This curried parsnip soup is super creamy with sweet curry and nutty parsnip flavours and thickened with wholesome chickpeas. Garnish with a swirl of cream and a sprinkle of crunchy toasted sunflower seeds for a delicious easy and quick light meal, lunch or starter.
Stick blender or stand blender, optional for blending soup
Small non-stick fry pan or skillet optional, for toasting sunflower seeds
Ingredients
Saute veggies:
2tablespoonplant-based margarine[or vegan butter or your usual margarine, butter or oil, or replace with ½ cup vegetable stock]
Soup:
650gramsparsnips[about 6 medium, peeled or unpeeled]
185gramsonion[1 medium-large, diced]
1canchickpeas[400gram,14oz can, drained, or 240 grams cooked chickpeas]
2teaspoonsgarlic powder[or 4 garlic cloves fine diced or minced, or 2 teaspoons garlic puree]
1teaspoonground ginger [or 1 inch of fresh ginger root fine diced or minced, or 2 teaspoons ginger puree]
4teaspoonscurry powder[such as a Madras curry powder or just ordinary curry powder]
1.2litrevegetable stock[hot]
Once soup is ready:
2teaspoonsgaram masala powder
Optional, garnish:
drizzle of plant-based cream[or sour cream, creme fraiche, or plain yogurt]
4tablespoonssunflower seeds[plain or toasted, or replace with pumpkin, sesame or poppy seeds, or flaked almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc]
Instructions
Melt the margarine in the soup pot.[Or if using vegetable stock add to the pot and bring to a gentle boil]
2 tablespoon plant-based margarine
Add the parsnips, onions, garlic powder, ground ginger, and curry powder to the pot, and cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
If your veggies begin to stick to the pot just add a few tablespoons of water.
Add the chickpeas and stir well.Pour in the hot vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.
1 can chickpeas, 1.2 litre vegetable stock
Bring to the boil, lower the heat, and cover the pot half way with a lid.
Simmer for 25 minutes or until the parsnips are nice and soft.Stir through the garam masala and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary.[a squeeze of fresh lemon juice is a nice additional seasoning]
2 teaspoons garam masala powder
Blend the soup to a smooth puree with an immersion stick blender. Or let the soup cool and blend using a stand blender or food processor. Bring back to the boil before serving.Alternatively, leave the soup chunky and omit the blending.
Serve: [optional]
Serve with a swirl of plant-based cream or sour cream and a sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds. A dollop of mango chutney is also nice, as are a few crushed poppadum's sprinkled over the top or serve whole poppadum's on the side for dipping into the soup.
drizzle of plant-based cream
For toasting sunflower seeds: [optional, as can simply have the seeds without toasting]
Heat a small non-stick fry pan or skillet.Add the sunflower seeds and stir or shake the pan frequently as they heat up and toast.[Optional: Add seasonings to the seeds such as salt & pepper, some curry powder or garam masala before toasting.]
4 tablespoons sunflower seeds
Once the sunflower seeds start to colour remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir or shake, as the seeds will continue to colour within the residual heat.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
Data does not include the sunflower seed garnish or other optional toppings.
Replace the sunflower seeds with pumpkin, sesame, poppy seeds, or flaked almonds, crushed walnuts, chopped cashews, etc.
This recipe results in about 1.5 litres [1.5 quarts] of soup [measured after pureed] and calories are worked out at 5 servings of 300 millilitres [1 ¼ US cups] per bowl.
Smaller portions will result in more servings, and if preferred the soup can be thinned out with extra vegetable stock or cream or milk for extra servings.
Store parsnip soup in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Or freeze for 3-4 months.
Parsnips can be replaced with a different root veggie such as carrots, turnips, swede, rutabaga, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or celeriac.
For a gluten-free curried parsnip soup use a gluten-free veggie stock and ensure that any spice powders used are also free from gluten ingredients.
Serve parsnip soup with your favourite curry condiments and accompaniments such as mango chutney, mint sauce, lime pickle, poppadum's, lentil crisps, naan breads, chapati's, flatbreads, etc.
To bulk out the soup into a larger meal serve ladled over a serving of cooked rice at the bottom of the soup bowl.