Coconut milk and curry pumpkin soup

The combination of masala, tomato and coconut milk with the roasted pumpkin is amazing!

Serves 6 Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour Oven temperature: 200°C

• 500g mixed pumpkin and butternut, cubed • 4 cloves garlic • 5 curry leaves (or 2 bay leaves) • 15ml masala • 5cm fresh turmeric root, peeled and grated • 500g cherry tomatoes • 30ml each butter and oil • 2 onions, thinly sliced • pinch of sugar • 1.2L chicken stock • 1 tin coconut cream

1 Preheat the oven. Spread the pumpkin, butternut, garlic and curry or bay leaves on a greased baking tray and sprinkle with the masala and turmeric. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of oil and roast for about 35 minutes or until done. Stir halfway through the baking process. If the pumpkin gets slightly charred here and there, even better – but not too much. If your oven is big enough, roast the tomatoes at the same time with a little oil, salt and pepper on a separate baking tray. It takes just 10 minutes for the skins to burst and the tomatoes to get a lovely rich flavour.

Heat the butter and oil in a large pot and fry the onions slowly until golden brown and 2 caramelised. To ensure that the onions are soft before they start to colour, stir in a dash of hot water that can boil away and season with a pinch of sugar. Remove and set aside.

3 Now add the cooked pumpkin and any liquid that may be in the baking tray to the same pot and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Blend the soup with a stick blender, stir in the coconut cream and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil. I like chunks of tomato in mine, but you can blend the soup again if you prefer it smooth. Garnish with the caramelised onions and serve piping hot.