This is an absolutely delicious recipe and utterly seasonal – perhaps one of the best laksas ever. I used some chicken stock left over from a roast which made it especially rich. The addition of the crispy chick peas is especially good. A meal in itself. You can make it vegan by adding miso and vegetable stock instead of the fish sauce and chicken stock.

Serves 4

Soup

• 1 tbs coconut oil
• about half a medium to large butternut, peeled and cubed
• 2.5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 x can coconut milk (440 ml)
• 2-3 tbs fish sauce
• 1-3 tbs soya space
• juice of one lime
• 200-300 g dried rice noodles (I prefer the vermicelli ones for this)

Laksa paste

• 2-3 birds-eye chillis, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 lemon grass stalks, chopped into chunks
• 2 inches ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 inch fresh turmeric or 2 tsp ground turmeric
• large bunch of coriander leaves and roots if possible
• 2 tbs peanut oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Crispy chick peas

• I can chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp brown or palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 170 C.

Steam the diced pumpkin over pan of water until just soft. Set aside.

Put all the laksa paste ingredients into a whizzer/food processor and blitz until you have a rough paste.

Heat the coconut oil in a wok or pan and fry the spice paste until aromatic. Add the stock and coconut milk, followed by the fish and soya sauce to taste and, finally, the lime juice. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently. Then add the butternut and the noodles and continue to cook until noodles are al dente. It will be quite thick.

Meanwhile put the chickpeas into a ovenproof dish on a piece of baking paper. Drizzle over the oil and mix in the spices and salt and pepper. Roast in the over for 20-30 minutes until the chick peas are crispy.

Serve the soup in big bowls, scatter over the chickpeas and some coriander leaves.