In a little oil, cook the onion with the pumpkin for a few minutes on a medium heat on your stove top, then add the garlic, ginger, curry paste and tomato puree. Cook for another minute or so, then transfer to your crock pot.
Add the lentils, coconut milk and stock and cook on low for 6-8 hours (longer if you like – or 4 hours on high if you’re short on time).
Blend until smooth with a stick blender, then stir in salt and pepper to taste. Serve and scatter with the fresh coriander.
Notes
A note about the coconut milk
Your coconut milk may (but may not) look as if it’s split when it’s finished cooking (mine did). Don’t worry about this at all. As soon as I blended the soup, all was fine!
Thick or thin?
This makes quite a thick soup. The first portion I ate I ate it super thick and really enjoyed it, but the next day I added a little water to thin it out a little. Both ways were nice, so the choice is yours!
Refrigerating and freezing the soup
This pumpkin soup will keep for 3 or 4 days in the fridge.If you'd like to freeze it, let it cool thoroughly first (pour into a container with a lid and immerse in a cold water bath if you want to cool it faster). Then pour into freezer safe containers or Ziploc freezer bags. Don't fill glass containers too much. Leave at least an inch at the top of the container to allow for expansion as the soup freezes. Freeze for up to 3 months!