Cookbook Club – In Bibi’s Kitchen

In October we used Hawa Hassan’s cookbook In Bibi’s Kitchen for Cookbook Club. Hassan gathered the stories and recipes of bibis (grandmothers) from eight African nations: Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, and Comoros. To get a taste of the foods we tried from these bibis’ kitchens, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish!

As the weather is starting to get cold (well, as cold as it gets by Los Angeles standards), warming dishes are appealing to me. A soup fits the bill, and this recipe’s title sounded like the kind of soup I would want to eat. Bonus points for it using ingredients I almost always have on hand!

I cooked onion, garlic, ginger, cayenne, and salt over medium heat until the onion softened (about 10 minutes).

I added water and coconut milk, cooking on high until the mixture came to a boil.

I then lowered the heat to low and added frozen peas, cooking just until they got bright green and tender (about 5 minutes).

I pureed the soup in a blender. You could use an immersion blender, but I don’t own one.

Because I was transporting the soup to Cookbook Club and wanted to be able to re-heat it, I poured the soup back into the pot and salted to taste. I might have done this anyway because I like my soup really hot.

I topped with cilantro to serve. This soup out-did all my hopes. It was very easy (it would have been even easier if I owned an immersion blender) – using frozen peas and canned coconut milk. Savory deliciousness with a touch of sweetness from the peas and coconut. I will be making this more often than I make split pea soup!