My first waitressing job during university was at an eclectic little bistro called the Tomato Cafe, nestled in the Cambie neighbourhood of Vancouver. Originally owned and founded by Diane Clement (cookbook author and previous Olympic athlete), it was true serendipity that they hired me. The Tomato Cafe has had a profound influence on my perspective on food and allowed me an opportunity to develop a serious respect for cooking with the best, freshest ingredients and the art of making food look and taste amazing.
I adapted this Indonesian Coconut Pumpkin Soup recipe from one of the recipes from “At The Tomato,” which remains one of my favourite cookbooks. The cafe was well known for the soups, made fresh every day and always to-die-for.
There are so many things to love about soup. They are almost always packed with nutrition (unless it’s the over-processed canned variety), are super easy to make and taste even better the next day. I’m a big fan.
This particular soup is packed with beta-carotene (for healthy night vision) and fibre (not that you will notice). I love the addition of chickpeas to the soup – it makes the soup so hearty and adds a plant based protein to help make it more filling and nutritious. If you don’t have access to a sugar pumpkin, you can use butternut squash or acorn squash.
Indonesian Coconut Pumpkin Soup
Indonesian Coconut Pumpkin Soup
The perfect combination, pumpkin pairs with coconut and a squeeze of lime for a delicious fall soup. Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Roasted Pumpkin:
- 1 small sugar pumpkin (3-4 lb) (seeded and cut into 1/2" slices (can leave the skin on))
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Soup:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion (coarsely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon madras curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 medium tomato (coarsely chopped)
- 1 L stock (plus extra to thin if needed (chicken or vegetable stock))
- 2 cans coconut milk (398ml each)
- 1 cup canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
- juice of 1 lime
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Roasted Pumpkin:
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Pre-heat the oven to 350F. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange the slices of pumpkin evenly. Drizzle evenly with the olive oil and maple syrup and roast for approximately 40 minutes, until lightly brown and tender throughout. When cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh off of the pumpkin into a small bowl, discarding the skin. You should have 1 1/2 -2 cups of cooked pumpkin.
Soup:
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In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and transparent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
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Add the spices, ginger and tomato, and cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes, until the tomato is soft and starts to break down.
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Add the stock, roasted pumpkin and coconut milk and simmer for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Add more stock to thin it down if desired.
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Add the chickpeas, lime and salt and pepper to taste.
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Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro if desired and serve.
Where do I add the pumpkin into the soup? Indonesian coconut
Oh my!! You are so right! I missed indicating that – I have updated it now:) Thanks so much for catching that Jennifer!
Instead of using a sugar pumpkin, how much canned pumpkin should I use? Thanks so much – in love with your site!
Hi Jana,
I’m not sure you would get the same result using canned pumpkin as the roasting process is what intensifies the flavour, but you could try! I would cut the volume of pumpkin back by about 1/3 as it is more dense in the canned form. Thank you so much for the feedback and please let me know how it turns out if you try with the canned pumpkin!!
hi, so how many people does this portion serve if it were served as a starter? also, what beverage would you pair this with?
This looks amazing. Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try it!
This is delicious! So yummy. Made it with butternut squash as suggested in insta stories.
So glad you liked it Yvonne!
Wow Tori this was so good! I didn’t have turmeric so I omitted and we still loved it, especially with a little drizzle of sriracha!
Yum love the addition of sriracha!
Do you blend the chickpeas in the soup? Or leave whole?
Hi Gillian, I leave them whole!