Pumpkin Curry Soup

Difficulty: Hard

Cooking time: 2 Hours

Serves 4

Fall’s coming along once again and with it marks the beginning of the end of the year and all the untold fortunes of 2020. Predictability is slowly leaving my life and I’m beginning to forget how the outside world works, but on the bright side, this pumpkin curry scores top marks in flavor and presentation. It’s warm and sweet and savory, and like most of my recipes, highly modular. Serve it with whatever you want, whatever toppings you’d like and I have a few good examples down below in the optionals. Serve it with that bread you’ve been learning to bake for the past 4 months and reflect on the quiet peace amongst the chaos. Perfect to go on a warm summer evening or a cold winter night, or whatever may come next. 

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

Curry:

• 4 Medium-small sugar pumpkins, acorn squash, or some other round, bowl-sized, hollow vegetable

• 2 ½ - 3 Ibs (1.2-1.4 kg) boneless chicken thighs

• 1 Small white onion (Or ½ large onion)

• 3 Medium carrots

• ½ Cup (110 ml) heavy cream (Or Coconut milk)

• 1 Bunch green onions (scallions)

• 1 Head garlic

• Water

• 1 Serving of curry roux, recipe below (or 1 full block of Japanese curry blocks)

• Rice or crispy bread, prepared as preferred

Curry Roux (Adapted from JustOneCookbook)

• 4 Tbsp butter

• 4 Tbsp plain flour (All purpose)

• 2 Tbsp garam masala

• 1 ½ Tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 Tsp ground cardamom

• 1 Tsp ground cumin

• 1 ½ Tsp ground turmeric

• ½ Tsp ground cinnamon

Optionals:

• Chicken skins (reserved from thighs)

• ½ Cup (110 ml) whole cashews

• ½ Cup (110 ml) raisins, dried currant, or dried cranberries

The Process:

The Roux

1. Get a medium pan heated over a medium-low flame, until just hot enough to gently foam the butter

2. Melt the butter completely before adding the flour right after, string with a whisk or wooden spatula to incorporate completely

3. Toast the flour to a light brown color before adding your ground spices, stirring to mix completely and toasting lightly for a minute or less 

   1. The roux should be fragrant and gently cooked, with no burning. This will be the primary way we thicken the sauce, so feel free to leave it a bit thicker than you’d normally make a roux

4. Reserve for use in the curry

Roasted Pumpkins:

1. Preheat your oven to 420 Fahrenheit (215 Celsius) and cut the tops off of the pumpkins, making sure to keep them relatively intact

2. Scoop out the seeds and roast them separately or discard or whatever else is appropriate for your pumpkin seedy needs

3. Brush the inside of the pumpkins with vegetable oil lightly, and sprinkle a light amount of salt into each of the cavities

4. Roast in the ovens right side up for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender, checking up every 30 minutes. Take out as soon as the flesh is soft but not falling apart, we want it still pretty durable

   1. It’s ok if the outer skin is a bit harder, we aren’t consuming all the outer walls so it’s ok if the very outside is a bit less done. It should be structurally sound

5. Scoop out about 1-2 cm (maybe half an inch) of flesh at most from each pumpkin, reserving for the soup or set aside for pies and tarts. You want to keep them stable and without punctures in the walls but hollow enough to fit plenty of soup

Curry: 

1. Cut your carrots into relatively thick chunks, however, you wish but all of relatively the same size and mass and mince your garlic and set aside

2. Cut your onions into wide slivers and set aside

3. De-skin your chicken thighs if not done already and cut into bite-sized chunks and set aside

4. Set a heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat with a small measure of oil, about 1 Tbsp, until smoking lightly

5. Sear the chicken thighs in the oil deeply on all sides, about 3-5 minutes on all sides or until deeply golden brown

   1. If you have too small of a pot, or just have too much chicken, do this in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan, which may keep it from browning correctly

   2. Try not to move the chickens too much as movement can cause them to release water and cool the pot or pan too much

6. Return the chicken to the pot along with the garlic and saute for just a minute over low heat. Turn the heat back on medium and barely cover in water, bringing to a simmer, and add your curry roux

7. Add your carrots and let it simmer for about 45 minutes

8. (Optional) during this time you can prepare your toppings

   1. Peel off the limp or browned outer layers of the green onions and chop off the root ends. Cut the white parts into thin rings and cut the green parts into 3 inch long sections and slice finely along the length of the scallion, creating slivers. Set both aside as garnishes

   2. If you have any nuts, roast them easily by microwaving them about 15 seconds at a time on a paper towel until lightly toasted, flipping and moving around every so often. Some browning is good, but don't let them burn and once cool, chop them coarsely to be used as a garnish. Cashews are the best nut topping, don't even fight me 

   3. If you have your raw chicken skins, make chicken bacon bits by laying them out flat on a cold, non-stick pan and heating on medium-low until most of the fat is rendered out and the skin is crisp, flipping intermittently to ensure even frying. Drain the oil, salt lightly and chop the skin into crispy little bits once cool for garnish

9. Near the end, take about ½ cup of pumpkin insides you’ve scooped out and stir into the curry, gently incorporating along with just half of your heavy cream or coconut milk. Taste for seasoning, adding just enough salt as needed

10. Put a healthy scoop of rice into the pumpkins along with a generous ladle of curry, or just curry if you’re using bread. Garnish with toppings of chicken skin bacon, green onions, dried raisins, roasted nuts, and an artistic drizzle of your remaining cream