Ingredients for african pumpkin soup

(Inspired by a Tanzanian recipe)
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • I pinch of ground chilli (or cayenne pepper)
  • 6-8 cardamom seeds
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons turmeric
  • Ca. 1 kg pumpkin
  • Ca. 1 cm fresh ginger
  • 500 cc water
  • 400 cc coconut milk
  • 3 organic stock cubes
  • Optional - I teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil
  • Fleur de sel or ORAC Botanico-mix mild and turmeric, chilli and/or ginger to taste - optional

Preparation of african pumpkin soup

Fry the onion, add the garlic, sliced. Then add the chilli, peeled cardamom seeds and the turmeric. After one minute, add the chopped pumpkin, the water, coconut milk, ginger and the stock. Cook until al dente and puree. Taste the soup to check whether it needs a little more seasoning and adjust if necessary. Then stir in the coconut oil. The soup is delicious as a starter, for lunch or as a snack.

Tip from Rineke:

Health benefits: As the days start to become shorter and we produce lower levels of our neurotransmitter serotonin, pumpkins are available in abundance. This can't be a coincidence. Pumpkin contains a substance that we can use to produce serotonin. A shortage of serotonin is associated with problems falling asleep, autumn/winter depression, a lack of energy during darker days and increased sensitivity to pain as well as compulsive or unilateral eating habits such as a craving for sugar. However eating sugar further reduces levels of serotonin and disrupts your hormonal system. So if autumn/winter is not your favourite time of year you should regularly include a soup like this in your diet. Anyway it is not wise to eat too many cold meals during this time of year as it simply costs our digestive system too much energy in the cold seasons. - Make sure you purchase 'normal' coconut milk and not one with all kinds of additives or 'light' coconut milk. It contains a relatively high level of saturated fat but much less than animal fat. Furthermore it contains mostly medium-chain fatty acids that our body can use to produce energy, unlike animal fat. That's why coconut products are also so efficient for (top) athletes. Recipe from the cookbook 'Weten van (h)eerlijk eten 2' by R. Dijkinga, orthomolecular therapist and naturopath