Coconut curry carrot soup.

This is a new recipe I discovered browsing through the web and which actually comes from one of my much loved blogs, that of A cozy kitchen. We all are craving for a soup this time around, it's undoubtedly the answer to what will keep company to these cold weather times. It can be made with items that we keep in our pantry regularly and that's what I mostly love when I try to find a new recipe to add on to my to-go-menu-of-the-week.

This is a combination of carrots and coconut milk which along with the fresh cilantro and the red curry powder make one of the most perfect soups I have ever tried out. I substituted coconut milk (only because I didn't have that in my pantry at that time) with coconut cream and water until I reached the desirable coconut milk consistency. I also made red curry powder from scratch which is no other than mixing ground coriander, ground cumin, chili pepper, red pepper and cardamon together. If you are not a chili person, you can simply pass with the chili/red pepper addition. It will be delicious either ways. Recipe follows.


Coconut curry carrot soup (adapted from A cozy Kitchen)

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil) 2 small shallots, minced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
7 small carrots, peeled and diced (equals to about 2 cups of carrots)
1 tablespoons red curry powder
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
3 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon table salt, plus more if needed
Fresh cilantro, for garnish

In a medium pot, heat the coconut oil, over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Next, add the garlic cloves, carrots, red curry and fresh ginger; stir until everything is thoroughly mixed and cook for about a minute, until very fragrant.

Mix in the veggie broth and coconut milk. Once the mixture reaches a slight simmer, turn the heat to low, cover the pot and allow to cook for 20 minutes, until the carrots are tender when poked with a fork.If you have an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. If you don’t have one, no biggie. Carefully add the soup to the blender (you’ll have to do this in a few batches) and puree the soup, being sure you allow the hot air to escape (if not, you’ll have a bit of an explosion on your hands). 

Adjust the soup’s consistency, if you like. I added about 1/2 cup of veggie broth to thin it out just a bit. Next, salt to taste. (I added about 3/4 teaspoon of salt).Divide the soup between bowls and garnish each one with a sprinkling of freshly chopped cilantro 

Serves 3-4

/red curry powder making in my favorite marbled french kitchen style pestle and mortar/