019 / 75 · Soups, beans and broths
Coconut Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup
2 pumpkin-chickpea soup bowls with 40 g/1½ oz soft bread each · Active 15 min · Cook 19 min · Total 35 min
Print recipe · PDFPumpkin does not need to be roasted to make a useful soup. Small cubes soften under a vented cover, then break down under a masher while some chickpeas remain whole. Coconut milk makes the broth creamy, and ginger gives it a fresh edge. Keeping the soup slightly coarse means it can be made with one cooking bowl and a hand tool.
Cut the pumpkin before judging the time
A 1 cm cube heats differently from a large wedge. Weigh the peeled, seed-free flesh and keep the pieces close in size. Stop the early cycles to turn the pieces through their small amount of liquid. The pumpkin must already crush easily before chickpeas and coconut milk fill the bowl.
Mash the texture you want
Press most of the pumpkin and a few chickpeas into the broth, leaving some visible pieces. This makes a spoonable, golden soup without a blender. Coconut milk should be stirred before measuring so the thick cream and thin liquid enter in the intended proportion. Its soft pumpkin pieces and chickpeas are part of the finished texture, not something to hide.
Ingredients
- 250 g (9 oz) peeled and seeded pumpkin flesh, cut into 1 cm/⅜ in cubes
- 50 g (1¾ oz) peeled onion, finely chopped
- 6 g peeled fresh ginger (about 1 tbsp finely grated)
- 10 ml (2 tsp) neutral oil
- 75 ml water (¼ cup plus 1 tbsp), for the pumpkin stage
- 240 g (8½ oz) canned ready-to-eat chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 200 ml canned unsweetened coconut milk (about ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp), stirred before measuring
- 200 ml (about ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp) ready-to-use lower-sodium vegetable stock
- 1 g ground coriander (about ½ tsp)
- 1 g fine salt (about ⅙ tsp), or less if the stock is salty
- 10 ml lime juice (2 tsp), seeds removed
- 80 g (2¾ oz) soft whole-grain bread, divided into two 40 g portions
Set out
1000 W microwave with turntable, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Knife and cutting board, Spoon, Oven mitts, Two serving bowls, Microwave-safe bowl, at least 2.5 L/2⅔ US qt measured capacity, about 21 cm/8¼ in inside diameter and 10 cm/4 in deep, Microwave-safe vented cover, Potato masher, Can opener and sieve, Fine grater, Two side plates, Food thermometer for leftover reheating checks
Allergens
Wheat. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Put the pumpkin, onion, grated ginger, oil and all 75 ml water in the 2.5 L bowl. Stir and cover with the vent open. Microwave at 1000 W full power for 4 minutes. Turn the pumpkin pieces through the liquid, then cook 4 minutes more. Stir and continue for 2–4 minutes, until the largest cubes crush readily with a fork or the masher.
- Add the drained chickpeas, stirred coconut milk, stock, coriander and salt. Stir thoroughly. Cover with a vent and microwave at full power for 5–7 minutes, stopping halfway to stir from the bottom, until the soup is steaming throughout with gentle bubbles.
- Carefully mash most of the pumpkin and a small portion of the chickpeas in the cooking bowl; leave the remaining chickpeas whole. Stir in all the lime juice. Cover with the vent open and stand for 2 minutes. The small lime addition should not cool the steaming soup appreciably; if it does, give a stirred 30-second full-power burst.
- Divide the entire soup equally between two bowls. Serve with the two measured soft bread portions. Expect a thick coarse soup with visible chickpeas, not a completely smooth purée.
One hand tool is enough
The masher is used in the cooking bowl. No blender, stove or oven is hidden in the method.
Keep the drained weight
Use the stated 240 g drained chickpeas, not the full weight printed on a can that includes liquid.
Ingredient labels
Bread contains wheat/gluten and may contain sesame, soy or milk. Check the stock and coconut-milk labels. Coconut is an ingredient; people avoiding it should check suitability. The dairy variation adds milk.
A useful detail
The 35-minute plan allows 10 minutes of preparation, up to 19 minutes of sequential heating, a 2-minute stand and 4 minutes to mash and serve. A final warming burst or a firmer pumpkin variety can extend it. All times start from a 1000 W microwave, and the pumpkin must be fully tender before the coconut stage.
Another way
- Replace pumpkin with 250 g/9 oz peeled butternut squash in the same 1 cm/⅜ in cubes. Follow the crushable-center endpoint and allow extra 1-minute bursts if its flesh is firmer.
- Use 200 ml/about ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp pasteurized milk instead of coconut milk for a lighter broth. Milk becomes an allergen; the soup will be less rich, and the same brief final heating applies.
Keep it well
Refrigerate shallow soup portions within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or colder. Use within 3 days or the earlier opened-coconut-milk, stock or chickpea deadline. Keep bread separate. Reheat only the portion needed under a vented microwave-safe cover, stirring in short bursts; stand 2 minutes and verify 165°F/74°C throughout. Separation of coconut milk can be corrected by stirring after reheating.