Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Spicy, aromatic, with just a touch of sweetness.
This soup has layers upon layers of flavour. The sweet potatoes and the coconut milk provide a layer of natural sweetness. The cayenne, fresh ginger and garlic add a layer of spicy heat that nicely balances the sweetness. Finally, the garam marsala and curry powder add in fragrance and warmth to the soup.
The addition of red lentils is a great way to add additional protein to a vegetable-based soup. Red lentils provide a huge nutritional punch. They are packed with protein, folate, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and potassium.
Change it up!
Choose the level of heat and spice that your prefer, adding more or less of the cayenne or curry powder.
This is a really healthy soup with or without the lentils. If you want to leave the lentils out, replace with an additional cup of cubed sweet potato.
Substitute butternut squash or another winter squash for the sweet potato.
If you don’t want to go to the bother of peeling an cubing the squash bake in the oven or cook in a microwave. Let cool and scoop out the flesh. Prepare the soup minus the sweet potato. Once the lentils are just about cooked, add in the cooked squash. Continue cooking to the lentils are completely soft.
Leftovers?
A great make ahead soup as the the flavours will blend together making this soup even more delicious the next day. If the soup becomes too thick, simply add a little water to thin as needed.
The soup will keep 4-5 days refrigerated, or 2-3 months in the freezer.
Equipment
- Large stock pot
- Hand-held immersion blender, food processor, or blender
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 celery stalk diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 clove garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne optional
- 3 sweet potato peeled and cubed (about 4 – 41/2 cups)
- 1 cup dried red lentils
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables. Peel the onion, sweet potatoes and carrot. Roughly chop the onion, cut the sweet potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Dice the carrot and celery. Peel and grate the ginger, and peel and finely chop the garlic.
- Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and diced carrot and celery. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, but not browned, about 5 minutes
- Add the garlic and fresh ginger and cook for another 2-3 minutes
- Add in the garam masala, curry powder, cayenne. Stir to warm the spices. Add the cubed sweet potato, salt and stock. Let the mixture come up to just a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 5 minutes then add in the red lentils. Continue to cook until the sweet potatoes and lentils are soft, about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Purée the soup using a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. If soup is too thick, add in additional water to thin as needed. (Alternatively, use a food processor or a blender to purée the soup, then return the soup to the pot. If using a blender be sure not to fill the jar more than halfway; leave the hole in the lid open and cover loosely with a dish towel to allow the heat to escape)
- Add the coconut milk and stir through. Let the mixture come back up to just a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve garnished with some chopped fresh cilantro.