I’ve loyally prepared my Carrot Soup with Lemon and Ginger since 2006. This is the other carrot soup.
It’s not that I was unhappy with my standby, but I felt a pull to dabble with a chilled version. One that was exotic (curry and coconut milk) and low-maintenance (we didn’t want anything to get messy).
This soup really is as simple as it gets: Saute vegetables and spices, simmer them in broth, puree with silky coconut milk, and squeeze in lime. Then there’s the chilling, of course—six to 24 hours of it. This is definitely a meal to plan in advance, but it will patiently wait for you to return home from work and satisfy you as fast as you can ladle and slurp down a bowl.
I used good-quality, hot curry powder—a must—and served it with warm naan. And other than a few tweaks, I stuck pretty closely to the original epicurious.com recipe.
I did my usual morning prep for this, and I snuck a sip of the soup fresh off the stove. To be honest, it was just as good hot as it was cold—whatever your fancy.
Will it replace my first carrot love? Probably not. But it’s nice to spice it up once in a while.
Chilled Carrot Soup with Curry and Coconut
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 small onion, diced
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/4 pounds carrots
2 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or less if using salty stock)
Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
Melt butter in a medium pot. Cook scallions, onion, ginger, and curry powder until vegetables are soft and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add carrots and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in stock, bring to a boil, cover, and cook until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
Puree carrot mixture in batches with coconut milk. Transfer puree to a bowl, and stir in salt and lime juice. Refrigerate until cool, 6 hours to overnight.
Serves 4 to 6