Cape Malay'ish' Butternut Soup

Its giving hugs-in-a-bowl vibes

And just like that, Autumn has struck Cape Town - are you ready yet?

Autumn has always been my favourite season, mostly because I can eat soup shamelessly without any reason, not that I need one, but this year it feels different. I don’t know if I am ready yet for darker mornings and earlier evenings.

I LOVE SOUP - I even wrote an Ebook all about it! Here

I think the answer is going to be to root and embrace myself deeply in COMFORT FOOD, surely hot steamy slowly cooked things are going to make me feel better?

This soup is my take on a flavour that I love, it is rooted in memories of mild curries at ‘krismis kerk bazaars’ (Church Fete’s) at our local NG Kerk in Monumentpark :-)

I hope this recipe does more justice to the beautiful Cape Malay cuisine than those NG kerk curries! Mrs Balls & bananas anyone?

Flavour Hacks:

Toasting whole or ground spices releases their aroma and really adds a depth to any dish. Simply add the spices to a pan (without any oil) and toast on a medium heat until the smell fills the pan, tip into a plate to stop the cooking process.

Ghee or clarified butter is often used in Indian cooking, and in this recipe it adds a rich caramel undertone which I love.

I like to play around with different type of peppercorns switching between, pink, Szechuan, black and white. I toast these too to enhance their flavour.

Seasonal Swops:

Feel free to spice things up by adding some fresh chilli to the soup or doubling up on the spices.

Getting Ahead: you can speed things up by buying ready cut organic butternut pieces and the soup will benefit from being made a few days ahead.

Seasonal Swops: you can use olive oil instead of ghee to make the soup vegan or normal butter if you can’t find ghee.

Serving Suggestions:

Soup is made for dunking bread into and this soup would be lovely with some easy naan or flatbreads on the side.

Serves 4 very generously and is freezable.

Ingredients:

• 1kg organic roots, peeled and diced

• 2 large onions, peeled and finely diced

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled, bashed

• 4 tablespoons grass-fed ghee

• 2 full teaspoon ground turmeric

• 2 full teaspoon garam masala

• 4 pinches cinnamon

• 3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

• 3 teaspoons salt & pepper (I used toasted pink peppercorns)

• 800-1 litre vegetable stock or water (maybe more)

• 1 cinnamon stick (optional)

• handful coriander, leaves only, chopped

Method:

1. Heat the ghee (or olive oil) in a saucepan on a medium heat, add the roots, onions and garlic, stir well and cook, covered until the roots are soft’ish’ and starting to caramelise and break down, about 20 minutes. TIP: when lifting the lid to stir, try to pour the water created by the steam in the saucepan, back into the saucepan. This helps to keep the veggies moist and speeds up the cooking process.

2. TOAST the spices in a small (dry) frying pan until fragrant - set aside.

3. Once the roots are soft, add the toasted spices followed by the ginger, cook until fragrant, 3 minutes.

4. Add the can tomatoes, enough stock or water to cover the veggies and the salt, add the cinnamon stick if using.

5. Simmer gently until the roots are completely soft. Taste and season if needed.

6. Remove the cinnamon stick if added. Blend with the hand blender to your liking keeping it smooth or chunky. Please add more stock if needed until the consistency is to your liking but keeping in mind that no one (really) likes a thin soup.

7. To serve, I added another tablespoon of ghee to the soup for added richness & decadence followed by the coriander. Enjoy!