Papaya And Squash Soup with Sweet Curry

So, I had left overs from yesterdays squash and I had an overripe papaya sitting there and looking at me very sadly with the first dent in its ripe and soft skin like a swollen eye. But then I remembered a recipe I recently read, namely a pumpkin papaya soup on Now Serving ... Exactly what I needed. Priya from Now Serving gave her soup not only a South Indian touch but also mixed in some Italian herbs. My papaya was happy again!

I changed the recipe a bit, stayed taste wise on the Indian continent and this is what came out of the experiment, a  fruity yet hearty soup. The recipe is enough for 4 portions but beware, M alone had 3 bowls of it.

Here is my adjusted recipe:

Papaya squash soup with sweet curry

Ingredients

1/2 Hokkaido squash  (ca. 300 g peeled and de-seeded), diced
1 Papaya, peeled, de-seeded, and diced (keep the seeds for super yummy salad dressing)
2 tablespoons coconut powder (I ground desiccated coconut shreds in my electric coffee spice mill)
2 tablespoons coriander, ground
1 fresh red chili, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
sesame oil for frying
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and sweet curry to taste (I used sweet curry from ProBio)
cilantro and red chili for garnish (or a dollop of coconut milk)

What to do

Heat the sesame oil in a pot. Add the garlic, coconut powder, ground coriander, and red chili and fry till it smells pleasantly and the coconut powder is slightly browned. Add the diced squash and papaya and fry until the pieces are covered by the oil-spice mixture. Add the broth and let cook for about 20 min.

Now it should look like this:

Pour into a blender and pulse until it becomes nice and creamy like this:

Season with salt and sweet curry. Heat through again and serve with sliced chili and cilantro.

And since Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes is hosting the October event for No Croutons Required I would like to share this recipe. This month's challenge was to create a soup or salad using squash as a main ingredient.