Roasting the parsnips for this curried parsnip soup recipe gives a depth to the flavour that marries perfectly with mild curry flavours!
Simple Sweet and Spicy Curried Parsnip Soup.
I love this soup, one of the great triumphs form our garden this year is finally success in growing parsnips.
A vegetable rarely heard of in Hungary. The relatively similar but definitely not the same parsley root rules the day out here and it just does not work in this type of soup.
They are ‘fugly’, gnarly things but the taste is sublime sweet and earthy in flavour, perfect for this soup recipe.
Like many of the recipes posted here, I have been cooking this soup for years but never written down a recipe.
This one is a keeper and you can scale the recipe up or down as you like. It freezes well and will store fresh in the fridge for up to a week.
As for the crispy fried carrot “crisps”, you are welcome!
Roasted Vegetables.
Roasting the parsnips for this soup is the secret to its flavour.
Caramalisation is where the magic happens, those little darkened bits add a sweetness in a way that can not be replicated.
You will have seen something similar if you have seen my roasted tomato soup or indeed my roasted carrot soup recipes.
Regular readers will know I have no interest in the ‘healthy’ food label. I reckon this dish in a sensible world is very healthy.
Sure you could get rid of the butter and maybe not serve it with the deep fried carrots. But why would you do that?
Food is all about love and smiles. These little flourishes are the 1% of the dish that take it from “Mmmmmm” through to “Oh My God, Gimme Some More”!
So if you are so inclined, feel free to trade out the butter and deep fried elements. Replace them with whatever you wish.
Either way, even at 99% this recipe is the perfect one to enjoy on a wonderful Autumn or winter night!
How To Choose Curry Powder.
This recipe is one of very few here that call for using Curry Powder.
I usually use whole spices in my recipes to create my own “curry powder” flavours.
But like my pineapple chicken curry and katsu curry, this is not aimed at the ardent hardcore curry cook.
Curry powder is a difficult ingredient to buy. First of all ‘curry powder’ is not really a thing so there is no absolute recipe to lean on as a base.
That means everyone who makes this recipe form curry powder will end up with a different soup!
However, I tend to find curry powders labelled Madras curry powder have a relatively decent flavour profile and a nice amount of spice.
It is also important to note that if you are not planning to use curry powder a lot then buy a small packet. Even if you store spices in a cool dark spot in an airtight container they will slowly mellow in flavour.
Most importantly in blended spices, this happens at a different rate for the different ingredients. So some of the more delicate spices will be imperceptible after in a matter of weeks.
As a result, you will end up with a curry powder with far less of the glorious complexity.
Roasted Curried Parsnip Soup
This easy roasted parsnip soup is the perfect winter warmer, the lovely warming mellow curry flavours are perfect against the earthy sweet parsnips.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
- 100 g Onion
- 4 Cloves Garlic Cloves
- 450 g Parsnip
- 1/2 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
- 750 ml Vegetable Stock
- 30 g Unsalted Butter
- 10 g Grated Ginger
- Salt To Taste
- Black Pepper to Taste
Homemade Spice Mix:
- 1/2 Tsp Coriander seeds
- 1/8 Tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 Tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 4 Green Cardamom Pods
- 1/4 Tsp Ground Turmeric
- 1/4 Tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 200°C or 400°F.
- Roughly chop the onion.
- Bash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and then peel.
- Scrub the parsnips, do not peel and cut in half lengthways.
- Place the onion, parsnip, garlic and cumin into a roasting tray, drizzle over the cooking oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast until cooked (around 40 mins).
- Place the roasted vegetables in a small pan and pour in 500ml of vegetable stock and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
- Pass through a rotary food mill or fine sieve
- Melt the butter over a medium heat and when melted add the ginger and stir for a minute until fragrant and then sprinkle over the curry powder.
- Stir for a further minute, then add the vegetable puree to the pan and stir to combine.
- Pour in the remaining 250ml of stock and allow to cook on for 5 minutes.
For the Carrot Ribbons.
- Heat 1cm of oil in a pan to 180°C or 350°F.
- Scrub and cut your carrot into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
- Fry the carrots until crispy, this should take 3-4 mins.
To Make Your Own Curry Powder:
- Toast off the Coriander, Cumin, Fenugreek and Cardamom in a dry pan.
- Blitz to a fine powder in a spice grinder, then add the Kashmiri chilli powder and ground turmeric
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 402 Total Fat: 21g Saturated Fat: 8g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 11g Cholesterol: 32mg Sodium: 1100mg Carbohydrates: 53g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 10g Sugar: 15g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 6g
I’ve never actually had parsnips before, but this may have inspired me to give them a shot 🙂
Really, you must hunt some down.
I am a new convert to parsnips. I had never had them before a couple years ago. They are so sweet and lovely. I can not wait to try this soup! Roasting root veg is the best! I would love to see pics of your kitchen, as well!
Roasted Parsnip really is the best, I love the stuff. Essential Sunday lunch side for me!
I am surprised Hungarians do not use a lot of parsnip in their cooking – their neighbours, Romanians do and a lot of it. It is delicious – I love the taste of parsnip in soups – great addition and your soup looks amazing Brian 😉
It came as a surprise to me, us Brits love parsnip… The use a lot of Parsley root and not a lot of parsnip which is very different. It also does not seem to grow very well here on the Hungarian Great Plain either, certainly for me anyway, we have very mixed results.
I’ve never had parsnip soup, this one looks absolutely delicious. I love curry so we’ll be adding this one to our menu plan this week. Thank you.
Thanks Alexis.
I never knew parsnips could look so delicious! What a delicious and rich soup. I can’t wait to try.
THnaks Julie
Oh this sounds so delicious! I love curry and I will HAVE to give this recipe a try!
Have fun!
A storm just hit the Cote d Azur and this would be a perfect meal today, even if it is summer, but…No way I am eliminating the butter and the fried carrots so I will make it this Autumn once my diet will be over. Great recipe
What is this diet thing you refer too? hehehehe, enjoy!
How much curry powder do you use? I’m using a shop bough one
It really will depend on the curry powder, I would start at 2 teaspoons and then have a taste and increase if you feel the need too.
Just made this…and it is wonderful. Threw in a chilli to make it hotter and then some yoghurt to make it cooler
Would also make a great base for a chicken or lentil curry
Really glad I tried this.
Glad you liked it Stuaet 🙂
I made this today!!! And it’s delicious. I love fall curry soups, so I had a feeling I would like it, but had never tried with parsnips. The fried carrots were pretty amazing too. 😉
So glad you enjoyed it Mary, I love parsnips and they are so great in a soup.
This soup looks so delicious! I adore parsnips 🙂 They add such an awesome flavor to fall dishes!
I’m not a fan of parsnips but love curry and I bet this recipe will make a parsnip lover out of me yet! It looks fabulous
Haha, I’m a huge curry lover too and it matches so well with the sweetness of the parsnip, I like to keep the curry as a light seasoning but you could ramp it up in any way you like.
I bet the crunchy carrot ribbons elevated the soup to the highest level of deliciousness! Fabulous Brian!
The crunchy carrot was lovely, I was going to add both beet crisps and parsnip crisps too but it would seem the few beets we have left are well beyond their best and our homegrown parsnips are so fugly that trying to get a nice ribbon from them proved to generate too much waste so went with just carrots 😉