Let’s start the new week in a more autumnal and even tastier way – with a delicious pumpkin curry! You can prepare this exotic dish in countless ways. It tastes best with fresh ingredients and the right spice mix. A self-prepared or purchased, high-quality curry paste is definitely one of them. Below you will find our two favorite recipes that you can implement super quickly and easily. The first is ideal for vegans and vegetarians and the second is with tender chicken breast fillet. Have fun reading and preparing!
A delicious curry can be mastered with numerous ingredients
What does curry actually mean and which Thai curry pastes are there?
While there are millions of variations of curries around the world, Thai curries are particularly tasty. How many Thai dishes are spicy, sweet and salty?
In fact, the word curry itself means “pan”. It doesn’t have a specific flavor profile or set of ingredients. So the possibilities really are endless.
Curry pastes are more commonly used in South Asian cuisine than just dried spices. They’re usually made with a mixture of fresh peppers, lemongrass, ginger, and ingredients like garlic, shallots, and onions. In principle, you can prepare them yourself in a food processor. But there are also very high-quality curry pastes from the store.
These are the most commonly used curry variants:
Red curry
It’s generally pretty spicy. It gets its characteristic color from red chili peppers. Less spicy versions swap paprika for chilli powder. Note that red curry paste often contains shrimp if you’re a vegetarian. You can then also prepare your own red curry paste at home. It tastes fantastic not only in a pumpkin curry, but also, for example, in a Thai red curry pumpkin soup with crispy tofu.
Red curry can be enjoyed with or without meat
Green curry
This type of curry is a lighter and more herbaceous paste. Their color comes from fresh herbs. Think Thai basil and cilantro. There is usually lemongrass and ginger, as well as green chili peppers. A vegan Thai green chickpea curry, for example, is a delicious way to add more greens to your plate.
Yellow curry
You might not be surprised to know that yellow curry is colored with turmeric. Yellow curries, like these two pumpkin curries below, tend to be a little sweeter. They also most closely resemble Indian curries.
Massaman curry
Massaman curries tend to be thicker. They come from southern Thailand and mostly contain peanuts. Typical massaman curry recipes often include slow-cooked beef.
And now we continue with our two favorite recipes for pumpkin curry!
1. Recipe: Vegan Pumpkin Curry
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- ½ tbsp ginger, chopped
- ½ red chilli, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 3 tbsp yellow curry paste
- 1 can of full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into small pieces
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
- coriander
- 1 lime
- Boiled jasmine rice for serving
Preparation:
- Put the oil in a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion pieces begin to translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ginger, chili, and garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the peppers and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
- Add coconut milk, vegetable broth, tamari, squash, cinnamon, and salt, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until squash is tender, 10-12 minutes.
- Add the broccoli florets and cook them, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in lime juice and garnish with coriander. Serve over jasmine rice.
2. Recipe: Pumpkin curry with chicken breast fillet
Ingredients:
- 400 g chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin
- 3 cm ginger, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 green chilies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1/2 cup homemade tomato puree
- salt, as needed
- Coriander leaves, a small bunch, finely chopped
- oil
Preparation:
- Heat the oil in a pan, preferably with a thick bottom.
- Add the garlic, onion, ginger, green chillies and chopped squash. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir for about a minute, cover the pan and simmer until the squash has softened. This takes about 6-8 minutes over medium heat.
- Puree the squash in the pan with a hand blender. Add the tomato puree and the spices like cumin powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala and continue to simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces. Pour a cup of water on top and cover the pan. Turn the heat down to low and continue cooking until the chicken is well done.
Extra tip: Adjust the consistency of the curry by adding more water.
- When done, turn off the heat. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves, transfer the pumpkin curry to a serving bowl with the chicken and serve.
- This goes well with basmati or jasmine rice, naan and fresh salads.
Be inspired by the other pumpkin curry variants below and spoil your taste buds and senses with this exotic and unique taste!
You can replace the coriander leaves with parsley if you like
Cashew nuts add that certain something to the curry
Instead of rice, you can also serve the dish with buckwheat
Roasted pumpkin seeds are a great garnish idea
Real vegans really appreciate the tofu in the pumpkin curry
And why not just serve the curry right in the pumpkin shell?
