Spicy chilled avocado soup with fresh crab

We first tried chilled avocado soup in New York on a hot day, sitting outside with a glass of cold white wine watching the world go by – a memory that we have happily savoured. We would like this soup to create such happiness for you, too. If you are serving it without crab, give it a little crunch with diced cucumber and red onion, then add mint and coriander.

SERVES 4-6 500g chicken or vegetable stock 4 spring onions, washed and trimmed 1 clove garlic, peeled 5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled 2 green chillies, or to taste 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk 1 cucumber, peeled 1 avocado, stone removed and peeled 4 large green tomatoes 2 tsp ground cumin seeds 2 tsp ground coriander seeds small bunch of coriander small bunch of mint squeeze of honey 2 limes, zest and juice, or to taste salt and pepper

FOR THE CRAB 250g crabmeat (you can use both brown and white meat, but we prefer white here) 3 spring onions, finely chopped 1 lime, zested small bunch of coriander, leaves shredded small bunch of mint, leaves shredded

GARNISH IDEAS coriander leaves (micro herbs are great) sliced radish sliced spring onion 1 To make the soup, simply place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. It is important to taste and season to your liking, as it could need a little more lime for zing, more salt or maybe even more chilli (we always add more). Pour into a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least a few hours. 2 Meanwhile, mix all the crab ingredients together in a bowl; taste and adjust the seasoning. 3 Once the soup is chilled, serve with a dollop of the crab mixture and sprinkle over your chosen garnishes. ➤