Pitta Pacifying Pumpkin Soup

The Ayurveda Experience January 19, 2017

Ingredients

• 2 pc orange pumpkin, big, peeled, ½ pc diced (small), 1 ½ pc in big chunky pieces
• 4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbsp fresh cream (optional)
• 3 tsp olive oil
• Bunch of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped, stems removed
• Bunch of lemon grass tied with a string, small

Instructions

1. In a cooking pot, add olive oil, finely chopped garlic and cook till it browns.Then add fenugreek seeds and saute till they turn brown.
2. Add basil leaves and salt to taste. After adding big pumpkin pieces, cook for a minute.
3. Take the lemongrass, tie it with a string and pop into the pot. Add water to cover everything and cook till the pumpkin becomes soft and mushy.
4. While it is cooking, lightly sauté the small pumpkin pieces with some olive oil, salt, and basil leaves.
5. Open the pot and remove the lemongrass bunch. Grind the mixture to a smooth consistency and then add the sautéed pumpkin pieces to it. Cook for 2 minutes.
6. Stir in fresh cream and serve hot. Enjoy!

Comments: This common pumpkin soup has been given an Ayurvedic twist. The pitta pacifying property of pumpkin is undoubted but being cold, it increases Vata. So, to counter this, garlic and fenugreek seeds are added. Fenugreek seeds are bitter hot and being whole, just chew and swallow them to get all the benefits. In Indian cuisine, pumpkin is always seasoned with fenugreek seeds.