Curry Coconut Spice Islands Pumpkin Soup

The pumpkins are lovely down here and so plentiful.  We find them in nearly all fresh markets and roadside stands.  I have been trying to cook with this vegetable as much as possible.

Today I made a pumpkin soup.  I didn't have an exact recipe so I just winged it.  The result was good, very good!

1 wedge of fresh pumpkin or approx 2-3 cups fresh pumpkin chopped or 1 can pumpkin purée

1 c coconut milk - I used powered reconstituted* or 1 can 

3 c chicken broth - I think veg would be better but I didn't have it**

1 small onion chopped

4 garlic cloves chopped

2 T olive oil

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

1 clove - whole

2 T mild curry powder

1 nutmeg or 1 t 

Salt - dash

Mango chutney - I used V&P I bought at the fresh market in Trinidad

I put just enough water in the bottom of the pressure cooker to steam the pumpkin pieces, approx 2 cups.  Steam pumpkin at pressure 10 mins using a trivet and steamer basket.  Allow it to come down from pressure on its own.

While that is cooking, prepare coconut milk* (see below). Once the pumpkin is steamed, remove the trivet and steaming basket and set aside.  Pour the steaming water into a bowl to make the veg broth**(see below).

Wipe out the pressure cooker and put it back on the heat.  Sauté onions until soft in olive oil and a dash of salt.  Add garlic towards the end so it won't burn.  Add steamed pumpkin pieces into the onion garlic mix.  Mash up the steamed pumpkin as best you can.  Stir in curry powder and 3 cups of broth.  Add cinnamon stick, clove and bay leaf.  Lower heat and simmer 30 mins.

Turn off heat and remove cinnamon, clove and bay leaf.  Use an immersion blender to purée smooth.

Add in coconut milk and blend one more time.  Grate in 3/4 a piece of fresh nutmeg and stir.

Serve in soup bowls with a generous grating of nutmeg on top and a big dollop of mango chutney in the middle.  

*Coconut powder is plentiful in the markets in the Caribbean.  It's great on a boat because it doesn't take up any space or weight and it's cheaper than canned.  I also learned that many, many local Caribbean cooks use it themselves.  I followed the instructions for a thicker mixture but found it was still too thin.  I think I ended up using 3 heaping tablespoons to one cup of water for the above recipe.

**I used bouillon cubes to make the broth.  Again, these are great for a boat because they don't take up space or weight.  They can be salty so I do adjust the salt in any recipe where I use broth made from bouillon cubes.  The package says to "add boiling water".   In the above recipe I simply added the steaming water and then tap water for the remaining quantity needed (3 cubes + 2 c steaming water + 1 c tap water).  In other recipes I just use tap water vs boiling because I am generally adding it to a heated mixture so I find I don't need boiling water to dissolve the cube.