Chickpeas with Pumpkin and Lemongrass

"Chickpeas with pumpkin, lemongrass, and cilantro" from "Tender: A cook and his vegetable patch" by Nigel Slater.

This soup/sauce has a wonderful fiery yellow color, however the recipe needs several fixes. First, there is way too much green cardamon pods in this recipe; I almost couldn't eat the soup since the green cardamon was too strong. Next time (if there is a next time) that I make this recipe the green cardamon should be greatly reduced (I suggest using only half the green cardamon called for, or even less). Also, when you saute the spices with the onion, I would saute them together for about 5 minutes, since you want the spices to get toasted. Second, the recipe calls for 1 cup vegetable stock; this wasn't enough liquid to cook the onions, pumpkin, and chickpeas, so I increased the stock to 2 cups. Third, since I can't figure out how to get rid of the grit and fiber threads from my pulverized lemongrass, I used 2 inch stalks of lemongrass. Fourth, I also used my own coconut milk, made from 1 cup dried coconut, and 2 hot water washes. Fifth, I left out the cilantro (since I don't like cilantro), and didn't serve this with lime wedges. I ate this as a soup, with no rice.