DIY curried sweet potato soup


Shalaka Gole | Daily Trojan

Shalaka Gole | Daily Trojan

Coming to you this week just in time for the rainy weekend (and the reminder that elsewhere in the world, they have seasons): a soup puree that I hope will make your tastebuds dance and your heart rejoice.

Seriously, I make a vat of this and then refrigerate/freeze so I can eat it for a week straight. It’s like gourmet baby food (I promise, good, not gross!) I use up all the tupperware in our household to do so, and bribe my roommates with tastes of it, so that they don’t yell at me. <3

This is actually “my own recipe,” which means nothing, because unfortunately I am not the only person to have thought of mixing the wonderful sweet potato with curry flavors. But I’d like to claim it anyways, if there are no objections? Ok cool. Also, on the sweet potato vs. yam debate, I think I fall yam (the bright orange ones!) but call it a sweet potato.

The basic idea for this dish comes from the concept of the “phodni,” which is the basis for much of Indian cooking: frying spices in heated oil to bring out their fragrance, before adding any other ingredients. It’s how you start most savory Indian dishes, and also the only real Indian cooking I know how to do, so that works out in my favor.

To the phodni, you’ll be adding veggies and more spices, cooking til soft and then pureeing! It is as simple as that. YES.

Served amazingly on it’s own, or with a yolky fried egg atop some quinoa (my personal fave), or as a sauce for pasta (haven’t tried this but YUM), or however your little sweet potato heart desires. It has an amazing creamy consistency purely because of the smooth texture of the sweet potato, with a heated kick at the end, so it can be pretty versatile.

It’s also vegan, gluten free, and 90 percent fat free. And the best part is, I wasn’t trying to accomplish that, so it tastes like normal (amazing) food! Make enough for two, and serve up to your boo this cuddle-weather weekend. I’ll be snuggled up with my favorite man too: Frank Underwood, ie Kevin Spacey, because House of Cards comes out this weekend. But I digress.

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ in. cube of ginger (approximately), minced
  • 1 large sweet potato or yam
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 large carrots
  • 2 heaped tsp. curry powder (found at Trader Joe’s!)
  • OR if you want to get real authentic, buy them separately (Manas on Vermont is a great walking distance resource) and combine:
  • 1 tsp. turmeric
  • ½ tsp. asafoetida powder (I did just google the English of that)
  • ½ tsp. mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp. red chili powder
  • 1 tbsp. oil
  • 2 tsp. salt (or to taste)

Directions:

  1. Peel and chop all the vegetables into about ½ in. — 1 in. cubes
  2. Heat oil on high heat in a pot big enough to hold all the vegetables and some water
  3. Add all spices except for the red chili powder (If you’ve gotten all the different ingredients, add mustard seeds first, and check to see if they start popping before adding the rest. This is how you can tell the oil is hot enough)
  4. Reduce heat to medium and fry garlic and ginger until golden
  5. Add chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions to the mix, and stir fry til well coated with oil and spices
  6. Add 3 c. water to pot, simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
  7. Pour (carefully!) into a large blender, add salt, and puree.
  8. Serve hot! Garnish with cilantro if you’d like! (and not parsley on accident like I did. Bleh)