Kurbis suppe/ kürbissuppe / Pumpkin or cucurbita or squash soup

 

Yesterday was a very cold and rainy day. The weather forecasts say that, this horrible condition will last for another week. I need sun and warmth. I just hate Germany's weather. Because of this weather I felt very lazy and just wanted some warm fluid food to gulp down. No mood for the routine rice dishes. So thought of making some rich soup. I love soups. I am a big fan of Knorr soups which are sold in India. My dad loved soups too. The mushroom and  chicken Knorr soups sold in India are just awesome. On a very relaxed evening, me, my dad and my sister would sit with a bowl of Knorr soup and will have a nice chit chat. My mom hates soup and so is my husband :). Eventhough still I swear that the Knorr soups are very tasty they are too unhealthy. To be honest those soups only had some thickening agent like corn powder and some flavouring agents. Juts a bowl of unhealthy carb and nothing else.  

I have seen Germans make this pumpkin soup. The veggie in the picture is a pumpkin but a different variety than the Indian one. Here they call it as kürbis. I had kürbis soup once in a scientific conference and I just loved it.  One of my German friend  gave me a recipe book and I followed the recipe from there.  To tell the truth the final product was not as tasty as Knorr ones but definitely this soup is very healthy. I loved the colour and texture of this soup and the taste is bit different for my Indian taste buds. If I have added home made vegetable stock definitely the soup would have tasted much better but I used a store bought  vegetable stock cubes.

Before going into the soup recipe a few words about this kürbis. The flesh has a deep orangish yellow colour. It  is bit sweet and this veggie is very ric in fiber content. A bowl of kürbis satisfies 50% of your daily vitamin A requirement. It is also rich in vitamin C and phytonutrients which are found to have cancer-protective properties. They are also a rich source of folate. Whatelse reason do we need to enjoy a bowl of warm kurbis soup :) ?

 

Ingredients :

Kürbis / any yellow fleshed pumpkin-  1/4 kg

Onions- 2 nos

Butter- 2 tbspn

Vegetable stock- 1/2 liter (I used maggi stock cubes)

Nutmeg powder- few pinches

Black pepper- as per your taste

Salt as needed

Method :

Cut the pumpkin and remove its skin. (This is the most difficult part. It is as hard as a stone. To make the process easy you can also put half pumpkin in the oven for half-an-hour and then you can scoop out the flesh).  Remove the seeds and cube the flesh. Melt the butter in a pan and add sliced onions. Saute for a few minutes until they are soft. Then add the cubed pumpkin pieces and saute for a few minutes. Now add the vegetable stock, salt, a pinch of sugar and nutmeg powder and allow the mixture to boil. When it boils simmer it until the pumpkin pieces are soft enough. Then puree it. I used a mixer-ginder to puree it.  Garnish with freshly ground pepper powder. Have the soup with some crusty bread. A very wholesome, nutrient-rich soup will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use a home made vegetable stock.  If you like it richer, garnish with few tablespoons of fresh cream. You can also try adding our spice mixture or few garlic pods when cooking. If the flesh is not sweet enough add a little sugar to bring out the sweet tinge. If you have a better version please let me know. Happy cooking !!!