Immune boosting: Butternut and coconut laksa

With winter on the way, its important to keep you immune system healthy. Food is one of the easiest ways to get the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.

Laksa is a traditional Malaysian spicy coconut noodle soup. You can add rice noodles, rice vermicelli or egg noodles. Butternut and tumeric give this dish its golden colour. Tumeric is revered for its amazing health benefits.

So on those cold wintery evenings when you feel like something warm and nourishing, try this recipe as a variation to your normal soup.

Butternut and Coconut Laksa Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Recipe by Jessica Alberts Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: Malaysian, Southeast AsiaDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil or olive oil

• 1 medium onion

• 1 clove garlic, crushed

• 1 cm ginger, grated

• 1 teaspoon tumeric powder

• 1 tablespoon red curry paste, or curry powder

• 1 large butternut, chopped

• 2 large carrots, chopped

• 500 ml vegetable stock

• 1 can coconut milk

• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 1 cup green beans or peas

• 1 handful spinach or kale

• 2 teaspoon soya sauce

• 200 grams noodles of your choice

Method

• Heat the pan with oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger on a gentle heat. Allow to soften but not colour.
• Add the tumeric and curry paste and allow to simmer and become fragrant for two to three minutes.
• Add the butternut and carrots and stir for another two minutes to coat the vegetable before adding the stock. If you need to, add a little extra water to cover the vegetables.

  • 

• Bring to a simmer and cover partially with a lid. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
• Remove from heat and blend the liquid with stick blender or pop into a blender until smooth.
• Return to the pot and add all the remaining vegatables. Cook for another five minutes.
• Stir in the cooked noodles and season with soya sauce.
• Serve with fresh coriander.

Notes

• This recipe is very verstaile, you can use any vegetables of your choice. You can even add chicken breasts if you want some extra protien.

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