
- 2 green chillies, chopped coarsely
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 4 onions, chopped roughly
- 2 sticks of fresh lemongrass
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- zest of half a lime
- A tablespoon or so of Sesame Oil to loosen (use the groundnut or vegetable oil if you don’t have sesame)
Toast the seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. Remove to a pestle & mortar and grind until fine.Check how hot your chillis are by tasting a little. If they are very hot, you may want to reduce the quantity of chilli in the paste. Add all the other ingredients to a food processor and whizz until you have a paste.