Spicy Peanut Pumpkin Soup

The comforting taste of warm salted peanuts starts on the palate before yielding to the pleasures of a rich savoury vegetable broth and finishing with spicy flourish in this fragrant and multi-layered soup. Adapted from Yamuna Devi's artful and creative but sadly out-of-print Yamuna's Table, this soup makes a wonderful first course to almost any Caribbean, African or South Asian themed dinner, or a delightful lunch on its own.

Spicy peanut pumpkin soup

1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
1 cup roasted, shelled and unsalted peanuts
1 cup diced fresh pumpkin
1 large potato, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
6 cups vegetable stock
juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
fresh ground black pepper

Heat a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the sesame oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Toss in the coriander seeds and chili flakes and stir until the seeds darken a couple of shades without burning, a couple of minutes. Add the peanuts and vegetables and continue to stir for 5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer until the peanuts are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat and let cool slightly before puréeing with a hand blender or in a countertop blender. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper.

Serve hot or warm. Serves 6 to 8.

Another peanut soup you may enjoy:

African bean and peanut soup