With the start of the new semester and very little time to cook during the week, I find myself making large pots of soups on the weekends and then placing them into individual containers so that I can consume them during the week. I’ve been mixing and matching different meats, vegetables and peas/beans and sometimes pasta.
This recipe uses pumpkin, rehydrated channa (chickpeas) to which I added some leftover roast chicken. Bone-in beef, pork or lamb necks would work well too. I find a pressure cooker to be a lifesaver when making the soups. Since I am not big into dumplings (well except Asian dumplings), my soups are usually devoid of them, unless I am making the soup to share with others. Therefore, if you like dumplings, you can add them to this soup.
Even when you make soups and there is no meat, I find the beans/peas give body to the soup and a good mouth feel as you chew on them. Same thing when you add the pasta.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Pressure Cooker
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups rehydrated channa, rinsed and drained well (2 cups soaked overnight)
- 2 pounds pumpkin, cleaned and cut into large chunks
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- Finely minced hot pepper to taste
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 ½ liters of water (about 10 ¾ cups) hot water/vegetable or chicken stock or a combination of water and stock
- Thinly sliced green onions/scallions (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Add the oil to the pot and place on medium heat until hot but not smoking.
- Add the onions thyme, ginger and pepper along with salt to taste, toss to mix, reduce heat to low and cook until the onions have softened and the mixture is fragrant.
- Raise the heat to high and add the pumpkin and chickpeas and toss to mix with the aromatics; season with salt to taste. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
- Pour in hot water, give the ingredients a stir, cover and close the pressure cooker. Let the pot come up to pressure then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 8 – 10 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on the type of cooker you have). Time begins from the first whistle or when the cooker comes up to pressure and gives a steady hiss.
- Remove the cooker from the stove burner, release the pressure and open the pot. Return the pot to the lit burner and using the back of a large spoon, mash the pumpkin. Stir the pot, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Let cook uncovered for 5 – 7 minutes or until the soup is reduced to your desired consistency.
- Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with green onions/scallions.
NOTES
- If you are not using a pressure cooker, add an extra 1 ½ cups water/stock and let the soup cook at a roaring boil, uncovered for 10 minutes before covering and reduce the heat to low/simmer. Cook until the peas are soft but not mushy. If using stock, taste for salt before adding extra salt to the soup.
- If adding already cooked meat like I did, add it to the soup at direction # 5 after you open the pot. Let it cook in the soup for 5 – 7 minutes.
- To add raw meat to the soup, add it with the pumpkin at the onset of cooking (direction # 3) but do not add the chickpeas until the last 8 – 10 minutes of pressuring.
- You can use canned beans/peas but the rehydrated dried beans/peas have much for flavour and fiber.
