Pumpkin dahl soup

In winter time, I love to eat spicy, warm, nourishing food. It's the only way to face up to the dull, grey and damp weather in Northern Europe at this time of the year. This soup is super healthy, full of revitalizing vitamin E to sort out that dry skin you get from the cold, and a nice kick of chilli heat to improve your mood. Not to mention the warm, cuddlesome flavour of coconut milk; a natural antifungal, with plenty of omega 3s.

Ingredients
1 pumpkin or squash - cut into small chunks
1 onion - diced
1 cup of red or yellow lentils (mung dahl)
2 cm cubed of finely diced ginger
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 carton of coconut milk
2 litres of stock - vegetable or chicken tastes the best, preferably home made
1 tablespoon of oil - e.g. sunflower, soya, canola, mustard
4 teaspoons of garam masala - I prefer Mauritius grilled masala to a typical Indian garam masala in this soup. If using Indian garam masala use only 3 teaspoons plus a teaspoon of turmeric to avoid giving your soup a brown colour.
A handful of freshly chopped coriander leaves
Optional: plain yoghurt, juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat the powdered spices in the bottom of a large saucepan, on the hob, to unlock their flavour and aroma - careful they don't burn!
2. Add the oil, garlic, ginger and onion and stir fry until the onion starts to become translucent.
3. Add the pumpkin cubes, reduce the heat a little and cover to sweat lightly for 2-3 minutes.
4. Uncover the soup, and add the lentils. Stir around rapidly for about a minute to mix with the spices - you want to avoid the lentils sticking to the base of the pan.
5. Pour in the stock, and turn up the heat to get the soup bubbling gently without reaching a full-on boil.
6. Leave to simmer for at least 20 minutes. 

Your soup is done once the lentils have softened and lost their shape, and the pumpkin cubes should be melting into the rest of the soup. You can either serve it chunky, or whizz it up with a hand mixer.

Finish the soup with a grind of black pepper, sea salt and a liberal sprinkling of the chopped coriander. You can top it off with a bit of lemon juice per bowl, or even better, a spoon of thick natural yoghurt.

Serve with one of the following, lightly buttered:

• toasted pittas
• garlic and coriander naan bread

 YUM!