Are you ready for warm, golden delight in a bowl?

This soup has a few steps, but they are easy. And most of the time it cooks, you are off enjoying the golden light of autumn, or planning your healthy holidays.

This time of year I begin making spice blends. Grinding this, toasting that, releasing aromas, mixing, melting oil in, stirring, tasting. All to have at hand, any time I cook or make a tea, one jar of spices blended to balance the current season’s dosha. 

My favorites for autumn are cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and turmeric. You can blend your own proportions, according to your taste, and doshic desires. I like a 2:1 of cinnamon and ginger to cardamom, clove, nutmeg, and use this for autumn cooking, but you can also simply use an already blended Garam Masala or a really good curry spice.

You can, of course, mix in your favorite spices. Turmeric is good for all seasons. Clove adds another layer of heat. Dried herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme add a pungent edge, and a familiar fall flavor. 

With spices already blended, this is a simple recipe: Roast a pumpkin. Sweat the shallot. Stir in spice. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Cover. Simmer. Season. Serve. Sip. Enjoy!

Easy Creamy Fall Spiced Pumpkin Soup
4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 small pumpkin, a kabocha, sweet dumpling, cinderella, sugar pie, red kuri (swipe to see examples)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon autumn spice blend, garam masala or curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3-4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup coconut milk
Salt & pepper, to taste
Garnish: fresh dill, mint, parsley or rosemary

Instructions
Heat the oven to 425F.

With a large sharp knife, carefully slice the pumpkin in half the long way, from top to bottom. *If you can break the stem off and make the top flat then standing it on its top will make it more stable for cutting. Using a sharp spoon or an ice cream scoop, scrape out the seeds and strings. You can also do this after roasting, when  it may be easier. 

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and drizzle a little olive oil in two spots. Place the two pumpkin halves on those olive oil drizzles, insides down, and swirl to cover the flesh in oil.

Put the tray on the middle shelf, in the oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes. You know it’s done when easily pierced by a fork. Remove from the oven, and allow the pumpkin to cool for 10 minutes.

Using a large spoon now, scoop the flesh into a soup pot. Add the broth and spice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Using an immersion blender or transferred to a jug blender, mix until silky smooth.

Stir in the coconut milk and bring the soup back to a low simmer. Taste, add salt and pepper, taste again and adjust.

Serve piping hot with a garnish of fresh herb, and a side of warm bread, or crunchy crackers. Mm, it’s so good in the way that simple allows the real taste to come through.

Banyan Botanicals has a few Ayurvedically blended spices, like this Garam Masala which combines digestive spices for a rich, grounding flavor. They also make a Chai Ghee which makes adding sweet spices to your cooking really easy. You could swap the ghee in this recipe for the ghee and the spices for a milder version, yet every bit as warm and wonderful. 

Thank you & lots of love 🍃