Monday, June 08, 2009

Spicy Carrot Soup Recipe


This carrot, sweet potato and chickpea soup is thick and smooth. We garnish the soup with croutons and/or freshly ground black pepper.

The soup can be made as mild or hot as you like. The heat level will depend on the type and amount of chilli used, and whether the chilli seeds and ribs are included (remove them for a milder soup).

The recipe specifies canned chickpeas, but if you would prefer to cook the chickpeas yourself, you can substitute 245 grams of cooked chickpeas.

Yields about 2.3 litres (9 1/3 cups) of soup.

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

30ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) oil
300g (about 2 medium) onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 red chilli (or to taste), finely chopped
20g (about 3 large) garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
800g carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
350g sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small pieces
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1.25 litres (5 cups) vegetable stock
Salt, to taste

Heat oil in a heavy-based stockpot or very large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and chilli to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for about eight minutes, or until onion has softened.

Add garlic, coriander and cumin to the pan and cook, stirring, for about one minute. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Add carrot, sweet potato, chickpeas and stock to the pan.

Stir to mix the ingredients.

Cover saucepan, increase heat to high, and bring mixture to the boil. When the mixture boils, reduce the heat, and open the steam vent on the pan lid. Simmer mixture for about 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft. Taste and season with salt.

Puree mixture with a stick blender until smooth, and then serve or store.

Alternatively, set soup aside to cool for about 10 minutes, and then puree in a blender in batches. When pureeing hot soup in a blender, we have the blender no more than one third full. We leave the lid plug out, cover the hole in the lid with a few paper towels or a clean tea towel, and hold the lid down while pureeing. Reheat soup and serve, or store until required.

The soup can be reheated in a saucepan over medium to low heat, stirring constantly, or in a microwave.

Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. We freeze the soup in single-serve portions.
© www.exclusivelyfood.com.au

9 comments:

  1. I made this this afternoon for my wife who is a soup aficionada. She loved it. I made it exactly as per recipe.
    This is a great recipe site particularly for the extra hints dropped into recipes. Great work ladies
    Regards, John

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  2. Hi! I just found out your blog, I really like it! This soup just sounds great!

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  3. You've excelled yourselves once more, ladies - absolutely brilliant! Great flavours and I especially love the added protein from the chick peas. Looking forward to trying it out with chilli next time when hubby's stomach is in better shape :)

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  4. Can i use ground spices instead of whole seeds?

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  5. I have to say "Thank You". Was looking for something different to make & had a go at this soup on the weekend. It is so good !!! Added a couple of extra chillies for the warmth factor and am so pleased. Love your site so much. Thanks for all the brilliant recipes & advice :))

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  6. I cooked this tonight for dinner, it was delicious topped off with a dollop of sour cream and fresh coriander leaves.
    My partner loved it too.
    Thanks for a great vegetarian recipe, will be making this again I'm sure!

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  7. This might be a stupid question bu can anyone help me with the ingredients? The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of ground coriander seeds. Do I measure 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds and then grind them or do I grind the seeds first and then measure 1 teaspoon? With the vegetables, do they need to be the required weight before or after being peeled and chopped? I would be really grateful if someone who has already made the recipe can help me out! Thank you!

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  8. Hi Lilluz,

    One teaspoon of ground coriander seeds means that you measure the teaspoon of coriander after it has been ground to a powder.

    The vegetables are measured before peeling or chopping. So, you would weigh 800 grams of carrots for the recipe, and then trim, peel and chop them.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! I have no doubt that this soup will turn out extremely well! None of your recipes have let me down :-)

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