The National Soup
We are blessed in South Africa as every variety of squash grows in the country.themselves, Butternuts are part of the cucurbit family of vegetables
Is butternut soup a South African national soup?
Well, the answer is a resounding YES. I haven’t met (yet) any fellow South African who doesn’t love butternut soup in winter. Caterers serve butternut soup, restaurants too. And it’s easy to make at home. What I love about it is its versatility. It can be made easy (and plain) with few ingredients and pureed for babies or the elderly people who don’t prefer fancy and spicy foods – to complex ingredients that makes it spicy (and fancy) to keep adults warm and cosy in winter.
The soup’s versatility makes it easy for cooks (novice to experienced) to add anything on it, from types of fruits to vegetables, as long as it makes sense to you. The soup is also forgiving in thickness, it can be thick or thin as you want it to be. Also, it can be made sweet or savoury. Thus, you should use my recipe as a guide to please your palates. Depending on flavours I’m craving at a particular moment that I make it; the spiciness varies. However, I always like mine smooth and velvety.
We are blessed in South Africa as every variety of squash grows in the country.
Butternuts are part of the cucurbit family of vegetables, others include marrows, cucumbers and pumpkins. If you are looking to grow butternuts at home, now is the best time to, as butternut is a warm climate plant, which grows better from August to December (early spring and summer).
Simply Butternut Soup
Equipment
- Pot
- Blender
Ingredients
- 900 g Butternut
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil extra virgin
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- ½ Teaspoon Pink Salt
- Black Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Curry Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Turmeric
- 5 small Curry Leaves
- Fresh Coriander
- Fresh Parsley
- Fresh Marjoram
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Red Jalapeño
- 2 Teaspoons Fresh Ginger chopped
- 1 Cube Chicken Stock
- 1 Vegetable Stock Pot
- 1 Large Carrot
- 1 small Red Onion
- ½ small Brown Onion
- ½ Green Pepper
- Juice of ½ Lemon
- 2 ½ Cups Water
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons Cream full cream
Instructions
- Peel all the vegetables, butternut, carrot, onions and garlic cloves.
- Remove the seeds from the butternut, and cut it into about small chunks, along with the carrot.
- Roughly chop the onions, garlic, green pepper and jalapeño.
- Finely chop parsley, coriander and marjoram.
- Heat up a wide pot on medium to high heat, add olive oil and butter, followed by all the vegetables, herbs and curry leaves. Stir and crumble the cube of chicken stock. Stir.
- Close the pot, let the veggies cook for 5 minutes. If the vegetables stick on the pot, add little water to deglaze the pot.
- Stir, season with salt, pepper, add curry powder and turmeric. Stir and then add juice of half a lemon and 2/3 to 1 cup of water. Stir. Close the pot and reduce heat to low-medium. Cook for 20 minutes, but stir again midway (after 10 minutes).
- Mix the vegetable stock pot with 1 ½ cups of water. Transfer the cooked vegetables into a blender and the water with stock pot, blend until pureed and smooth.
- Transfer into a pot and cook again for about 10 minutes, add cream, stir until well combined.
- Serve.