Tuesday 8 July 2008

New Zealandic sweet potato soup

Polish: słodki ziemniak
Catalan: moniato
Quechua: kumar
Tonga: kumala
Ilokano: kamote
Nahuatl: camohtli
Aymara: apichu
Sango: babolö
Kikuyu: ngwaci
Gujarati: રતાળુ

Sweet potato seems to be really interesting: you can bake or cook it or eat raw, you can serve it sweet or spicy, there is sweet potato flour, chips, pies and alcohol beverages; even its leaves are eaten, mostly in Africa. Solomon Islands produce 160 kg of batata per person each year, and Burundi 130, while where I live most people never seen it nor tasted it. Among the recipes that I tasted, New Zealandic sweet potato soup (called kumara soup) is really worth trying it. Also in the summertime; even if kumara soup, differrently to Polish summer borscht and Mexican avocado soup is a warm dish, it is still great for summer, cause it is light in digestion and in my personal opinion soups are, together with salads, one of the best meal for the summertime.

(for 2 portions)
1 sweet potato (250 g)
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon fresh, ground ginger
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 cup milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt, pepper, cumin, oil

1. Chop onion, mince garlic clove. Fry them in oil together with ground ginger. When golden, add curry powder.



2. Grind kumara (Maori name for sweet potato) and add to fried vegetables, fry a bit more (jntil it becomes orange-golden colour) and if needed, add more oil. After about 5 minutes, add broth and cook until almost soft. Puree or pass through sieve or do it partially and leave some vegetable chunks.

3. Pour into the saucepan and cook on a low heat. Add milk and coconut milk little by little, stirring constantly. Try it and add as much cumin, salt and pepper as you wish. Plus, sprinkling the soup with chopped parsley or coriander leaves or dill is always a wonderful idea.

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