Curried Pumpkin and Apple Soup

This is the kind of soup that tastes like it took more effort than it did. Pumpkin and sweet potato both break down into a naturally thick, velvety base, so you don't need cream or a pile of flour to get that comfortable body. The apple is the quiet trick. It sounds odd next to curry powder, but a single quartered apple softens as it simmers and adds a rounded sweetness that balances the warmth of the cumin.

A food fact worth knowing: pumpkin and sweet potato are both rich in colour because of natural plant pigments, which is why the pot turns such a deep orange as it cooks. The colour gets more intense the longer the vegetables sit in the heat, so don't be alarmed when the soup looks almost glowing by the end.

A few things I've learned from making this more than once. Toast the cumin and curry powder in the oil for the full two minutes, stirring constantly, because raw spice dust tastes flat and dusty. When you blend, add the extra water a splash at a time. Pumpkin varies a lot in how watery it is, and you can always thin a thick soup but you can't easily thicken a thin one without more vegetables. If you are in a hurry, the soup is ready as soon as a knife slides through the cubes with no resistance.

To store it, let the soup cool, then keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days. It also freezes well, though the yoghurt is best stirred in fresh at serving time rather than frozen into the pot. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water, since it will thicken as it chills.

For something lighter alongside, a crisp salad with some protein works nicely. A bowl of this with a creamy tuna salad with avocado crunch makes a satisfying lunch, and if you want something similar in spirit, the curried carrot and sweet potato soup is another warm, spiced bowl you could rotate through the week.

Serve it hot, with the yoghurt swirled in and the toasted bread on the side for dunking. That's really all it needs.