East African Pea Soup

This is a recipe I saw originally in the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook. I use some of the habanero peppers I grow to add heat to this soup, but the original recipe called for about 1/8 teaspoon cayenne. Jalapenos or other hot chiles would also be good substitutes for the habs, although they are by far my favorite hot pepper.
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Serves:
- Units:
4
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ingredients
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 small habanero pepper, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 dash clove (no more than 1/8 tsp)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 sweet potato, diced (about 2 cups)
- 3 1⁄2 cups water
- 1 lb frozen green pea, thawed
directions
- Sauté the onions gently in oil in a covered pot, stirring frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onions are just translucent.
- Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Mix in the ginger, salt and all the spices and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the tomatoes and sweet potato.
- Stir well.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir.
- Bring the soup to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 5 minutes.
- Add half of the peas and simmer, covered, for another 10 minutes, or until the peas and sweet potato are tender.
- Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 cups of water.
- Purée the soup in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth.
- Return soup to the pot, add the remaining peas and gently reheat.
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RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY
@hudelei
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@hudelei
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"This is a recipe I saw originally in the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook. I use some of the habanero peppers I grow to add heat to this soup, but the original recipe called for about 1/8 teaspoon cayenne. Jalapenos or other hot chiles would also be good substitutes for the habs, although they are by far my favorite hot pepper."
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The spices were quite lovely in this rich and filling soup. I used jalapenos as that was what I had on hand. Though I love them, I thought the taste of the sweet potato was a little stong compared to the peas and other ingredients. Next time, I will drop this to maybe 1 1/2 cups. Also I pureed as directed and wished I left a few more chunks behind for greater mouth and eye appeal. Thanks for sharing.Reply
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This is a lovely soup with unusual and interesting spices. I did find that the spices got a bit strong tasting in the leftovers, so eat this up quickly or cut the recipe in half. I forgot to leave out some peas so I just pureed most of the soup and added it back to the pot which worked will because then there were still some chunks of the sweet potato for colour.Reply
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This is fantastic. I had to substitute serrano peppers for habanero, and I was heavy handed on the spices. It was also very exciting to use BF's immersion blender! I recommend this recipe to everyone interested in healthy, spicy, low-fat and delicious cooking! Many thanks for this great recipe that I will put into my 5-star pile!Reply
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