Out of your Gourd, Ginger Pumpkin Curry Soup

It sounds time consuming but the benefits outweigh the burdens. Soup for 6 day, seeds and the freedom to boast that you made it from scratch...can you say awesomeness?

So Halloween is over, what I am I going to do with that orange gourd (pumpkin) and I’m not talking about your BF! Roast the S.O.B.!

Here's what you need:
1. Pumpkin-- the bigger the better...
2. Large Knife--Butchers cleaver if possible b/c these thing are tough
3. Salt--Why? it dehydrates seeds and flesh...we need flesh after Halloween

I’ve seen many recipes that call for "peeling the pumpkin...", fuck that. First, it slippery, which is a amputation hazard. Second, it's time consuming. I cut the top off just like a jack o'lantern, and start pulling out the seeds scrapping my fingers on side to get all the seeds out. Grab the seeds, preheat the oven to 400, salt them ( Old Bay is good), set it and fucking forget it. (Well don't do that b/c they burn, but it should take 30 mins roughly).

In the meantime, cut the pumpkin into wedges, like pie slices, following the natural vertical grooves. That gives you a good flat surface to work with, because they're so slippery. Then I cut the wedge in half width-wise. Then I cut them into strips again following the natural grooves. Smaller pieces faster it roasts. Then I lay the strip on a cutting board, take a sharp pairing knife and run it along the skin and clean up the seed side too. This leaves pure clean flesh and it goes faster than the description makes out. Once you get the hang of it you can fly, and this method is a lot cleaner since those peelers always make a mess.

 Break time, Have A Pumpkin Ale...

If you're going to puree it anyway, why bother with the whole peeling it? I do think fresh tastes better than canned- more earthy-- but it is a subtle difference. There is no way I would waste time peeling a pumpkin unless I really, really needed it to remain in nice chunks in the final dish. Even then, I would probably try to roast it for a short time to soften it up a bit.
Now they should be mushy in the middle and browned slightly by their own sugars. Put them in a bowl and work on the recipe...

Ginger Pumpkin Curry Soup          

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced onion

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1 good sized pumkin or 2 15-ounce can pumpkin purée

2 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil and seeds

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Get some browning it's called flavor. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in pumpkin; cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, curry powder, and cayenne pepper; simmer for 20 minutes. Now add the coconut milk. ( I alway add at the end b/c it sometime loses it's power) NOW blend it with an emersion blender, or any blender to get the lumps out. It might take a while. 

When you're done, TASTE IT: add salt if needed, if salty add vinegar, more curry less? I typically leave out a little coconut milk for a garish as shown in the above picture. Also, vinegar is an acid that makes you salivate so be sure to balance this out at the end as well. 


Feel free to freeze it, store it, etc. It actually gets better over time and if you're in a pinch you can always make a vegetable curry. By sautéing them and finishing them with this sauce/soup. Enjoy, you did it.