Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients

350 grams pumpkin (12 ounces, about 2 ½ to 3 cups diced)

1 cup chickpeas (cooked or canned or rajma, read notes, optional)

1 ¼ cup onions (fine chopped, 1 large onion)

1 ¼ cup tomatoes (deseeded & fine chopped, 2 large or 1 cup tomato puree)

1 green chilli (optional, Chopped, Indian/Thai or Serrano peppers)

½ tablespoon ginger paste or grated (½ inch peeled & grated)

½ tablespoon garlic paste (4 to 5 grated cloves)

3 tablespoons oil

1 to 1 ½ teaspoon salt (½ + 1 tsp, divided)

1 to 1 ½ cups hot water (add in batches)

¾ cup coconut milk (or 4 tablespoons almond flour blend with ½ cup water)

¼ cup coriander leaves (fine chopped)

Ground Spices

1 to 2 teaspoons Kashmiri Red chilli powder (adjust to taste, I use 2 tsps)

teaspoon garam masala (1 + ½ tsp, divided, more if you want)

½ teaspoon cumin powder

teaspoons coriander powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon fennel powder (leave it, if you don’t have)

1 tablespoon Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, leave it, if you don’t have)

1 to 1½ teaspoon amchur powder (or tamarind paste or lemon juice, adjust to taste)

1 teaspoon jaggery (or brown sugar, optional, to balance the flavors)

Whole Spices (optional)

1 Indian bay leaf or 1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

2 inch cinnamon piece (or ½ inch cassia, optional)

1 star anise (optional)

To roast and grind

1 tablespoon coriander seeds (daniyalu)

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon chana dal (bengal gram)

1 tablespoon urad dal (skinned black gram, optional)

¼ cup fresh coconut (or thick coconut milk, refer notes)

3 to 4 dried red chilies

1 inch cinnamon piece (ceylon cinnamon or ¼ inch cassia)

To temper/ tadka

1 pinch hing /asafoetida

1 red chili broken

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

tablespoon ghee or oil

Other ingredients

2 cups pumpkin red, cubed / gummadikaya / kaddu

1 large tomato (½ cup chopped finely)

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ to ¾ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

½ to 1 tablespoon tamarind paste (optional if needed)

Directions

4. Measure the ground spices and keep aside as you won’t have much time to do that while you cook.

Make Pumpkin Curry

5. Pour 3 tablespoons oil to a pan and heat it. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon and star anise.

6. When they begin to sizzle, add the chopped onions and green chilies. Rise the heat to medium high and stir fry until deep golden. If required switch between low & medium flame/heat. This step takes about 6 to 7 mins.

7. Lower the heat and stir in the ginger garlic. Mix and saute for a minute or so without burning.

8. Quickly add all the ground spices and salt.

9. Mix well.

10. Add the pumpkin and then the tomatoes.

11. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes on a medium heat.

12. Cover and cook on a medium to low heat until the tomatoes break down. This step takes about 5 to 6 mins. Meanwhile bring 1 cup water to a boil in another small pot.

13. Pour 1 cup hot water and add boiled chickpeas (if using). Pour ¾ cup Coconut or almond milk. To make the almond milk, I grind 4 tablespoons almond flour with ¼ cup water until smooth. Then add ¼ cup more water and then grind again.

14. Increase the flame/heat and bring the curry to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and cover. Cook until the pumpkin is fork tender and about to get mushy. As you cook, if required add more boiling hot water. This depends on the kind of your pumpkin. I had to add another ½ cup hot water.

15. Stir well and taste test. Add the following ingredients according to your taste:

16. Mix well. Curry should be thick, yet of pouring consistency. It will thicken further after cooling. If your curry is runny, cook uncovered on a high heat for a few minutes so some of the liquid evaporates.

17. Turn off the heat. If you want you may add a teaspoon/ tablespoon of ghee. Garnish pumpkin curry with fresh chopped coriander leaves. If you want you may squeeze in some lemon juice while serving.

Serve Pumpkin Curry with hot steamed rice, quinoa, millets, roti or Paratha.

Pro Tips

Tomatoes: You can use fresh tomatoes or tomato puree (passata). If using canned tomatoes that has citric acid added to it, your pumpkin will take longer to cook down or may take forever. So it is good to add it later once the pumpkin is nearly tender.

Onions: If you do not prefer onions, you may leave out from the recipe. But if using, make sure you saute them well until deep golden as this not only enhances the flavor of the dish, but the onions will also dissolve in the curry giving a better texture to the dish.

