Thick Kabocha Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (such as LAWRY'S(R))
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 onion, sliced
vegetable oil, or as needed
2 cups cubed kabocha squash
1 small Japanese sweet potato, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Combine cornmeal, flour, seasoned salt, and pepper in a bowl. Dredge onion slices in cornmeal mixture.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook breaded onion, turning occasionally until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add kabocha squash, sweet potato, carrot, garlic, and bay leaf; cook until kabocha squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Drain most of the water; discard bay leaf.
Mash kabocha squash mixture with a potato masher, adding soy milk, until mixture is the consistency of a thick soup. Stir in garam masala, salt, and pepper. Garnish with fried onions.