Robin Ellis

One of my mother’s favourite phrases was “when at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”

For my first go at this very simple soup a couple of days ago I used the popular French Caribbean curry powder called colombo.

It is very mild and gives a beautiful light yellow finish, but it didn’t taste quite right.

I tried Madras curry powder yesterday, which worked better–but was still too bland.

So–“third time lucky?”–another mantra from my youth.

Here goes–with a mix of individual spices!

Let’s hope it has more of a kick–more of “a back story”– than the previous two efforts.

for 4

.75k/1.5 lbs–leeks–using mainly the white and pale green parts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 oz butter

Half a teaspoon each of:

cumin, coriander, English mustard powder (substitute a little more cayenne if you don’t have it), turmeric and a pinch of cinnamon, cayenne and salt.

1 litre/1.75 pints vegetable stock–I use organic stock cubes

Prepare the leeks by cutting away the damaged brown tops and trimming the root ends.

To wash them effectively, cut them down centrally from the top to just above the root and wash thoroughly to clear any muddy residue.

Slice them finely.

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan.

Add the sliced leeks (keeping back a small handful for the topping) and turn them over in the oil and butter.

Sweat them gently for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle over the spices, mix them in and cook on for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock and bring it to the boil.

Simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Let the soup cool a little before liquidizing into a smooth finish.

Gently sauté the  handful of leeks you kept back in a little oil or butter.

Drop a small spoonful of cream, creme fraiche or beaten yoghurt in each bowl, topped off with a pinch of the sautéed leeks.

We had this third version for lunch. Not as beautiful as the two earlier attempts, but markedly  tastier.

The verdict was positive!