Coconut: If you have access to fresh coconut, you may grind 1/3 cup fresh coconut with 1/3 cup water until very smooth, adding more water as required. Do not use desiccated coconut. Too much coconut milk is going to dilute the flavor of spices and your dish will only taste like coconut milk.

How to Make Pumpkin Curry

Heat a pot with oil and add bay leaf, cinnamon and star anise.

When they begin to sizzle in the oil, add onions and green chilies.

Stir fry them until deep golden, switching between medium to low flames & vice versa as required.

Lower the flame, add ginger garlic and saute for about a minute, until the raw smell has gone.

Stir in ½ tsp salt and ground spices – red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and fennel powder.

Quickly add the pumpkin and mix well. Stir in the tomatoes and stir fry for 2 to 3 mins.

Cover and cook on a medium to low flame until the tomatoes turn mushy. This takes about 5 to 7 mins.

Pour 1 cup hot water and add chickpeas (if using). Pour Coconut or almond milk.

Rise the flame and bring the curry to a rolling boil. Reduce the flame and cook covered until the pumpkin is fork tender and about to get mushy. As you cook, if required add more boiling hot water, this depends on your pumpkin. I had to add another ½ cup hot water.

Mix well and taste test. Add the following ingredients according to taste – ½ to 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garam masala, kasuri methi, jaggery (sugar) and amchur (or tamarind paste). Crush the kasuri methi before adding to the pan.

Pumpkin curry should be thick, yet of pouring consistency as it thickens further after cooling. If your curry is runny, cook uncovered on a high heat for a few minutes so some of the liquid evaporates.

Turn off and rest the pumpkin curry covered until serving. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. If you want you may squeeze in some lemon juice while serving.

Serve with Poori, Roti, Paratha, Naan, plain steamed rice, quinoa or millets.

On a low to medium heat, dry roast red chilies, chana dal and urad dal till deep golden & aromatic. Make sure lentils are not burnt but they should be roasted evenly so they make the dish flavorful. Transfer to a plate.

To the same pan add coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon and lightly roast until fragrant.

Don’t let them burn. Cool all of these completely and powder them in a blender to a fine powder.

To the same jar, add coconut along with little water and blend to a smooth paste. If you do not own a powerful blender, let the mixture soak for about 30 minutes in water and make a fine paste adding more water as needed.

Heat a pan with ghee or oil on a low flame.

Add mustard, cumin and red chili. When they begin to splutter, add curry leaves and hing. Set aside little of this seasoning for garnishing. I set aside few curry leaves and red chili along with very little mustard and cumin.

Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Fry the tomatoes till they turn soft, mushy and dry. If needed cover and cook, you can even sprinkle little water if your tomatoes are hard.

Next add pumpkin cubes and fry stirring for about 2 to 3 minutes. Ensure the tomatoes turn completely mushy and dry before adding pumpkin.

Pour 1 to 1½ cups of water to the pan and bring it to a boil.

Add the ground paste & mix well.

Cook it on a low flame till the pumpkin is tender. If needed you can cover and cook. Don’t overcook, pumpkin turns mushy. Keep stirring, the mixture tends to stick at the bottom due to the dal. If required pour more water to adjust the consistency.

Add tamarind and mix well. Check the salt and tang. If you like to have it sour you can add more tamarind paste, but I do not use.

Transfer pumpkin curry to a serving bowl and garnish with the curry leaves and broken red chilies.

Notes

To save time, chop the onions and begin with the recipe. Prepare the rest as you cook.

You may skip the whole spices if you don’t have but they impart unique deep flavors to the dish.

If using canned chickpeas, rinse them well and make sure they are soft and tender before adding to the curry. Undercooked chickpeas won’t cook further in the curry due to the acidic ingredient like tomato.

To use dry chickpeas, rinse and soak 1/3 cup chickpeas overnight. The next morning pressure cook them with 1/2 cup water in a instant pot for 18 minutes or in the stove top cooker for 3 whistles.

You can use black chickpeas or even rajma if you like the flavor.

To replace coconut milk, grind together 4 tablespoons of almond flour (or 12 to 14 soaked and peeled almonds) with 1/4 cup water until smooth. Add another 1/4 cup water and grind again.

Notes : Fresh coconut is best for this recipe. You can use 1/4 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon or 1 large pinch of ground cassia. Roasting lentils on a medium to low heat until deep golden and aromatic is very important.

Nutrition

Saturated Fat 7g
Cholesterol 19mg
Sodium 401mg
Potassium 738mg
Carbohydrates 22g
Fiber 6g
Protein 5g
Calcium 40mg
Iron 3mg