I was facing a major challenge, a catch 22 almost: I wanted to create a vegetarian pumpkin recipe for Kayotic Kitchen. But here’s the catch: my guy hates pumpkin. No, he doesn’t just dislike it, he hates it with a passion.

I’m very adamant where it comes to finding ways to make people eat and even like those things they usually dislike. What can I say? It’s an annoying trait, but it’s me. And he’s stuck with me, so pumpkin it was. I figured I’d skip the ole pumpkin pie and turn the whole thing into a curry.

I thought that warm spices such as curry, chili and cumin would go really well with the sweetness of the pumpkin and it did. Adding some dried mint for a fresh note, lime and ginger for a citrus note and onion because, well, onion belongs in almost everything.

The verdict? I got the hater to stop hating! He even had seconds. That’s 1-0 for the self-proclaimed tulip queen, mind you!


Ingredients:

3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 pumpkin (2 pounds)
2 onions
1 large garlic clove
2 medium tomatoes
thumb-size piece fresh ginger
2 tsp curry powder
2/3 tbsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground lemongrass (sereh)
1 tbsp mustard-seeds
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp dried mint
lime juice
coriander
salt


Directions:

I bought an organic pumpkin. Mine was 2 pounds. I gathered a few onions, some garlic, and two tomatoes while I was at it.

Trim the ends, cut it in half and spoon out the seeds. Remove the skin and cut the flesh in 1 inch cubes.

Don’t toss the seeds! Instead you coat them with oil, garlic salt, a bit of tabasco and Worcestershire sauce and roast them in a 275F° (135C°) oven for 20 minutes. It’s delicious.

I used my food processor to quickly mince the onions. I pulsed about 5 times.

Don’t bother rinsing the bowl, just put the tomatoes in there as well and blitz until they’re all mushy.



Grate the garlic and the fresh ginger. I totally forgot to take a photo of that! Mea culpa.


Heat the oil and add 1 tbsp mustard seeds.

Add the chili flakes. This will give a nice zing without making it too hot.

As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, it’s time to add the onions.

Cook the onions for 5 minutes over low to medium heat. Add the grated garlic and ginger and give it another minute.

This is optional but it sure adds a wonderful flavor. It’s 1/2 tsp ground lemongrass (Sereh).

1/2 tsp ground cumin. Cumin isn’t really optional in a half decent curry, but you can adjust the quantity to your liking.

And this is totally not optional: 2 tsp curry powder.

Cook the spices for 30 seconds before adding the pumpkin.

Add the mashed tomatoes.

Pour in that luscious, thick, coconut milk.

Give it a good stir.

Pour in the vegetable broth. Add the dried mint and season with 1/2 a tsp salt. Bring to a boil and simmer (without a lid) for 10 to 15 minutes.

As soon as the pumpkin is soft and the sauce has thickened it’s time to squeeze in some lime juice. I’ve used half a lime.

Check the seasoning and garnish with coriander. Or flat-leaf parsley if you’re a coriander hater like me.

It didn’t just look absolutely gorgeous, but tasted so incredibly good. We ate it with a lot of steamed rice!

* Serve with grilled chicken or white fish if you’re not into vegetarian food!