Serves 4 to 6

This is a delicious and aromatic autumn soup that is very easy to make. For the best results, buy whole spices and grind them up yourself. This only adds a few extra minutes to your preparation time but makes a huge difference in flavour to using a pre-ground curry powder.

The curry leaves are an intensely aromatic herb available fresh in most Indian grocery stores. Dried curry leaves are a poor substitute for fresh ones.

Ingredients

2 medium tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp butter
3 leeks, white parts only, rinsed of any sand or grit and finely sliced
1 small pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks
A handful of curry leaves
125 grams dried cannellini or butter beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Curry Spice Mixture

½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
2 cardamom pods
A 1 inch piece of cinnamon bark
5 cloves

Crème fraiche for serving

Instructions

To make the spice mixture, toast the whole spices in a dry frying pan on low heat for 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Grind the spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to a fine powder.

Cut an 'x' in the bottom of the tomatoes and place them in a small bowl. Pour over boiling water to cover and leave the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water for one minute, this will help to loosen the skin. Remove the tomatoes from the water and peel the skin away from where you have cut the 'x' on each. Core and coarsely chop the tomatoes and set aside.

Warm the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Add all but a pinch of curry spice mixture and sauté for a further 2 minutes.

Add the pumpkin or squash pieces, curry leaves and chopped tomatoes and sauté for a further 5 minutes.

Add the beans and stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the beans are tender and the pumpkin or squash pieces have begun to disintegrate into the soup. Taste and season with the salt and pepper.

For a thicker soup, puree half or all the soup in a blender or food processor and return to the pot. Allow to cool slightly and ladle into soup bowls.

Garnish with a spoonful of crème fraiche and a small pinch of the reserved curry spices.