Bored with the run-of-the-mill range of butternut, brown onion and minestrone soups? Well, then this winter is the perfect time to experiment with something a bit more off the wall and tasty soups don’t come much tastier and different than today's version.

For today's recipe we will be using ordinary curry powder, but you can vary this according to your own taste. A good Malay spice blend, Thai green curry paste or a hot Durban curry mix all work equally well.

As with most of our recipes you can vary the ingredients according to your own taste. For instance we tend to use frozen peas in summer but prefer richer processed peas in winter. In summer we use chopped lettuce and in winter we substitute that with shredded cabbage, so as always, play around to find a combination which appeals to your particular taste.

To serve four portions of this tasty soup you need;

Ingredients

2 can of processed peas, drained (or four cups frozen peas)

½ lettuce coarsely shredded cabbage

1 onion, finely sliced

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons curry powder (vary this according to taste)

1 cup natural yoghurt

3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 heaped tablespoon butter

1 cup garlic croutons

4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

4 carry leaves

Method

In a pot melt the butter and add the onion and fry over high heat for one minutes, stirring all the time.

Reduce heat and add the curry and turmeric.

Add apple, cabbage, peas and stock and simmer covered for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. You can do this in advance and then just finish off as below shortly before serving.

Remove the curry leaves and cardamom pods and discard.

Spoon half the stock and ingredients into a blender, add half the yoghurt and blitz until smooth.

Pour out and repeat with the second half of stock, ingredients and yoghurt.

Gently heat through again and season to taste.

Serve in warm soup dishes and add a few garlic croutons to each bowl.

Footnote: Serve with a tiny glass of sweet wine or dry sherry.