This is one of the easiest suppers to make and somehow, however much I know this, it always surprises me. Not in the cooking, so much as in the eating: I can’t believe, each time anew, how deep and textured and full-throttle, in a sweet, comforting way, this tastes, when all I did was a bit of shopping and some light stirring.

Obviously it helps if you can have some of the convenience stuff I list below: The peeled and cubed squash, sweet potato, and mango I find at the supermarket make this a breeze. But if you can’t find them, no matter: Add some drained canned chickpeas and perhaps, for some sour-sweet edge, some pineapple that’s been in its own juice, not syrup. As for the coconut milk, I often use the whole can rather than a mere half below; it really depends on whether I feel like eating out of a deep bowl, soupily, or a shallow one. To go with I suggest either plain rice or some plain wide rice noodles cooked according to package instructions (all of about 2 minutes) and tossed in some toasted chopped unsalted coconut-flavored peanuts.

If you have some fresh shrimp so much the better, but I stipulate the frozen ones below since I regularly keep them in the freezer for an evening when I feel like eating gorgeously with very little forethought.