Sweet Potato and Cumin Soup

This hearty soup is almost a meal in itself. Its thick and full of flavour and is slightly Indian in taste. I serve it with pappadums and a cucumber and coriander yoghurt . The recipe makes a lot, it can be made well ahead of time and is fine to freeze. If you would like it a thinner consistancy pour some cream or milk into it just before reheating to serve.

1/3 cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 medium sized onion chopped
2 cm piece of ginger pelled and chopped or grated
1 small red chilli seeded and chopped or a teaspoon of minced chilli ( if you don't like chilli leave this out )
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
2 large sweet potato approx 1 kilo peeled and chopped into rounds and halved or quartered
1 litre vegetable stock
1 cup yoghurt
1/2 cucumber peeled and seeded
handfulof chopped coriander
pappadums


Don't worry too much about the chopping, as once cooked, it gets pureed and blended.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and when hot, add the ground spices and cumin seeds. Stir for a minute, the add onion,ginger,garlic and chilli if using. Stir this mixture for another couple of minutes .Add sweet potato, tomatoes, and celery. Toss through to coat with the spices. Reduce heat and stir frequently for 5 minutes
Add the vegetable stock and simmer until the sweet potato is soft.
Process in a food processor, blender or with a bamix until smooth. Return to saucepan to reheat. You may add more stock to adjust consistancy or add milk or cream.
I chop cucumber into small dice and add to yoghurt with chopped corainder.
Serve hot topped with yoghurt mixture and a plate of pappadums.