1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 red chilies, chopped
3 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger puree
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 large sweet potato, peeled and grated
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
2 stalks lemongrass
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup cooked chick peas
1 cup coconut milk
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add the chilies, shallot, garlic and ginger, sautéing until tender.
2. Stir in the curry paste, chili powder and turmeric, then add the grated sweet potato and carrot, as well as lemongrass. Add water until the vegetables are just covered and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove the stalks of lemongrass and add chick peas. Puree with a hand blender or other, then add the coconut milk.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with a small slice of lime.

Makes 4 servings

I picked up a few Caribbean super sweet potatoes to make a Thai Sweet Potato Soup that Simon recommended to me yesterday. Either the "super" part is a marketing ploy or the rest of the flavors completely disguised the sweet potatoes because I did not actually taste sweet potato in a single bite. I modified the recipe a bit, adding shallots and garlic and a bit of turmeric (as well as a few more chilies), but more or less stayed true to the original.

I thought perhaps it would be too spicy for Shannon but she loved it. I even thought maybe I'd made it a little too spicy for myself; it definitely cleared the sinuses. I realized tonight just how potent dried red chili flakes are. I used 2 chopped dried red chilies and they equaled maybe a teaspoon of dried chili flakes. That hardly seems like a lot, but 2 dried peppers seems like a fair amount to me. Ah, volume.

I found it hard to resist adding coriander (both seeds and fresh) to this, I think it would've gave it more of an earthy lemon flavor. I couldn't resist adding a bit of lime juice and trying to do some fancy dots with some of the leftover coconut milk though. This would've been great with some chicken and rice for some texture contrast, but it's really good. He recommended it with my Buttermilk Biscuits, but I went the bread route. It's hard to go wrong with lemongrass and coconut milk!