I usually use Crown Prince pumpkins, or the little bright orange winter squash called Uchiki Kuri. If the only pumpkin you can find is the big ones people buy for carving, I'd suggest mixing that pumpkin with butternut squash 50:50 – those biggies have very little flavour. This recipe makes about 1 litre.

Ingredients
350g pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and roughly chopped
80g rough-chopped potato
100g rough-chopped onion
a clove of garlic, crushed
a pinch of chilli flakes
1cm of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 stem of lemongrass, split and ends crushed, but stems still whole
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp tamarind (or to taste)
1/2 tsp chipotle chilli (or to taste)
a dash of sour cherry juice
750ml vegetable stock

Method
Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and potato in oil. Add the pumpkin, veg stock, lemongrass and the bay leaves. Add the chillis and tamarind to taste. Simmer for 30 mins. Remove the bay leaves and lemongrass and blend. Add the sour cherry juice. Taste – it should be chilli hot, deeply sweet and tart.

A nice trick for serving is to cut out a small snaggle-toothed face in cardboard, hold it over each soup bowl and sprinkle black onion seeds over, making a scary face. Cute.

Union of Genius, 8 Forrest Road, Edinburgh, unionofgenius.com