This soup is wonderful in its simplicity and cheapness. It’s great to make in the winter months when you want something wholesome -yet healthy- to warm your heart and tummy. I love it because it’s so quick and easy and produces very little washing up for something so tasty!
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serves ~8
Ingredients
4 red onions (roughly chopped)
1.5 kg of sweet potatoes (no need to peel- dice into bite size pieces)
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1.5 litres of hot water
200g of creamed coconut (chopped/grated)
Chilli powder (to taste)
2 tsp of stock
2 tsp of oil for frying
1. Heat the oil in a large pan until a piece of onion crackles when you drop it in. Then drop in the rest of the onions. Fry on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until soft and lightly browned. Then add the garlic and fry for a further 3 minutes with an occasional stir to stop your food sticking to the pan.
2. Put the kettle, with your 1.5 litres of water in it, to boil and add your diced sweet potatoes to the pan, stirring in the onions and garlic. Let it fry a little and then when the water’s boiled, pour that over and sprinkle in the stock. Give everything a good stir, pop a lid on the pot and leave it all to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender.
3. Now you’re ready to pulverize your soup to transform it into… soup form! You can use either a handheld blender or a food processor (I went for the food processor for the simple reason that I do not own a handheld blender). If you have a handheld one definitely use it as it’s a lot less hassle than pouring boiling soup into a food processor and pouring it back again. Whatever your choice of implement, blend everything until it’s of a thickness you’re happy with. If you’d like the soup to be thinner, just add some more hot water.
4. Finally, stir in the creamed coconut and as much chilli powder as suits you, tasting as you go. The creamed coconut should melt very quickly into the soup. If it doesn’t, simply turn the heat back on or up and continue stirring until it does. Give your soup a taste and add as much more coconut/chilli/salt as you wish. Then you’re ready to serve up. To add a little class to this very simple dish, I like to squiggle some sriracha sauce over it but no class is necessary. Feeding yourself is the focus here; accompany this with some crusty bread or oatcakes and salad if you’d prefer. Enjoy!
