Pumpkin, potato and carrot cooked together in a pressure cooker with onion, garlic and tomato, then blended with some of the cooking liquid. Forty minutes, four servings.
Keep the cooking water
The third step says to drain everything and reserve a couple of cups of the liquid, and it is the instruction people skip.
That liquid has the pumpkin, the carrot, the bouillon cube and the achiote in it. It is the only thing that will thin the soup without weakening it: plain water dilutes the flavour and milk changes what the soup is.
Two cups is more than enough and whatever is not needed can go straight back in the pot.
Everything in one go
Pumpkin, potato, carrot, onion, tomato, garlic, bouillon cube, colouring and salt all go into the pressure cooker together with water to cover.
There is no browning stage and nothing gets added later. Half an hour over medium heat under pressure, or about 45 minutes in an ordinary pot or a slow cooker, and everything should be completely soft.
Soft is the requirement rather than the time. A blender does not cook anything, it only breaks up what is already tender.
Blending safely
Release the pressure gradually, by lifting the valve with a spoon or by simply waiting. Never run a pressure cooker under cold water: the sudden contraction can make it fail, and what is inside is well above boiling.
Then blend in batches if the jug will not take it all at once, which is what the fourth instruction was trying to say before the translation mangled it. Half a jug, lid held down under a folded cloth, lowest speed first.
A stick blender in the pot avoids the whole problem.
The colouring
One ingredient reads color to taste, which in Colombia means a sachet of powdered achiote or annatto, sometimes cut with turmeric.
It goes into soups and rice to give them the golden colour that says the pot has been cooked properly, and it contributes almost nothing to the taste. Turmeric or sweet paprika gives the same result.
More pumpkin
- Mashed pumpkin with hogao — the savoury side dish.
- Dulce de auyama — the sweet one.
- Cauliflower cream soup — made with a roux instead.
- Pumpkin cake — for the rest of the squash.
Creamy Pumpkin Soup FAQ
Because it is the only thing you have to adjust the consistency with. Water dilutes the flavour and milk turns it into a different soup. Two cups is plenty and anything left over can go back in.
No. The recipe uses one and it takes half an hour. In an ordinary pot or a slow cooker, give it about 45 minutes, or until everything is completely soft.
Slowly, by lifting the valve with a spoon, or by waiting for it to drop on its own. Never put a pressure cooker under cold running water.
Because a blender jug filled with hot soup produces steam that can force the lid off. Half a jug at a time, lid held down with a folded cloth, starting on the lowest speed.
A powdered achiote or annatto colouring, sold in sachets in Colombian shops. It deepens the orange and adds very little flavour. A pinch of turmeric or sweet paprika does the same job.
The Colombian pumpkin, also spelled auyama. Dense and dry-fleshed, nothing like a carving pumpkin. Butternut squash is the closest substitute in an American supermarket.
Yes, better than most blended soups because there is no dairy in it. Freeze it thick and loosen it when reheating.
📖 Recipe
Crema de Ahuyama (Colombian Creamy Pumpkin Soup)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
- 3 cups pumpkin (ahuyama, the pulp only, cut into small pieces)
- 2 cups potatoes (chopped)
- 2 cups carrot (chopped into small pieces)
- 1 tomato (finely chopped)
- ½ onion (finely chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
- ½ bouillon cube
- Achiote or annatto colouring ('color' in Colombia, to taste)
- Salt (to taste)
Notas
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, put the pumpkin, the potato, the carrot, the bouillon cube, the onion, the tomato, the garlic, the achiote colouring and salt to taste, with enough water to cover.
- Put it over medium heat for half an hour. In a slow cooker it needs longer, about 45 minutes, or until everything is soft.
- Release the pressure carefully, then drain, keeping a couple of cups of the cooking liquid.
- Take everything to the blender. If it does not all fit, blend it in batches. Blend for a minute, until it is completely smooth.
- If the cream is thicker than you want, loosen it with some of the cooking liquid you kept.
- Serve it hot.
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