Spicy Peanut Soup

I met up with Hedd and Leo a couple of years ago in Amsterdam while they were on a trip to Europe. While we were walking around the city we came across a small shop selling soup and my choice was the Spicy Peanut Soup. On arriving home I worked on recreating the soup. here is the recipe, tweaked over a two year period.

Soup after cooking for an hour and a half.

This soup feeds 6 and keeps perfectly well in the fridge for 3 days.

You will need:

3 cups of chopped vegetables (dicing is good but don't give yourself a hard time) I have in my time used runner beans, French beans, carrots, courgettes, potatoes, peppers, butternut squash, sweetcorn, peas and onions, whatever combination you have to hand, ideally at least 3, onions being 1.
4 cloves of garlic
1 thumb size piece of ginger
2 or 3 chillies (this is entirely to taste including whether or not you add the seeds)
1 tablespoon of tomato pureé
3 large tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter
1 tin of coconut milk
The juice of 3 limes
1 teaspoon of palm sugar (granulated sugar will also work)
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of curry powder (I never use curry powder for curries but it's useful in soups)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste.
Chopped coriander to sprinkle on top when serving

Using a large saucepan, fry the mustard and cumin seeds in the oil for a couple of minutes on a gentle heat. Add the onions and chopped chilli and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes until the onions have become translucent but not coloured, add the tomato pureé and cook for another couple of minutes before adding the remaining chopped vegetables. cook over a low heat stirring occasionally. Place the peanut butter, garlic, ginger, lime juice and palm sugar in a blender and add 2 litres of water, Blend for a minute. Add the contents of the blender to the sweated vegetables along with the tin of coconut milk. Cook the soup on a low heat for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally, season to taste.

Soup before cooking for an hour and a half.

Serve with a sprinkling of chopped coriander.



Notes:

Whenever possible I substitute Marigold Swiss Vegetable Boullion Powder for salt, it has a 17% salt content but packs so much flavour that I end up using less salt in my diet.

This soup can easily be adjusted to fit your own taste, not only with vegetables that you might prefer but also just how much sweet & sour and chilli heat you like.

 You can also enhance the sweet & sour aspect by adding a tablespoon of chopped pineapple or mango to each serving.